Let Me Go (27 page)

“You’re right. I don’t know. But I can help
you now. I can help you get clean.”

“Ha, you think I haven’t tried over the
years? I have. It amounts to nothing. Once a user, always a user.
Hell, at least I fucking know it. And at least I know this is my
life.”

“But, this place, look around you, how can
you live like this.”

“This is how I’ve always lived. You think
you can just clean up and move past this? You can’t. Once this is a
part of you, you don’t get out. You live and breathe and you die
this life. But I don’t want your fucking pity and I sure as hell
don’t want your help. And I know you didn’t come here for a
happily-ever-after, so what the hell do you want from me?”

That snapped Kat back to reality. She would
have to figure out a way to help her sister, somehow, but not
today.

“I’m here for Mason Tredwell.”

“Who?” Katherine asked.

“You falsely accused him of rape,” Kat
stated.

“Who? Oh, wait, was he the hot-shot doctor
who thought he was better than me? And what the fuck do you know
about falsely accusing and shit?”

“I know he didn’t rape you.”

“Maybe, maybe not. He deserved it
though.”

“No one deserves that.”

“He thought he was better than me. He
thought I was a no-good piece of shit that he could sneer at and
toss out. I needed something back then, something stronger than I
do now and he didn’t give a shit. So there, fuck him.”

“So, it was revenge, huh?”

“Yeah, so what of it. He still locked up?”
Katherine asked, her hard demeanor was back.

“No, he’s out.”

“And what the fuck do you care about him?
And what do you want with me? And how the hell do you even know
him?”

“I love him. And he loves me. But he thinks
I’m you and that I ruined his life. So we have that hanging over
us. Not to mention the fact that you did ruin his life, so I need
you to clear his name. We’ll go to the police and clear his
name.”

“Fuck no.”

“All right, we can go now…wait, what?”

“I said fuck no,” Katherine repeated.

“But why?”

“First off, I haven’t even thought about
that fucker for a long time. He got what was coming to him.”

“How can you say that?” Kat asked,
shocked.

“This is my life. I see you looking at me
and this place like you can change the world. And yeah, maybe I got
a bit of a soft spot for you seeing as how you’re the life I could
have lived. But let’s make something clear, I’m not you. I’m not
going to be. This is my life, not yours. This is how it works. I
don’t get my needs handled, I get revenge.”

“But I love him and he’s a good man. He
doesn’t deserve this. Do this for that soft spot you got for
me.”

“Look, sister dearest, even if I wanted to
help you, and this would be for you and not for him, fuck him, I
couldn’t.”

“What? Why?”

“Because that means I lied. Because that
means I’d be going to jail. He already served his time, doesn’t do
us good if I served too. And in this world, if it’s me or him, it’s
gonna be me. So get the fuck out of my place and go back to your
picture perfect life. Forget about me and whatever sick shit you
have cooking in your head.”

Katherine practically dragged Kat out and
she was surprised by the strength of the fragile looking woman. She
noticed a woman sitting with the boy she saw before and figured she
was his mom, but she only had a moment to pay attention before
Katherine threw her out.

“Stay the fuck out of my life and I’ll stay
out of yours,” Katherine said.
“This isn’t over,” Kat said keeping the door open with sheer will.
“I’m going to bug you every day for the rest of your life until you
give in and make things right.”

“Not going to happen.”

“You’ll see,” Kat said when the door finally
slammed in her face.

She could have stayed there, pounding on the
door, waiting it out until someone opened it, but that wouldn’t do
her any good. She was defeated and upset and angry. And she just
learned a whole new side of herself and her life that she had yet
to process. She needed to go home, talk to Trent, and then curl up
and cry while she figured out her next strategy. She had such high
hopes and now they were dashed to shit.

Chapter 40

Mason had spent
the days after his encounter with Kat wondering what the heck was
going on. She cared about him; that was obvious. And she even told
him she wanted to be with him, but she needed time. He didn’t know
what she needed time for. It almost felt like she was up to
something. And he couldn’t figure out what the heck it was.

