Shane's room
Stacey's pov
"Mama," I heard Maegan yell, as I walked into Shane's room to pick her up.
"Hi, baby." I hoisted Maegan up on my hip as I tickled her side so I could hear her adorable little giggle. "Were you good for Grampa Shane, luv?" I asked, really hoping to hear a yes as an answer.
Maegan nodded affirmatively as she played with the silver heart on my necklace, manipulating it with her tiny fingers.
I looked to Shane for confirmation and he said, "Yes, Maegan and I had a great day. Didn't we?" He stood next to me rubbing Maegan's back as he recounted their day together. "We helped Mabel in the kitchen today and we made pretty pictures of flowers with fingerpaints." Shane smiled at Maegan, making my heart swell. Seeing Mike and him interact with her, made me really happy. It's so obvious how much they love and care about her.
"I made a plurple fwower, Mommy," Maegan said excitedly.
"Oh! Purple is my favorite color. How did you know?" I asked my daughter, pretending to be shocked.
"Grampa Hane told me, mommy."
For some reason, hearing that made me a little sad but I tried not to show it.
"I can't wait to see it, sweetie." I kissed Maegan on the cheek as she giggled. Glad to be done with school for the day and completely exhausted from getting only about three hours of sleep last night, I was looking forward to a quiet evening with my beautiful baby girl here at the NJC. I was hoping for a movie night complete with popcorn, a Disney classic, and snuggling on the couch in one of the common rooms with Lisa, Mike, Shane, and my daughter.
Eager to get back to the wooden puzzle she was busying herself with when I walked in, Maegan started squirming so I put her down.
Now that my arms were free, Shane gave me a hug and kiss as he asked, "How was school, sweetheart?"
"It was okay," I said, hoping Shane didn't notice me flinch in pain from his embrace. No such luck.
Shane lifted the edge of my shirt sleeve, pushing it up slightly to reveal an angry blue bruise. Noticing a similar bruise on my other arm in the same place, he quickly started to put two and two together. When Shane gripped my chin to force eye contact, he saw the red mark on my left cheek and the bruising under my eye. Despite trying to hide it with makeup, it was easily revealed by the harsh fluorescent lighting emanating from the ceiling.
"Who did this, Stacey?" Shane asked angrily, despite already knowing the answer.
"Shane, please don't. He's sorry. He didn't mean to. He was high, he didn't know what he was doing."
Shane's eyes darkened considerably as he growled, "Was Maegan in the house?"
"I'm fine, Shane. Please don't do anything," I begged.
"Was. my. granddaughter. in. the. house?" Shane repeated slowly and coldly.
Hanging my head in shame, I quietly answered, "Yes."
Shane's nostrils flared right along with his temper. Whipping his cell phone out, he angrily placed a call.
"Mike, I need you to grab Neil and meet me out front at the Foundation. We need to pay Sean a visit. Tell Neil to get what I need out of his safe. I'm on my way."
He paused, presumably to listen to Mike's response before replying, "He made the mistake of putting his hands on our daughter."
Shane put his phone away, grabbed his keys, and kissed the top of Maegan's head.
I tried one more time to convince him not to follow through with whatever he was planning.
"Please, Shane, don't do this," I begged, grabbing his forearm in an attempt to stop him.
Shane looked at me with a steely determination and said with zero emotion in his voice, "Stacey, I want you to stay here with Maegan. Understand?"
Pulling Maegan up into my arms, I solemnly replied, "Yes sir."
At the Foundation
Mike's pov
As soon as I got off the phone with Shane, I went straight to Neil's office to relay the message. He grabbed his revolver and holster out of the safe before we rushed out to the parking lot. When Shane told us about the marks Sean left on our oldest daughter's face and arms, I honestly thought I was capable of committing murder.
Hearing the abuse was a result of Sean being high and the fact that our precious grandbaby was home at the time was just icing on the cake. It was bad enough Sean failed to heed the previous warning we delivered in Neil's office when I found out he and Stacey were having sex but now he had the unmitigated gall to lay his hands on her in anger and do drugs with our granddaughter in the house, no less. Neil is so furious it will take every ounce of restraint the man has to keep from using that revolver to put a bullet in Sean's head.
Before stepping out of the car at the auto-shop where Sean works, Shane strapped on the shoulder holster concealing it and the handgun under his suit coat. The three of us strode into the office. "We're here for Sean," I said.
"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Sean asked, as he walked in from the garage wiping the grease off his hands with a dirty blue rag.
"We need to speak to you outside in private," I said sternly.
Following us out, as soon as we were alone, Sean asked, "What's goin' on? Did something happen to Stacey or Maegan? Is everything alright?"
Brushing his suit coat back with his left arm to reveal the holster, Shane gripped the butt of the revolver as he responded, "No, Sean, everything is most assuredly not alright."
"Give me your phone, Sean." I held my hand out. When he hesitated, I clarified my directive, "If your phone isn't in the palm of my hand in the next five seconds, I will snap the ulna of your right arm in half."
Sean immediately paled, putting up his hands in defense he gulped, stepping back to distance himself from us.
"Whoa! Guys, can't we talk about this?" he asked, beginning to rightfully panic.
Once he handed me his phone, l coldly said, "Tell your boss you're done for the day." I gripped the back of his neck and forcefully led him back to the garage.
After roughly depositing Sean in the backseat of Shane's car between Neil and myself, we remained silent as Shane peeled out of the lot.
Sean nervously asked, "Uh, guys, where are we going?"
"Keep your bloody mouth shut until we give you permission to speak," Shane replied from the driver's seat, in a frightening monotone.
When Shane first told Neil and I his plan, I was honestly terrified. His past being layered with so many unknowns, including the atrocities he's seen along with the torture techniques he's been taught, definitely has the making of a quite lethal concoction. The chances of somebody ending up in the hospital, morgue, or a jail cell tonight are roughly 100%.
We drove out to the woods, parked the car, and dragged Sean deep into the forest where no one would hear him scream.
"Explain to me what made you think it would be okay to get high in front of my granddaughter and then put your hands on her mother in anger," Shane hissed at Sean.
"It w_was just a b_bad trip, guys," Sean stammered. "You have to believe I would never purposely hurt Stacey or Maegan."
"Your motives don't interest me, young man," Neil spoke in an eerily calm tone. "Accept responsibility for your actions."
"You're pissed at me for being a little too rough with Stacey one time but the three of you have literally beat her ass for the past sixteen years. You all don't find that the least bit hypocritical?" Sean scoffed.
The kid's either got stones or he must still be high to dare speak to us that way in his current predicament.
"How dare you liken what you did to Stacey to us disciplining our daughter, you ignorant son of a bitch." Shane was livid. Removing the revolver from its holster, Shane held the barrel tightly in his palm and backhanded the butt of the gun across Sean's cheek, pistol whipping him and fracturing his jaw in the process. Sean screamed out in pain as blood began to pool in his mouth.
"The next thing I'll break will be your neck if you ever bloody touch her like that again," Shane threatened.
"Nod if you understand the Admiral, young man." Neil glared at Sean.
Sean nodded, too afraid to resist and finally realizing how much danger he was actually in.
"You have Stacey to thank for me not finishing the job and ending your existence tonight." Shane holstered the revolver. "We're going to drop you off at the emergency room, where one of their colleagues (Shane gestured to Neil and I) is going to patch you up and then you're never going to speak a word of this night to anyone."
Neil pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and shone the beam of light a few yards from where we stood, illuminating a freshly dug shallow unmarked grave.
"Hurt Stacey again and that grave will be marked with your name." Shane squeezed Sean's most-likely broken jaw, making him scream. "That's a promise, son."