Beacon in the Darkness

28. One Last Time

Camila paced the floors in the front room, straining her neck every few minutes to the window, checking to see if the black SUV had pulled away yet. Her fingers found their way into her mouth and she gnawed restlessly at her nails. When those had been ground into sore, bloody stumps, she started on her cuticles.

Lauren sat on the couch, her eyes fixed on Camila, watching as she walked back and forth. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. Camila stopped her manic pacing and let out a deep sigh. All this time she'd let her worry get the best of her and had forgotten the shock Lauren had received. Moving toward the couch, she sat down next to her friend and raised a hand to her shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked.

Lauren shook her head and lowered her forehead to her knees. "I just thought he was an ass," she whispered. "I never thought—I never even—I never knew it was something like that."

Camila sighed and laid her head on Lauren's shoulder, closing her eyes. "I know."

Lauren turned toward Camila, keeping her cheek flush with her knees. "I wish I would have known. I wish I would have so I could've been different. I could've—"

"No." Camila shook her head and raised a hand to run it through Lauren's hair. "He didn't want that—he still doesn't."

"But I feel so horrible for how I've treated him. If I'd only known—"

"Then you just would've been pitying him. Believe me, that isn't what he wants. What any of us want," Camila's voice lowered to a whisper. She sighed. "You've been an awesome sister, and I know Shawn loves you. He loves all of you. I think the way you treated him is exactly what he needed." She met Lauren's eyes. "Normal. You treated him like him living with you was the most natural thing in the world. Like he was your brother no matter what he'd been through and no matter that he didn't share the same blood. He was just Shawn, just your brother. He still is."

Lauren was silent for several long moments. When she spoke, it wasn't what Camila expected to hear. "Did he really—did his father really kill his mother?"

Camila closed her eyes. "Yes."

"But, if he did ... how is he here, and why do my parents act like they know him?"

Camila shook her head and stood, making her way to the window once more and pushing the curtain aside with her hand. "I don't know, Lauren. I just don't know."

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Camila noticed movement from next door. She leaned into the window further, trying her hardest to see what was going on. The armed men that had circled Manuel exited the house and made their way to the SUV parked in the driveway. Next, Clarissa and Mikael came out and climbed into their car. Camila frowned as they all just sat there. No one started a vehicle, no one got out.

A good hour passed before another figure exited the Jauregui home. This person was dressed in black as well. Manuel. Camila squinted against the darkness to see if she could make out Shawn, but he didn't appear. Manuel climbed into the SUV and finally the cars roared to life. The vehicle slowly backed out of the driveway, followed by Clarissa and Mikael's car. Both sped off down the street, the sound of the engines dying away as the lights faded into the darkness.