Everything was starting to get incredibly
weird. He had started thinking that maybe he was losing his
mind.

He told all this to Benny after he chewed
him out for lying to Kat. But all Benny had to say for his actions
was, “Hey, you two were acting like stupid little kids. You should
be thanking me instead of pissing me off. Maybe next time, I’ll let
you stew in your own self-pity for a little while longer just for
this.” And he was right, so Mason ended up thanking Benny in the
end instead. “That’s more like it,” Benny replied.

When he told him how Kat had reacted, Benny
told him he already had a feeling she was up to something. Benny
admitted that if he really wanted to, he could figure it out. He
could use his resources or follow her and he’d know, but he had
come to care for Kat as a friend and didn’t want to violate her
trust any more than he already had. He also told Mason that if she
really wanted them to know, she would have told them. But if Mason
was dying to figure things out, he’d find out for him, because,
after all, as much as he cared about Kat, Mason was still his
number one guy.

Mason knew Benny was probably right and
brushed it off for now. He told Benny he chose to believe it was
some amazing surprise for him or them that she was working on and
it was just taking longer than they hoped
. Yep, that’s what he
told himself.
But, deep down, in the back of his mind, he knew
it was more than that, he just didn’t want to acknowledge it. He
got his proof that she still cared and that was all he needed to
keep going for a while.

He was lost in his thoughts, thinking about
Kat and how long she would stay away, when he heard a knock on his
door. He opened it and he thought he was dreaming. There, standing
in his doorway, was Kat. But she looked awful. She had aged years.
Her hair was stringy and she wasn’t the bright spirit she was just
days before.
What the hell had happened to her in a few short
days?

“Hey, Mason.” She spoke and it was her
voice, her sweet lyrical voice, but the way she said his name
sounded forced.

He couldn’t help it, he was so damn happy to
have her back that he reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her into
a tight hug. She hugged him back, but her arms were limp on him and
then she patted his back.

“Oh my God, Kat, I’m so happy you’re here. I
missed you so much and then the other day, you gave me hope, but I
didn’t know how long I’d have to wait for you. But, now, you’re
here. Does that mean you are here to stay? Oh God, please say
you’re done running from me.” The words came out as if they were
one long run-on sentence.

Kat just stood there, blinking at him.

“Kat? Are you okay? You look like you’ve
been through the ringer. What happened? What happened to you in the
last few days?”

“Oh, yeah, about that,” she answered, “I’ve
had some time to think about us and all, but I need more time. And,
you see, I need some money to keep me going.”

“But what about the account I set up for
you?” Mason asked. Something was off. Kat seemed strange.

A look of surprise flickered across her face
before she composed herself. “Oh, that. Well, I needed to use the
money for some things, so it’s all gone. Now I need more.”

“What? How could you have used it all up? Is
everything okay? Tell me you are all right.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just been
thinking about us and how much I love you and all that. And well,
I’ve been trying to get back on my feet before I can really be with
you, so I just need more money. That’s all. I know you’re good for
it. And besides, you love me, right? You’d do anything for me.”

“Kat, what’s gotten into you?” She was
acting funny. Something was off.

“Nothing darling. I thought you’d be happy I
was here, telling you just how much I love you. I just need a
little more money to settle some things and then we can live
happily ever after.”

“What do you need to settle? I’ll help you.
Please don’t shut me out, I’ll help you.” He was pleading. Whatever
she had gotten into must have been bad for her to come begging for
more money. He wanted to be there for her; he needed to be there
for her.

“I don’t need your help. Just some cash to
get me settled.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Mason asked as he
grabbed her and looked into her eyes. They were dull, no life in
them. And that’s when he knew everything he believed was a lie.

“You’re using again.” It wasn’t a
question.

“What? What are you talking about baby? I
just need some cash so I can settle some things and get back to
you.”

“What things?” he asked.

“Some things,” she replied.

“Drugs?”

“No baby, I love you. I wouldn’t do that to
you, to us.”

