Termination Man: a novel by Trimnell Edward

Author:Trimnell, Edward [Trimnell, Edward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-10-16T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 43

Alyssa was sitting in Tim McKnight’s office with her mother when she derailed the criminal proceedings—just as Shawn had ordered her to do.

She didn’t exactly change her story. That was impossible, given what her mother had witnessed. She merely indicated that she didn't want to testify—wouldn’t testify, in fact.

“What are you saying?” Donna asked, aghast, when Alyssa dropped this bombshell.

As expected, her mother received the news like a slap in the face. Alyssa knew, of course, that her own timing could not have been worse. She should have spoken with Donna before this meeting, in private, without the county prosecutor for an audience.

But she had been procrastinating—wavering. She knew that her mother was dead-set on moving the legal process forward. She also knew that Shawn Myers would kill them both if she went along with it.

“So you’re saying that I attacked our largest customer by mistake?” Donna went on. “Is that what you’re saying?”

Alyssa could see the color rising in her mother’s cheeks. Now the interrogation would follow. If only her mother would let this go. She had no idea that both of their lives were in danger. She had no idea that this was the only way she could possibly save them.

Alyssa had briefly contemplated telling her mother about Shawn’s visit. She had just as quickly decided that this would only make certain that Shawn would carry out the worst of his threats. She couldn't tell Donna the whole truth. Given her mother’s volatile temper, that news would send her off the deep end. She would take some precipitous step that would only get her killed. Her mother was impetuous. She always wanted to “take the bull by the horns,” didn’t she? Well, that wouldn’t work with a crazy man like Shawn Myers.

Donna would immediately call the police, and then she would confront Shawn Myers. Probably take after him with the mop handle again. Shawn would deny that he had had ever been in the house. She knew that he would have been clever enough to cover his tracks, to leave no fingerprints.

And what about the police? Would the police protect her? Well, the police hadn’t been able to protect her so far, had they? What protection could they provide, given that they obviously had no intention of arresting Shawn Myers and holding him in jail? Would they assign her and her mother police escorts every time they left home? Would they maintain a patrol car at the end of their driveway?

She knew better. New Hastings was a small town, and she was no one important. She and her mother were on their own.

So this was the only way. If pushed further into a corner, Shawn’s next response would be to kill Donna. Shawn had explicitly promised as much. With her father no longer a regular part of her life, Alyssa had lost one parent already. She couldn't afford to lose her mother as well. Therefore, the best thing to do was to let this go—and then Shawn Myers would most likely go away and leave them alone.

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