Chapter Thirty-Two
JULIE
He was afraid of something, or someone. I should have seen it earlier, but I was too wrapped up in my own crazy head to realise. This wasn’t just about Harvey. And he’d known about Cassidy. Or he’d lied to me from the start. It was all a mess, and now he wanted to be at my house, because his wasn’t safe, all of a sudden.
“Julie, stop the car. Park up here.” I stared at him, then glanced at the road.
“I can’t just stop here, Adam.”
He snorted. “You could have stopped where I said, but you passed it now. Up ahead there’s a park. Pull into the car park there. I don’t want to do this at your house, after all. It’s your home. Your safe place. I won’t leave you trapped there with me, if you don’t trust me after this.”
I pulled into the empty parking area, and grimaced. “Are you going to kill me, Adam? Because taking me somewhere quiet like this, is exactly the sort of place you’d do that.”
He stared at me in horror. “The fact that you suddenly think I could be that guy, is exactly why I wanted to stop somewhere like this, instead of your house.”
I put the handbrake on, and slipped the car out of gear, and Adam reached over, turning the engine off, slipping the keys from the ignition, while I watched him.
“Fuck… sorry, that was… that’s only going to scare you. Here.” He handed the keys back to me, and stared at me for a moment.
“I don’t know where to start, and the trouble is, I don’t want to tell you anything that might put you in danger. It’s a big, twisted mess, and at the centre of it, are some dangerous people. I mean, you only have to look at me, and know that I barely did anything to deserve these bruises.”
“So the people who did this, are people you work for?” I asked, slipping the seatbelt off, and turning in the seat. I didn’t want the seatbelt on if I had to run from him.
“You should know, Adam, if anyone else pulls in here, I’m going to know you’ve lured me here to die.”
He groaned, reaching for my hand, and dropping his, when I pulled back.
“You’re not in any danger. Not yet. That’s why I have to get away from you. I just wanted to… I guess… try to make you understand first, that I’m not a bad guy. I’m really not.”
I stared at him, wondering what the hell he was messed up in, and how it involved me, or Cassidy.
“So you knew Cassidy already? Before we met?”
He stared at me, his face suddenly looking older, weary.
“Jesus… yeah, let’s start there. I met her. As part of this whole mess I’m caught up in. I didn’t know she was your friend. Not until the day I asked her to call you. Suddenly I’d put two and two together, and it shouldn’t have taken me so long, but it just never occurred to me. I knew Cass through others. I didn’t… when I realised, I begged her to call you. Gave her your number. I knew she could help you, where I couldn’t. I swear, if I’d realised sooner, I’d have done exactly the same thing, just earlier.”
“And she’s really okay?” Suddenly that was the most important thing to me. Not this. Not him. But that my friend, the person I’d been so afraid for, was safe and well.
He shrugged. “Seems to be. She’s protected, well looked after. She seems happy there.” He seemed to be choosing his words carefully.
“And this Ben guy… he’s good?”
Adam sighed, looking out the window. “She’s happy, so he must be, right?”
“Did he do this to you?” I pointed at his injuries, and he snorted.
“Nah… that was Seb. Well… Marco punched me, and broke my nose. Seb was the one who decided to try and rearrange my ribcage.”
“Why?”
He stared at me then. “Because I upset Cass, when I asked her to contact you. They don’t like her being upset. In fact, it really pisses them off.”
“Them who?” He wasn’t making sense.
“The ones who are protecting her. I’m sorry, Julie. I can’t tell you more than that. Maybe she can. It’s not my place. Look… this isn’t… I can’t do this. I can’t put you in more danger. Use your phone. Call a taxi to pick you up. I’ll wait here with you.” He reached into the glove box of the car, and pulled out a phone. He powered it on, and flicked through it.
“I have a few taxi numbers programmed here, but I thought you’d feel safer choosing one yourself.”