The Son and the Sparrow

Chapter Twenty Three(v3)

Chapter Twenty Three

Leon found himself suspicious of every car that passed by as he drove. Every car was suspect. No-one could be trusted. With Haley's life on the line, there was no room for error. The only place they could possibly be safe was Philip's house. There was security beyond belief and a stronghold of weapons. Leon would feel less safe in a presidential underground bunker. There was only a matter of the people inside Philip's house. Leon wasn't sure how they would feel about this proposition. He would explain that he wasn't trying to kill Cale anymore. That he only wanted a normal life, and that this was a very temporary measure. Maybe that would work. Hopefully it would work. It needed to work.

"Who exactly is after us?" Haley asked.

"I don't know."

"Then couldn't have been Philip?"

"No." Leon was sure of that much. He couldn't imagine Philip playing this kind of warped game. Philip was much more direct, and didn't like to do his dirty work himself. "And Daniel lives there too now, just to warn you."

"Daniel moved in with Philip?" Haley sounded surprised.

"Yeah." Daniel had wanted to move in with Philip for some time, but Philip had resisted. Philip probably knew that in that castle Daniel would grow lazy, lounging on the couch. That and the fact Philip, like anyone in a relationship, was afraid of the next step. Especially Philip; he had trust issues.

"When had they been released?" Haley asked.

Leon bit his lip, then replied, "Recently. That day you saw Daniel and I together they had only been free a week."

Haley nodded absently, and fell quiet. Leon wondered if she could sense his lie. He had always thought he could easily hide what he wanted from her, but now he wasn't so sure. She wasn't as ignorant to his deeds as he had always thought. And that scared him. How much of himself did she know about? What if she figured out that all this was his fault? That Clay was dead because of him? No. Clay wasn't dead because of him. He didn't deserve that much blame. This was Cale's fault. Cale was the one who staged all of this. It had to have been Cale. Sure, it could have been Joanna, it could have been anyone really, but Leon was willing to bet the majority on Cale. Strangely however, revenge was the last thought on his mind. Taking revenge on Cale right now would be the most idiotic move he could make. Cale had just made a threat against him, a threat that Haley was undoubtfully involved in. Leon was confident in the thought that Cale would probably try to attack Haley first, just as he had attacked Clay before going after Leon.

Leon let himself lament over his circumstances for a moment more before returning to the present. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She smiled fleetingly, though she didn't look in his direction. Leon felt a shiver run down his spine, and pulled into Philip's driveway. He took a breath. God, what was he doing? Philip already led him to a dangerous gang leader and almost got him killed. Why the fuck would Philip help him?

"Stay in the car." Leon instructed to Haley without taking his eyes off of the house.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Haley wanted to know, taking in his tense body language.

Leon smiled to himself. "I don't know." He replied. "But we have no choice. We'll be safe here." If Philip would let them stay. He looked at her once more, then sighed and left the car. He looked up at the house, remembering the last time he was here, threatening Philip's lover as he stood on the balcony. Would his rude behavior come back for him? With another breath, he approached the door, and slammed the knocker a few good times. He waited for a moment, until the door opened.