Juneau Elicits

XXIX

"Red," she says, starting to appear worried, looking around. "Red needs help, and the police said they would bring him to the emergency animal hospital or something, I-"

"Alright, alright, let's go," he tells her.

He has to focus on her, on Red, on the situation at hand.

He can't allow himself to think about Tommy, or whose blood he now has smeared on his jacket, or the specifics of what just happened.

He's afraid of what might happen if he were to do so.

So he takes her hand once more and leads her to his truck.

Focus on getting to the animal hospital. Focus on one thing at a time.

Mikaere, Red, hospital. Nothing else.

...

He's back to ignoring headlines.

They're too sickening, and they always read the same. And there will be no follow-up, because after what he did to Ethan, murdering Perry and the cook, Benny, and attempting to murder Mikaere and Malee, Tommy got himself shot and killed.

The man who was his best friend for as long as he could remember.

The man who once was a boy riding his bike down Vaughn's long driveway, nearly tripping over his own feet to tell him the exciting news of the day.

The boy who was the reason Vaughn had ever gotten a larger friend group and had grown in confidence over the years. The boy who supported him in all he did but called him out when he thought he needed to. The boy with whom he had the most fun, reckless trips.

The boy he told everything to, and the man who apparently told him nothing at all.

The man who had them all fooled.

Vaughn well knows that the smartest psychopaths can hide who they are with such effectiveness it makes them dangerous. But never would he have considered Tommy to be anything but genuine.

He never thought Tommy would have the capacity to keep someone locked in chains for eight years, torturing him the entire time. He never thought he could hurt and kidnap an innocent woman, going to such great lengths to move her vehicle back to her apartment and concealing his prints, just in case. He never thought he would brutally kill two people. He never thought he would try to hurt Mikaere. He never considered he might hate him for eight-year-old events.

The aftermath has taken its toll on Vaughn, and he wants nothing more than to disappear now. He's been gutted, it feels like; Is this what Caesar felt?

He just can't believe what's become of the man who used to be his best friend, nor does he want to. But he forces himself to rise each day and not to get wrapped up and focused on himself, his self-pity, and pain again. No. Not again.

Eight years ago, he ran from it all, but he won't this time.

This time, he will do as he said he would and stay. Stay and work through it, because life involves facing all of those hard decisions and circumstances that arise. He will stay for Siara. Stay for Mikaere. Stay for Jasmine, Zeke, and everyone he has yet to meet.

Even as a crucial character in his life has destroyed himself and made a mess of their memories, he will stay.

It doesn't mean it's not hard, though.

He struggles to keep focused on anything else throughout the day and catches himself overthinking every detail. Could he have known? Were there any clues? How could he have missed anything so awful?