Chapter 4
One month later
“I’ve been thinking about us moving back to Lavenham once you’re up to it,” I say, offering Jonathan another steaming cup of coffee, the third one of the day. “Unless you’d like to stay here,” I add, thinking that after the assault, he’d want to leave just as much as I do.
“I’d go anywhere with you, Miranda. Just name the place. We can find a tiny little house out in the fields or stay in the city and make it our home. But first, I want to talk to you about something.”
His voice has suddenly turned serious and a frown has settled on his handsome face. “What is it, honey? You know you can tell me anything.”
“I know you went over to the police station a couple of times about the assault. What do they think? Any chance they are going to identify those men?”
“They already tried. I asked Josh for the names they had given him and the police ran them through their database. It turns out they were false. Then, they showed me several possible suspects but I would have recognized those two anywhere.”
“So…” his voice trails off, prompting me to continue.
“So we’ll just leave it. See how it goes.”
“That’s just the thing, babe. I don’t want to leave it. These men almost killed me. And they humiliated you in public. I want them behind bars.”
“It’s an unfair world we’re living in, Jonathan. More times than not, these kinds of people never get caught.”
“And they keep on doing the same thing over and over again. I’m sorry, babe. I just can’t accept that.”
“So what do you propose we do? Go out asking who they were ourselves? Pick up a weapon and start roaming the streets in case we run into them? And then what? We stab them too?”
“I just want justice to be served, Miranda. This is a very small neighborhood and a tight-knit community from what little you’ve already told me. I’m sure someone knows who they were and where to find them.”
“Why can’t we just let it go, J? Go on with our lives, pretend it never happened? We have so much to think about as it is.”
“But it did happen. Can you imagine if they had shot me? I’d be dead right now. Frankly, I don’t understand why you’re being so dismissive.”
I reach for my glass of water and take a long sip before I speak next. This might be far-fetched, but if he wants this kind of closure, there is only one man I can think of who can give him that. The thing is, I’m terrified of the kind of payment he will expect in return.
“There’s someone that may be able to help us find out who they were,” I croak and that gets his attention.
“Who’s that?”
“You remember the gangly kid that used to visit my house every Sunday for lunch? My stepbrother?”
“Sebastian?”
“Exactly. He’s some kind of gang leader these days and I think this is part of his turf. If anyone can help us, it’s him.”
He scratches his beard, surprise showing all over his face. “What kind of gang? Like mobster stuff?”
“Pretty much. He’s affiliated with the Bratva and I’m pretty sure he has friends in all the right places.”
“That’s great, babe. Can you call him? Tell him what happened?”
“Jonathan,” I say, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. “Sebastian and I are not close. And he never does anything for free. Knowing him, if he even agrees to help, he’ll be sure to gain something out of our interaction.”
It’s Jonathan’s turn to gulp down the remainder of coffee while my mind is racing, thinking of all the possible outcomes. “Like, money, right?”
“No, nothing like that. Sebastian has a shitload of money. He’d probably want something, um more explicit, to put it eloquently.”
“Explicit? Why would you say that? Do you mean with me? Because you can’t possibly mean with you, you’re his stepsister!” His voice raises with each word spoken.
I don’t want to disclose our previous encounter, so I remain vague. “It’s possible J. He could want to sleep with either of us. We would have to be prepared for that type of request. Could you handle that?”