Chapter 35

Shaw

       "You know, I wish you didn't bring Holden and Jane into this," I told my dad while we were heading to his house after a trip to the hardware store. He didn't tell me what he needed all the ropes, gloves, duct tape, and spray paint, and I didn't have a good feeling about it.

       "Oh, come on," Dad said. "The more the merrier. It will be easier getting revenge on Roman with four of us and not two."

       "And if Roman finds out about it, that will make Holden and Jane a bigger target," I said. "I didn't want them to get dragged further into this mess. You and I can handle them. I don't think Holden and Jane can't."

       "Then we have to make sure he doesn't find out," Dad said as he reached his house. "And it should be easy with all of these supplies."

       I furrowed my eyebrows as we walked into his house. "What exactly did you want all of these for?"

       "You know the best kind of revenge?" Dad asked, closing the door behind me. "The one where they get to taste their own medicine."

       I felt a lot more confused, but it didn't take me long to realize exactly what Dad wanted to do. "No. Oh, no no no."

       "Oh, yes," Dad said with a smirk.

       "We're not going to kidnap Roman, Dad," I said. "That's not going to play out well. If anything, the police will believe him and we'll get arrested for it."

       "Well, I don't see you coming up with any ideas," Dad said.

       "I just want us to expose him for the liar and threatening person he is," I said. "I don't care how we do it as long as it's not illegal because it's obvious the police have a liking towards him."

       "It's only illegal if we got caught," Dad said.

       "Okay, I think I made the wrong choice going to you for help," I said. "I can't avoid to go to jail. I have three kids I have to help take care of. I have a husband who just recently got out of surgery and has damage to his brain. They all need me in their lives, so we have to play things by the rules."

       "Fine, but we'll only have a smaller chance of taking him down if we have to be all goody-goody and play by the rules," Dad said. "But I'm still going to make sure these supplies get put to good use. So don't get mad if I just so happen to, let's say, bend the rules."

       "You're unbelievable," I said, right as there was a knock on the front door and since Dad and I were still standing by it, I opened it. Jane and Holden were there, so I let them into the house before closing the door behind them.

       "Did you find anything out about Roman?" Dad asked.

       "Oh, definitely," Jane said. "We even found out exactly why he's been getting these free passes from kidnapping Holden and Marcy, threatening me, and getting into a fight with Shaw."

       "This I would like to hear," I said.

       "I'm not sure you do," Holden said.

       "Why?" I asked.

       "So Jane and I walked all around the village, seeing if we could find him to follow him around," Holden said. "We finally found him in The Gold Mine. On a date. With none other than Viola."

       "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" I asked, feeling my blood start to boil. "My sister is on a date with the man who's trying to ruin my life?"

       "Okay, Shaw, forget what you said about not doing anything illegal," Dad said. "The more Roman messes with you, the more he's going to tear my family apart and I get protective of my family. So I say we go back to my first plan."

       "For the love of... We're not kidnapping Roman!" I said. "If we're going to take him down, we have to be more cunning than him."

       "Then we're going to have to get more help than just us," Dad said. "Roman is an expert mastermind. We're just a group of people that consist of an alcoholic and two teenagers, one of which has brain damage."

       Dad just didn't have a filter on his mouth.

       He needed one.

       "Alright, you can insult me all you want, but don't you go insulting my husband too," I said.

       "No, your dad's right, Shaw," Holden said.

       "I didn't just hear my dad and right in the same sentence, did I?" I asked. 

       "I'm being serious," Holden said. "Trust me, I really don't want to get anymore people involved but what else could we do? We can't go breaking laws to get revenge on Roman. We're going to have to actually come up with a plan that exposes him."

       "Exactly," Dad said. "See, Shaw? He has more brains than you and he's missing a lot of brain cells."

       "Do you ever think before you speak?" I asked.

       "Nope," Dad said. "So, any ideas who can join our master plan? We're going to need someone cunning, knowledgeable, brave, sneaky."

       Holden sighed. "I do know two perfect people, but they're the only two I'm not willing to bring into this mess, considering one of them is technically the one that started this whole mess with Roman."

       I gave Holden a look that told him to shut up. Dad and Jane didn't know I wasn't the one to kill Cassidy, and I would rather keep it that way. More and more people were finding out, and I didn't want it happening.

       "Wait, I thought this whole mess started because Shaw killed Roman's sister," Jane said. 

       "It's complicated," I said quickly. "Holden's family's past with Cassidy, Roman's sister."

       "Shaw," Dad said. "Don't tell me this whole time you've been covering for someone."

        I sighed. "Like I said, it's complicated."

        "Are you serious?" Dad said. "You're letting Roman go after you because of it! He is doing a lot of awful things he shouldn't, including kidnapping your daughter!"

        "Yes, I know, thank you for the reminder," I said. "I didn't know Cassidy had a brother when I covered for the person who actually killed her. I only covered for him because he's just a kid. He was sixteen when it happened and he would have been sent to prison because of how it happened. I know what it's like for it to feel like your life has been thrown away. I'm not letting it happen to him so whatever you do, you cannot let Roman know that it wasn't me."

       "Who was it?" Dad asked, but I didn't say anything. "Well, come on, spit it out. If I'm going to be protecting the kid that actually did it and making sure Roman doesn't go anywhere near him, I need to know who it is."

       When my dad came back to Spruceworth, I didn't think I could ever trust him. He abandoned me and it made me feel like he didn't want anything to do with me. I didn't trust him coming back.

       But I trusted him now. Not only that, but he had known Julian since he and Noah were born. He was close to them, to all of the Eatons, before he took off. They were all like his nephews. Family. He would protect them.

       "Julian," I said. "It was Julian."

       "Holden's younger brother?" Dad asked and I nodded. "Then don't worry about it. If Roman ever brings him into the mix, whether he knows the truth or he's doing it to get back at you, Roman will regret it even more. But we still need someone else to help."

       "It would help if we knew someone who knew a lot about Roman," Jane said.

       Holden looked as if an idea just struck him. "I do. I mean, I hope I do. Calvin, my cousin. Everyone calls him the eye of Spruceworth. Seriously, he knows anything and everything that's going on with every person living in the village. I don't know how, but he does. He even knew about me and Shaw before we said anything, and we never showed any affection in public."

       "Are you sure you want to bring him into this?" I asked. "It's already dangerous for the four of us. Anyone else who joins will immediately be put in danger."

       "It's going to be up to him," Holden said. "But if anyone can help us take Roman down, it's Calvin."

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yes my son calvin i miss you so much even though you're in some chapters here and there and you were in last chapter.

but more calvin yayyyyyyy.

aww i remember when i was writing calvin's book. that was two books ago oof.

WHO'S READY FOR THE FALL OF ROMAN?