Our Time Will Come - An After Story

87

Hardin

*Previously in 'Our Time Will Come'

"Long time no see, Son " a dark haired, older gentleman huffs. Vance. Christian fucking Vance. I have never, ever been as relieved to see that biological father of mine in my whole life. The last time I saw this man was when he gave me a heck of a beating... and a concussion. I swore that I was done with him, but Here I am. Sighing the biggest sigh of relief as I set eyes on him. He's here to bail me out. Halle fucking lujah.
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My eyes scan the room, curious as to what the fuck is occurring. Dickinson is stood in the corner of the room, his arms are folded and his trousers are so far up his ass that he walks with a limp as he approaches me. "Follow me" he commands as he reenters the interviewing room. I do as he says without a fuss, much to his surprise. I shrug my shoulders at Vance on the way past. I still haven't said a word to him, not by choice.. more through the shock of him being here.

"Some new evidence has come to light, Scott" the senile fucker announces as he closes the door behind him. Fuck. By the sound of his voice, this evidence doesn't seem to be in my favour. What if they have CCTV footage of me at the scene?

"As for being involved in the attempted murder of Austin Priestley, you're innocent. We have retrieved footage of the culprits and we are taking necessary action" Dickinson explains. "By action, I hope you mean giving those fuckers as hard of a time as you gave me!" I scoff. They have put me through hell and back so whoever did this, needs to pay.

"Quiet, Scott. You may not have been involved with the attack of Priestley, but the CCTV footage shows you present at the scene. You were there. You saw the state that that kid had been left in and you ran. You ran, like the coward you are. So yes, you're free to go now that your daddy has been kind enough to bail you out, but we will be calling you back to the station for further questioning. Is that clear?" He blurts. I ignore the pathetic loser. "I said, is that clear?!" He yells, yet again, attempting to be intimidating. "Fuck, my ears. Yes it's bloody clear!" I grunt. Dickinson opens the door for me and I brush past his shoulder as I pass him.

"Get me home" Are the first words I say to Vance, who I find pacing the small waiting area. "Thanks, Dad" he sarcastically chirps. "Fuck off" I grunt, whilst snatching the car keys out of his hand and leaving this damn premises. He follows me as I scour the car park for his BMW. "Nice try, but it's a rental, and you're not driving it" he huffs, whilst grabbing the keys back from me and leading me to where he is parked. I climb into his Swanky rental car, ensuring to slam the door behind me.

"So" he shrugs. "So, what?" I widen my eyes. "You know what. What were your intentions when you left the house tonight Hardin? When you turned up at that kids parents house demanding his location? What were your intentions?" He ridicules me. Tell me this motherfucker isn't attempting to be a parent to me right now. "Fuck this, I have been questioned all night and I refuse to be questioned for a second longer" I say, whilst reaching for the car door. Before I can open it, Vance locks the whole damn car. "Look, I didn't want to kill him, alright? I just wanted to talk to him, teach him a lesson" I admit, not that it's any of his business.

"This kid has been testing my patience for a long time. First, he and his friends drugged Emery at that fucking party. Then, he took Addy's virginity and chucked her like she was nothing to him. Then, he showed up at Landon's house demanding that she took him back. Then, he got her pregnant and demanded that she 'got rid of' the baby immediately. I had motive, but I didn't set out to Kill him. I just, wanted, to talk!!" My voice breaks and I can actually feel myself becoming emotional. Fuck.

"He sounds like a little fucker" Vance nods, unaware of what to say next. "He is. But that doesn't mean that he deserved what happened to him. Remember when I was his age? I was a little fucker too. Before I met Tessa, I would do the same to a girl and feel no guilt whatsoever. I didn't deserve to die? Did I?" My bottom lip begins to tremble. "No! Of course you didn't. Austin will pull through, Hardin. He will have that second chance like you did. He will change his life around" he places a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I flinch away from him to show that I'm not his pal and I'm pretty much still pissed at him for knocking me the fuck out.

"Hardin, we do need to talk about what happened between us, but now isn't the time. So please, just let me be here for you and put this to one side!" He crosses his arms in reaction to my childish behaviour. I nod in agreement, as he starts the car.

"What are you doing here?" I ask bluntly, whilst taking a large gulp of the water I found in the passenger seat. "In New York or.. here?" He questions, whilst driving off. "Both" I shrug, he takes a deep breath. "Im in New York because I'm working in the NYC office. I'm here, because I'm the one who found the footage of the bastards who did this" he admits and I almost spit out my water, well his water. "What?!" I gasp.

"Yup. In fact, one of them was a kid who works at the office, he's an intern" he admits. "Who?" I lean forward in my seat. "Im not giving you any names!" He scoffs and I raise my hands in the air in my defence. "You'll do something stupid!" He yells and he's probably right. "What I will say, is you aren't out of the woods. I have footage from the office, of the gang chasing Austin Priestley.. but I spoke to the guys at the rental car place.. which just so happens to be across from where the incident took place. The footage shows the exact kids who did this, the intern included. But you are also on that footage, as clear as day, Hardin" he explains. Fuck.

"Surely you can't get sent down for knowing about a crime and not reporting it!" I fuss whilst tugging at my hair. I wind the window down for air, taking every bit of it in. "Correct. people are under no legal duty to report a crime, but they're going to ask questions. They're going to want to know exactly what you saw" he tells me. Since when did Vance become a detective? How does he know this shit?

"I didn't see what happened. The footage will prove that. I just saw him lying there. The other Priestley brother was yelling for help, he must have found him there, I don't know" I shrug and I'm instantly reminded that I saw that kid bleeding out, and I did nothing. Holy fuck. I'm a terrible person, even more so than I thought.

"Look. I understand why you ran. It makes sense, you looked guilty, the police were everywhere and you had to get out of there" Vance sighs. "Why do I feel like there's a but?" I raise an eyebrow. "There's no but" he adds.

"I have to call Tessa. Give me your phone" I demand. "Tessa knows. In fact, she helped me piece the information together. I told her I'd bring you home and that's what I'm doing" he boasts. This fucker really is pleased with himself. He thinks that because he has done this, it makes up for what he did. Well... I have news for him. It does. Christian Vance being my father has finally been put to some use. Wow.