CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

JAMESON:

Present day…

Axel and his father headed to the back of the plane, I assumed to talk things out. Estranged since the summer he'd graduated with his bachelor's, Axel and his father hadn't spoken. I always thought it was because he got engaged to a girl Paul didn't approve of. Then when he broke it off with Had ley after she graduated, I knew that couldn't be the reason. Axel, closed lipped about everything personal, never revealed the reason. I see he had kept more hidden than I had ever imagined.

Then again, so had I. Axel knew about my sex toy business. Although he wasn't my lawyer, he looked over each and every one of my contracts as a favor to me. And yes, he knew about Shelia from the start. He encouraged me to celebrate my divorce in any manner I needed to. 

And I damn glad I took his advice. I met Vegas and my life...my faith in decency was restored. Shelia had all but broken it with her affairs. I bet even now she was with someone at her "conference." I didn't give a damn. I was moving forward with Vegas and Kale...my beautiful baby girl.

"Jae, is there a place where I can make a few calls?"

"Sure, I have a small office just past the lavatory." My jet wasn't as big as they came, but with a lounge area, a full-sized bathroom, and an office, it wasn't half bad.

Shondra gave me a smile of thanks. When she was out of earshot, I called Vegas.

"Hey," she said. Then she giggled.

"What?"

"You won't believe the conversation I had. I still can't believe it happened."

Weary as I was, adrenaline shot through my system, giving me a second wind. "What's going on, Vegas?"

She told me. At the end of her wild tale, all I could do was laugh. 

***

We arrived on Paul's private island in the afternoon, closer to dinner time than to lunch. The balmy breeze carried the salt of the ocean and tossed everyone's hair. I had got a few winks of sleep, despite Axel's raised voice.

He had berated his father for allowing William to live, and that "he would do something about it."

I let them be. The conversation of Axel gaining control over his life was long overdue. It was best to let them hash it out, get all their grievances out in the open before we got to the island.

Axel needed to break free from his father's clutches once and for all, same as I needed to break free from Shelia's. Vegas told me of Mrs. Ehrenberg's desire to help. I planned to take her up on it as soon as I returned. 

***

When the plane stopped, we all piled out and stepped into the limo. A contrite Paul and angry Axel sat opposite a silent Shondra and a concerned me. On the way to confront William, reality hit—

My brother might get himself into serious trouble.

"Axel, man, are you okay?"

The ice-blue eyes he turned on me were flat...deadly.

He wasn't. Not at all.

"I'm done talking, Jameson. It's best if you leave me alone."

Paul shifted slightly away from his son. Shondra let out a small sigh. I stared at my friend until the harsh intensity of his gaze made me look away. All I could do was try to hold Axel back when the time came.

We headed up to the third floor. I walked in front along with Mr. Jones, Gilliam's burly caretaker. Shondra was next, and Paul and Axel brought up the rear. Paul murmured to his son. Snatches of Paul's pleas for calm floated to me.

"—he's sick."

"— your half-brother."

"Think about what your mother—"

We had reached the landing when Axel whirled on his father. His face a mask of fury. "Don't... under any circumstances... bring Mom into this. Had she known what kind of sick bastard he was, she would have gotten rid of him."

Shondra stepped to him, placing a hand on his arm, which bulged from tension. "I've forgiven him, Axel. You should too. You can't blame a person who has a mental illness. That's like blaming a baby for catching a house on fire."

Axel looked at her with eyes full of pain. "Sho, how can you forgive the guy who killed our son?"

"It wasn't easy. I blamed him...and... I blamed a lot of other people."

Axel stepped back, his eyes went glassy. "You blamed me?"

"I did."

Axel sucked in a breath as if he were lacking oxygen.

Shondra wrapped her arms around him and said, "Will you forgive me? For leaving you? For walking away? Will you forgive me for all the bad I've done?"

