“Fuck!” Renee hadn’t told Roni that part, but Renee wouldn’t have wanted her friend to know she was a monster. The parts that showed her true colors had been carefully left out.
“I told her if she left the machines on, I wouldn’t say anything about Mason, and she could have my money, all of it. I didn’t care. All I wanted was Cole to keep breathing. She was satisfied with that for a while, but she and Mason managed to spend the money my father had left me in less than a year. Then Mason caught her cheating and left her a month later. The day he left was the second-best day in my life. The first was when Cole finally came out of his coma.
“I knew he would come out of it. He wouldn’t leave me. By then, I was eighteen and going to college. I found a nice rehabilitation home where he stayed. He had to relearn talking, walking, even feeding himself.
“She kept complaining about being broke, threatening to move him to a cheaper place even though she wasn’t paying for any of it. I paid for it out of the money he inherited, but she blackmailed me to leave him there until I started giving her money.”
Casey licked her dry lips. “When Mugg left, she became more demanding, threatening to move Cole in with her, so I went to her house without calling.”
“You found out that her and Mason were together again, didn’t you?”
“Yes; I’m so sorry, Max. When Mugg came back a few weeks later, I knew he didn’t know Renee had cheated on him, that she was still cheating on him. I wanted to say something—I really like Mugg—but my hands were tied. Renee’s money demands were becoming worse. She said that if Mugg left her again she would move Cole in with her and she would take Mason back. I even received a letter that Renee had given the rehabilitation home notice that Cole would be leaving, but I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let Mason near Cole. Cole’s frightened of him.”
Max remained silent, not giving Casey any clue as to what he was thinking. She felt guilty that she had hidden Renee’s ugly schemes from Mugg.
“That’s when I called Fisk and offered to find evidence on the Predators. He had tried months before to get my help, but I refused until Renee went to visit Cole and let Mason go with her after I told her I wouldn’t give them any more money. I wrote her a check the next day and called Fisk.”
“How did you come up with the money for Mugg’s bike?”
“I took out a short term loan then paid it off when you gave me the money back. I thought about asking Mugg for help but the Predators would never betray one of their own. I didn’t know where to turn, but I had to protect Cole, so ultimately, I had to stick with my plan. I had to keep Mason away, and the only way to do that was put him in prison by showing his involvement with the Predators, because Fisk agreed to put us in witness protection if I did.”
“What made you change your mind? I found out you have a photographic memory, so why didn’t you just give Fisk the information he wanted?”
“I was going to… but I couldn’t.”
“Why?” Max tightened his arm around her shoulders, not letting her evade his question.
“Because of you,” Casey admitted.
Max kissed her, his hand going to her neck and holding her in place.
“I didn’t want to love you,” she admitted. “I broke up with Jayce because I swore to myself I would never cheat like my mother, but when you didn’t seem interested, I told myself I could go through with my plan and use Stump. I was getting ready to go home when you broke us apart.”
“I wanted to fuck you and punch him for touching you.”
“How did you find us?”
Max rubbed his cheek against hers. “Jackal. He remembered the necklace you were wearing, and after searching through thousands of starfish necklaces, he finally found one on eBay that was the exact necklace. He contacted the seller and asked where the necklace had been purchased, and they pointed us at a boutique here, so we flew down and asked if they recognized a picture of you. The manager recognized you, she said you and Cole come in a couple of times a week.”
Casey’s fingers touched the delicate necklace. “Cole bought it for me. The rehabilitation home provides jobs for special needs, and he saved his money for our vacation and then bought it for me while we were here. Marta buys some of the shells Cole finds, those he can bear part with.”
“I can see why you ran here. It’s very peaceful. We’ll bring my kids down here when I take my vacation.”