Page 112 of To Believe In You
Shane grunted behind her, more distant than she expected. She tossed a glance back into the garage, then froze.
Shane wasn’t alone. A second man scuffled with him on the floor of the garage. A man who, instead of wearing a polo like Gannon’s security team would, wore a white T-shirt.
Shane crouched, on his way up. Still on the ground, Matt grabbed his ankle. Shaking off the hold left Shane stumbling.
Or had he bent close to the ground for another reason? He moved quickly as he spun back toward Matt, but Shane now gripped something in his hand.
“Matt, gun! He has a gun!”
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Matt found his footing and lifted his eyes.
Sure enough. Shane stood about eight feet from him, panting and holding a pistol in his right hand. He gripped it at chest height. Matt didn’t have much experience with guns, but he’d heard accurate aim required lifting the weapon to eye level. A cold comfort. At this range, it’d be hard to miss.
The car offered the closest cover, but ducking behind it would mean moving farther from Lina, whose good sense must’ve fled without her. She remained at the mouth of the garage.
Matt stood his ground. He didn’t want to die today, but he couldn’t both hide and protect Lina. “Run!”
She blinked. Bit her lip. And then took a step the wrong direction, hands partially raised as if Shane were already aiming at her.
Matt would have to survive this, if only to talk sense into her.
Attempting to keep Shane’s interest, Matt notched his hands higher. Drawing a breath to speak ignited pain in his ribs. Shane had to be hurting, too, since landing on the guy’s arm when he’d tackled him had caused Matt’s injury. “You don’t want to do this. Just go. Free and clear.”
“I need the money.”
“What money?”
“From the stamp book. Do you know where it is?”
Matt shot a glance to Lina, who mouthed,It’s not here.
Sweat beaded at Shane’s temples. “I would’ve settled for the commission on the property, but no. Now I’m left with scraps.”
“You already got the jewelry. That’s more than scraps.”
Shane’s gaze shifted closer to Lina.
To retain his attention, Matt spoke faster, louder. “Whatever money you think you need won’t do you any good if you’re rotting in jail on a murder charge.”
“You think jail’s the worst thing that could happen to me?”
According to Lina, Shane had a gambling problem. An addiction. That would explain this—escalating consequences and yet Shane couldn’t walk away.
Matt may not have held a gun to anyone, but he also hadn’t been able to stop himself in the thick of addiction. Making amends for his own disastrous actions might take the rest of his life. And then some. “No, man, I don’t think jail’s the worst thing that could happen to you.”
Shane’s chest heaved.
“The worst thing is the regret.” Matt swallowed. “The worst part is knowing no matter how I live from here on, I’m the guy who went that far off the rails, hurt everyone I’ve ever loved, lost control of myself. You know what you don’t realize until it’s too late? You can never make amends. Not the kind that will give your soul peace anyway.”
Matt’s own words stopped him. Since when had he been depending on amends to give his soul peace? Hadn’t he known from the moment he stood over Auggie’s body that he would never be enough, could never fix himself or his mistakes, could never save himself? Helpless, he’d turned his life over to God, yet somewhere in the twelve steps, he’d adopted a new plan to right his own wrongs by paying back his parents, by being the man Nadia and Axel and Awestruck and even Lina needed.
How foolish. How doomed. No wonder he hadn’t been at peace.
“There is hope in Jesus.” And nowhere else.
Shane sneered. “Save it.”
