Chapter Twenty
CONFESSION
Nothing will happen to him.
Not while I’m breathing.
“GET IN THE boat, Jimmy.”
A tall man dressed in camouflage gear who went by the name of Detective Winston gave the curt order, as he shoved a handcuffed Jimmy Donovan closer to the edge of the pier, where the police were ready to take him back to the city for processing.
Joel stood on the bank of the bayou and watched as his father and Victor were put into a second airboat that had appeared from out of nowhere, docking behind the one that had brought him into this nightmare.
With blood on his shoes, and his pants soiled and stuck to his legs, Joel didn’t dare move as a dozen or so police marched to where his father was now being shackled to the side of the boat.
“Joel!” Jimmy shouted, making Joel cower and shift closer to the policeman beside him. “Joel! Where are you, boy? Get over here before I leave,” Jimmy called out, and this time Joel reached for the policeman’s hand as his little body trembled with fear.
As the boat’s engine started up, Jimmy called his name out again, but when Joel didn’t answer, Jimmy swiveled around until he was looking right at Joel, and then he snorted.
“You think you’re safe now? You scared of me?” Jimmy said. “You think they’re gonna protect you? Get over here, I said.”
This time, Joel automatically shook his head, and the second he did, he realized his mistake, because Jimmy lost all fatherly decorum. “You don’t want to be my son no more? Is that it? Then you better listen to me good, boy, because I’m gonna tell you what I tell anyone else who tries to walk away from Jimmy Donovan. There’s only two things in life you should fear—me and God. And no matter how far you run or how well you hide, we’ll always find you, and when we do, you better hope one of us is in a forgivin’ kind of mood.”
As the boat began to pull away from the dock, the policeman standing with Joel called out, “Why don’t you shut the fuck up, Donovan?”
But Jimmy wasn’t to be deterred, as he met Joel eye to eye. “Don’t worry, boy. One day, I’ll get out and I’ll find you…”
PRIEST SHUDDERED AT the memory and tried to shove it aside as he made his way to The Popped Cherry.
Thank fuck it was clear today. No rain or sleet, or any of the other shit weather that often fell in Chicago at this time of the year, because with the speeds he was clocking, he’d likely have ended up skidding into a wall and being no good to anyone—least of all Julien.
Somewhere between throwing his guts up back at the condo and getting in his car, Priest’s panic and confusion over what had happened to his husband had morphed into full-on rage.
It all made sense now. Jimmy’s escape and Julien’s sudden disappearance had Priest’s father’s fingerprints all over it.
The surprise.
The timing.
The ambush.
Instead of waiting until nightfall, Jimmy had done it in the light of day. But how had he found them? And why take Julien? Priest had been so careful in keeping his past a secret, at keeping their marriage away from prying eyes. How had Jimmy found out about Julien? And what the fuck did he want?
That was the question Priest had been asking himself over and over, and there was one thing he kept coming back to. The only reason Jimmy would give up a chance of parole would be to vanish without a trace. Turning rat came with a big target, but escaping and disappearing? That was a different story altogether, one that kept you friends instead of making enemies, and if that were the case, Priest knew he needed to think about what he did next very carefully.
Jimmy was arrogant, and if all he’d wanted was to seek revenge on his son, then he would’ve done more than just take Julien to get Priest’s attention. But Jimmy hadn’t done that. He’d sent a message, one that told Priest Jimmy wasn’t done with him just yet, which meant Priest needed to come up with a plan. Not an easy feat when every thought in your head was raging against common sense and steering you toward thoughts of bloody murder.
Priest made the next turn as though on autopilot, his mind now firing off a million and one different ways to track Jimmy down, when suddenly a light bulb went off in his head—Henri.
Priest hadn’t given his ex much thought since he’d seen Henri talking with Robbie at the restaurant last week, but at the time his appearance had most certainly struck Priest as odd, and now that feeling was turning to downright suspicion.
Why had Henri been there, making a sudden reappearance in his life? And as Priest grabbed his phone from the passenger seat, he couldn’t stop the sliver of doubt that was now creeping in.