Axel was stiff in her arms, his muscles cording and bunching. I was ready to intervene when he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair. "Only if you forgive me, Sho. I should have fought for you instead of letting you go. You are my life, always have been."

A door down the corridor opened, and the person we all came here to see emerged from the gloom. His shaggy curls stuck to his head like corkscrews, and his beard resembled the fur of a farmyard animal. His gray T-shirt fell off one shoulder and his blue sweatpants hung loosely on his gaunt frame. "Oh! Guests! Are you here to see me?" He waved us forward with childlike glee. "Then let's get started."

William and his room smelled like death. A strong, sickly-sweet odor barely masked the dead animal smell. Shondra smelled it too. Her eyes grew wide and filled with fear. Paul and Axel seemed oblivious. They gazed around the room, taking in the decor of cream, light blue and white. Paul, in low tones, asked the caretaker a question while Axel stood on Shondra's right side with his arms crossed over his chest.

No one sat, not even when William offered us the window seat close to his bed.

He shrugged off our refusal and pulled open the French doors that led to a small balcony. The view overlooked the ocean waves, which rocketed against the shore many feet below.

Paul's mansion was on a cliff and the scenery was beautiful blue waves and sandy shores for miles. I suspected Paul gave William this room to give him peace.

Despite the situation, I almost relaxed. Almost. The burly caretaker placed himself between the two brothers and tensed, ready for action. Still, I doubted if he alone could hold Axel back once he got going.

William clapped his hands, smiling. "So we're all together as a family! You too, Shondra. After a long glance in her direction, he turned and pointed a finger at me. "I don't know you."

His gaze was calculating and cold, quiet, unlike the friendly one he wore when he invited us to his room.

"I'm Jameson. Axel's friend."

"Best friend," Axel murmured, flicking me a smile that soon faded under the glare he held for his half-brother.

It cheered my heart Axel was thinking along those lines and not rushing William like I thought he would.

Or maybe...it was all a ploy to relax us into thinking he wouldn't.

I moved closer to the burly caretaker, pining my eyes on Axel. This position put me at a disadvantage, given most of my back was to William. Seeing as how he'd attacked Sho, I'd rather have him in my sights, but my duty to protect my best friend was more important.

"Well, that is nice. Wonderful! I never had one of those." William shrugged and pulled at his four-inch beard. The way his hands tangled the strands, I understood why it was so messy. William carried on, his eyes tearing, "I was always the loner, the outcast. The weird one in the corner."

Axel grunts. "Is that why you hurt, Sho? Is that why you killed my child?"

Gilliam's bottom lip quivered, and his eyes overflowed with tears. "I'm sorry for that. So sorry."

It was then that everything happened in fast motion.

Axel moved forward. Shondra screamed, whirled, and held onto his arm, digging her heels in to the carpet. Paul stepped away from the fray. The caretaker and I surged forward, pinning a snarling Axel back. William cackled, enraging Axel even more. He strained in our grasp with the strength of ten men.

We lost ground.

Sho and I pleaded with Axel to remain calm.

I looked to Paul for help, but he had his attention on someone else. He gave William a nod and SS we continue to struggle with Axel, I heard William say, "Yes! Yes! It's time!"

Ignoring the bizarre exchange between William and Paul, I turned my head to make sure William wasn't sneaking up on us.

He wasn't.

William, quicker than a bolt of lightning, ran to the balcony and sat on the railing, his hands white knuckling the cold dark metal. The sky behind him was a brilliant blue. Wispy clouds moved along with the wind in a hurried pace. A lone seagull wailed overhead.

With a smile, William let go, throwing his body backward. He didn't even let out a scream...

***

We had to wait a day and a half before the authorities cleared us to leave the island. There were no authorities on the private island, so they had to fly in from the nearest capital.

Vegas, that giving soul, cried more than any of us...all of us. Out of our quartet, I don't believe not one of us shed a tear.

And I hated that. Hated that I couldn't mourn Gilliam's passing as a human being, despite what he had done.