Hit and Run

Chapter 35: Return To Bethany Park (Bethany's POV)

I sneak away from Tammy's house. She dozed off hours ago after our hospital excitement. I can't blame her, it's terrifying. Meeting Austin at Bethany Park is a risk I need to take. He can climb up on top of the shelter and meet me by the stars where Wolfe and I fell in love. That's our spot, and Evan can't take our memories away. He can keep us a part, but he will never hold my heart again.

When your abuser decides to shatter you into a thousand pieces, there is only one thing left to do rise. He burned my soul alive with his emotional abuse. He made me believe he loved me, but in the end he believed in a power over and power under kind of romance and I was never onboard for that. I was never onboard to he controlled by Evan Schultz or his lengthy comments ever again. I will never measure up to the ideal woman he's built up in his head. He has a mental illness that only he and he alone can address. No one else can make that decision for him, I've tried.

And so it is my time to shine and rise as a Phoenix about the ashes I was forced to be burned by. I will grieve the fact that Evan never loved me, he loved his reflection more than anything else. Wolfe loves me, and even though he has his own demons, he will fight for all of me. That is their difference. Evan is rich with money, but Wolfe will always have him beat because Wolfe grew up in the real world. The real world where empathy and kindness are what makes a man truly rich. It's not about money, power, and resources. It never was. Evan tried to provide worldly things but miss having a relationship with me. I am grieving the damage but will celebrate the win when he's out of the picture and Wolfe is free.

I pull into the parking lot of Bethany Park. The sign still remains and reminds me of the night Wolfe told me he thought of me. Thinking of me brought him back to life. He chose me over suicide, and he's been fighting for us ever since.

The climb to the top of the shelter is harder without Wolfe pulling me up. I wait five or so minutes before I hear another climbing to the roof of the picnic shelter.

"Bethany Miller is that you?" a voice says. It's so late its hard to see if it's Austin. The voice is similar to Artie's and I don't feel scared.

"It is. Hello, Austin. I've come just like you wanted. What can you tell me? Where will you start? Is Malcolm alive or dead? Is he free yet? Is this over yet?"

My bones grow impatient with any news about Wolfe. Evan bad news that he got his ass whooped would be good news. At least he'd be alive.

"Calm yourself. Calm yourself. Wolfe is alive. I told him who I was. He knows I am undercover and that the men Evan thinks are under his control are now under my jurisdiction. We have been recording him vocally without his knowledge for some time now. We figure he will spew out many crimes that way. We will wait a little bit longer. A few more days perhaps. I have my men watching you and Tammy closely. Any sign of danger and they've been commanded to kill on-site. We are taking no chances with Evan Schultz. He is good but not as good as he thinks he is. Malcolm is playing along. I rough him up a bit each day, it's all a part of the act."

I try to sit there as quietly as possible. The man sitting on the roof with me has other reasons to hate Evan. Evan murdered his cousin. Our loathing of this man shall be our common ground in the end.

"Does Wolfe know I am safe and well looked after?"

"Yes, that he does. Tammy and Lori also have their guardian angels watching them with my twenty-four-seven surveillance. If Evan wants blood we will get him first. He killed my cousin, so this is personal now. It's hard to pretend to be that prick's lawyer, but I have to for Artie. In the meantime, while I take care of other matters regarding Evan will you, Lori, and Tammy do something for me in return?"

Austin let's the coldness of the air turn his breath into fog. It looks like a dragon's breath against the night sky. The stars twinkle faintly in the distance making me miss my man more.

"Yes, anything. Just name it and it's yours."

He hesitates like his request might be stupid. He taps his feet against the roof and smacks his lips.

"Can you prepare speeches for Artie's funeral. I want him to have a good funeral. I want him to be remembered for how he lived, not how he died."

It's a lovely idea and it's one that will bring closer to Tammy, the girlfriend, and Lori, the little sister. I take my hands and place them on his shoulder.

"It will be done. You have my word. Oh, and one more thing. I've handwritten a small noted for Wolfe. Can you bring it to him for me?"

Artie sighs and some sorrow he's been holding in, I suspect for Artie begins to surface.

"Yes, I can do that for you. Thanks, Bethany. You are truly a remarkable person, and I am sorry that Evan didn't see how lovely a person you are. Wolfe is one lucky man, and don't worry I will have his name cleared soon. There will be two guilty persons in his place, Popeye and Evan Schultz. I have enough evidence on both to put them away for life."

The thought of Evan being out of control makes me feel in control. That is a validating thought, that our demons can pay for the crimes they commit and that a power over power under relationship can be put to an end. The book on this hardship in my life will end soon and when it does I will be happy to read the words 'the end.' Those words are the only ones that will give me freedom and allow me to rise as the Phoenix I was always meant to be.

We quickly part ways and as I drive back to Tammy's the end date of this hell is a little more in view. I can't wait to put the life I had with Evan Schultz in a rearview mirror and never look back.