“Oh my God, just fucking brilliant. Just
fucking fantastic. You used me! You fucking used me.”

“No, Mason, baby, I love you.”

“Wow, your acting skills see no end. You
played me. I love you. Do you get that? I wasn’t acting. I fell in
love with you. I fell hard, and all this time, you were just using
me to let you go. Well, you’re out now. I gave you your freedom
after you played me. I even set you up with a place and money. And
yet, here you are, asking for more money to support your drug
habit.”

“That’s not what this is. I do love you. I
just need some money. Why are you being like this? You say you love
me, but you don’t want to help me.”

“Stop, just stop. I can’t take any more of
your games. You need to leave. You need to get the fuck away from
me.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you give me
some money.”

“It’s all about money with you, huh? Fine.
I’ll get you money. That’s all you wanted, right? Now get the fuck
away from me.”

“No, I love you. That’s why I want the money
so I can come back to you.”

“You don’t have to play anymore; I’ll put
more in your account.”

“How do I know you will? I need some now so
I can come back to you.”

“Don’t you get it, Kat? You might be a
Class-A, cold-hearted, manipulating bitch, but somewhere inside, I
know you can see it.”

“See what?”

“You’re breaking my fucking heart.” He
thought he saw a glimmer of sorrow pass through her eyes, but she
stiffened immediately and just stared at him.

“I believed all your lies instead of
believing the facts that I saw in front of me. You’ll get your
fucking money. But get the fuck out of the way and out of my
life.”

He pushed her out and slammed the door in
her face, the last thing he heard her saying was, “But I love you.”
Maybe she thought she did in some other life. But not in this one.
God! He was such a fucking idiot.
And now he knew it was all
one big lie.

Something didn’t sit right. She wasn’t the
same person she was just days ago.
What the fuck happened? How
could this all have occurred?
Because she was the queen
manipulator.

The reality of everything that just happened
finally sank in. Not only was Kat out of his life, but the Kat he
knew and loved was gone too. She never existed. He didn’t know how
he was going to survive. He didn’t know what he was going to
do.

And just like that, the tears came and he
could no longer stand. He fell into a pile on the floor, sobbing
loudly. Like he just lost the greatest thing that ever happened to
him. Because really, he did.

Chapter 41

Kat had told
Trent what had happened with Katherine and he told her he had
suspected as much.

“Did you think she would just be so darn
thrilled to finally meet her sister that she would go out and try
to make things right?”

“Yes!” Kat yelled in frustration.

“Come on, honey. Anyone who would send an
innocent guy to prison and have no qualms about it is definitely
not the type of person to just wake up one day and say, ‘Hey, I
should go right some wrongs.’”

“Well, when you put it like that,” Kat
whined. “Then what the hell am I going to do?”

“You’re going to have to get a confession
out of her.”

“That’s what I was hoping for!”

“How old are you? Five?” Trent laughed.
“Stop whining and start working. You want to get her confession on
tape. Record her admitting she falsely accused him.”

“She didn’t even technically admit it to me.
She said he got what was coming to him. I asked about revenge, but
she never said he didn’t actually rape her.”

“Well, then, you are going to have to make
it very clear and get her to admit she is a lying, scheming
devil.”

“Is it wrong that I feel sort of bad for
her? I mean, she is my blood, my sister. And in all honesty, she
was right about me not knowing about her life. What my mom, our
mom, did to her was really messed up. Can you blame her for being
that way? Maybe all I need to do is try to help her get clean. And
then, maybe if she’s thinking with a clear head, she will want to
tell the police she was wrong.”

“Oh, Kat. You are truly an amazing and
wonderful person. Your heart is bigger than most people I know. And
that’s why you care and I wouldn’t expect you not to. But let’s be
realistic. She’s not going to magically get clean because you want
her to. And if she thinks she’s going to get in trouble for falsely
accusing Mason, then even if she’s clean, you think she’s going to
choose a complete stranger over herself? Most good people wouldn’t
do that.”