Fear - 27

"I know. Been there, done that, as they say," Gene replied. "I finally had enough, though, and left him again. That time it took. He begged; he pleaded with me. He even threatened me, but I stood my ground. Eventually he gave up and moved on."

"To someone new he could… control?"

"I don't know. I never tried to find out. All I cared about was that I was free of him."

"I'll never be free of Jared," Shawn whispered. "He'll be back. As soon as I leave here, he'll come looking for me. He needs me."

Gene wanted to shake him and say 'He doesn't need you. Not the way you want him to'. It took all his willpower not to state that. "If it happens…" he said instead, "if he does show up, you have to decide if you need him or if you want a life that's not filled with fear of what will happen the next time he doesn't approve of something you do or someone you know."

"I…guess."

Gene squeezed Shawn's arm. "You know. You just have to face it."

"Will you…? If I decide to…? Can you call Mr. Spitzer?"

"I said I would."

"Thank you." Shawn closed his eyes. "I think… I'm tired now."

Gene chuckled. "I'm not surprised. Go to sleep. I'll call Max and let you know in the morning what he said."

"Make him say yes," Shawn murmured.

"I don't think there'll be any problem with that."

"Go…od…"

* * * *

"What about Jared?" Max said when Gene finished explaining why he'd called.

"No one's seen him and so far he hasn't tried to contact Shawn, for what that's worth."

"Do you think he'll try to, if he figures out Shawn might have come back here?"

"It's possible. I know somewhere deep inside, Shawn's hoping he will."

"Damn it! Hasn't the kid learned his lesson yet?" Gene could hear Max's angry sigh over the phone.

"I'd say he's working in that direction. Whether it takes is something else again."

"I'll tell you one thing," Max growled. "If the bastard shows up at the garage, he'll wish to hell he hadn't." He tempered his tone, asking, "Where's Shawn going to stay if he does come back? It can't be at the motel. That's the first, or second, place Jared would look for him."

"I agree. You don't happen to know of anyone who has a spare room to rent, do you?"

"No more than you probably do but I'll ask around. Push comes to shove he can stay with me and the wife. We've got Donny's room which is vacant since he went off to college. I don't think he'd mind if we let Shawn use it until he can find a place of his own."

"That would be perfect," Gene said enthusiastically. He knew Shawn would be safe there. Hell, Max would probably shoot first and ask questions later if Jared so much as set a foot on his property.

"Okay, I'll talk to Linda and if she's all right with it—and Donny too. Shawn's got a place to stay."