Instantly I felt Adams hauling me up, dragging me away from him. He held me tightly around the waist with one arm, maintaining a safe distance while he waited to see how Richard would respond. Breathing hard and fast, making myself dizzy in the process, I watched as Richard whined and writhed on the floor. When he rolled onto his back, I gasped as I saw that he’d fallen onto his knife and was choking, as blood was pumping out of the deep gash in his stomach, turning the golden oak flooring around him a deep shade of ruby.
‘You brought this on yourself, Richard,’ I cried as he gasped for air. Hot tears traced tracks down my cheeks as my chest rattled with a whole slew of confusing emotions, as I held his gaze and watched the light dimming in his eyes. I’d told Dawn once that I didn’t have it in me to kill someone. But it looked like maybe I did after all. ‘You shaped me. I’d never have become a tiger if it wasn’t for you,’ I whispered, as the room started to spin and my vision started to fade.
The crash I’d feared happening before the police had time to arrive and arrest him, hit me the second I heard him draw his last breath. I heard myself sob Castle’s name as I crumpled and Adams caught me.
Chapter Eighteen
Alex
February
Pepper Island
I OPENED THE DOOR to the newly renovated beach house and walked in with a sigh, sadness seeping from my pores at the thought that I wouldn’t be staying here again. I had such fond memories of the place, which would stay with me for a lifetime. And I knew only too well how precious memories were. Some things in life weren’t meant to be tangible, so you had to hold them in your head and your heart instead.
I walked across the glass floor, the usual myriad of beautiful fish below oblivious to my presence, and stood at the bi-fold doors looking out at the brilliant sunshine and calm waters. They were a total contrast to the last time I’d been in here during the hurricane.
‘You’d better find another room to sleep in, Izzie Knight, or whatever the hell your name is now, as I ain’t sharing mine with no one. And I’ll kick your arse if you so much as look at me the wrong way,’ came a thick Glaswegian accent from behind me.
I was transported back in time to another continent and era as I spun around, my heart racing with hope and excitement, then gasped in shock. Standing in the doorway to the kitchen was Shaz Mackie. She’d barely changed, other than looking a bit older, like I did. She still had those freckles across her nose and a mop of wild red hair. My mouth opened and closed as I tried to find words, but I felt like I was dreaming. It couldn’t be possible that she was standing there in front of me, half way around the world after so many years. Could it?
‘You ain’t got a hug for your oldest friend?’ she asked as we just stared at each other.
‘How?’ I managed to utter. Then smiled softy. ‘Castle.’
‘You bagged yourself a good one this time, Iz,’ she grinned, then her face changed as her eyes dropped to take in my sling and plaster cast, and the wires sticking out of my fingers to help the bones knit together and heal. She shook her head slowly. ‘I shoulda put my foot down when you told me you were leaving with him, I knew he was bad news, I just knew it! I coulda fought harder for you to stay, and I woulda spared you all of those years of pain,’ she whispered. A mask of guilt covered her face as she lifted it back up to fix me with a sorrowful expression.
‘Don’t, just don’t okay?’ I choked. ‘Shoulda, coulda, woulda. I’ve spent those years carrying enough blame for the both of us, and if I hadn’t left with him, I’d never have met and fallen in love with the most amazing man, Shaz. Richard told me that destiny was inescapable and he was right, it led me to Castle, and now he’s led me right back to you. I’ve missed you, so much,’ I added in a whisper as my eyes prickled when tears started to form.
‘Not half as much as I missed you,’ she sniffed, showing some rare emotion as she started to cry, forcing me to let go of my tears too. ‘Can we just hug now, and catch up on all of the good things that have happened to us in the last fifteen years?’
‘I owe you a whole lot of humble pie first,’ I reminded her. I threw out a laugh between my tears of happiness, dragging the back of my good hand across my eyes.
‘Screw humble pie,’ she scoffed as she ran and threw herself at me. She enveloped me in one of the most welcome hugs I’d ever been a recipient of.
We clung to each for a few minutes in silence, rocking as we cried out the emotion of a long overdue reunion, and just like that I was back at St. Catherine’s with a big sister to protect me again.
‘Promise me we’ll never lose touch, ever again, no matter what,’ I pleaded.
‘I promise, Alex. Christ, that just doesn’t sound right at all,’ she laughed.
‘And you don’t,’ I stated as we finally broke apart. ‘You haven’t once uttered “fuck” and you used to use it multiple times in a sentence.’
‘Yeah, well,’ she shrugged, her cheeks turning the same colour as her hair. ‘You have to be kinda adult and sensible when you have a kid that looks up to you for the way to behave.’
‘You have a child?’ I exclaimed, trying to bring my hands together into a clap, then laughed when I realised I couldn’t. ‘Boy or girl? How old? Who’s the dad, was it Tommy? Is he in the picture? Where do you live now? Still in Glasgow?’
‘Hey, slow down, we can’t cram all of those years into sixty seconds,’ she laughed, reaching up to wipe my tears away for me. ‘Her name’s Izzie. I know, right?’ she grinned as I let out a soft murmur of “awww,” totally touched. ‘I told you I’d missed you, naming her after you helped. She’s seven years old and she’s currently totally forgotten the jet lag we arrived with this morning, and is playing in Rosie’s bedroom. They get on as thick as thieves already. Two mini us, or is it us’s?’
‘Oh my God, how did he arrange all of this, my head is just spinning,’ I cried as I backed up and plopped myself down on the edge of the bed.
‘He said something about some guy being a wizard tracking people with online information, and he traced me from my maiden name, to my married name, then found out where I lived. Kind of scary he did it so easily.’
‘I tried,’ I whispered apologetically. ‘I came back to Glasgow, went to the flat and all of our old haunts, but without your new name I had no chance.’
‘I tried to find you too, but I only had his name, and that address you gave me was a fake. I didn’t know what else to do, and when I didn’t hear from you, I just thought you were telling me our friendship was over so I gave up. I’m so sorry.’
‘Let’s not take any blame for this, Shaz, it was his fault, all of this was his. Let’s just focus on making up for lost time, now that we’ve been reunited. How long are you staying for?’
‘Castle thought it might be a good idea for us both to stay for the month, to give us time to catch up and help you out until your hand is healed. He offered us this place to stay in,’ she said, looking around the beach house, nodding her approval. It was a far cry from our old council estate flat. ‘That’s if you’ll have us for that long?’ she added.
‘A month, a whole month? Jesus, I’m not sure I can cope with you for a whole minute more,’ I teased. ‘Of course we’ll have you, stay longer if you can. I have to be back in London to appear in court in a few months, maybe we could head back to the U.K. together?’
‘It was self-defence. There’s no risk of you getting a sentence, right? Right?’ she asked, her face turning fretful.
‘I’ve been told it’s highly unlikely, given our history and the fact that he was stalking me and nearly killed Castle. I don’t think they’d have let me leave the country if I was going to be charged. Plus, I have a witness to say that while we fought he accidentally stabbed himself. Do we have to talk about him? I really don’t ever want to have to think about him unless I have no choice. He already took so much from me, including my only photo of us, the one of my parents, and Peter, I don’t want him to steal parts of my future too.’
‘About Peter,’ she grimaced. ‘Stay there a minute and promise you won’t be mad with me.’
‘Why would I be mad?’ I asked as she disappeared into the dressing room and I heard the zip of a case and a load of huffing and puffing as she rummaged around.
‘He didn’t steal your damn penguin. I snuck it outta your case and hid it under my bed while you were still sleeping that last night. I wanted something to remember you by as you were leaving me, and taking my favourite photo of us as well.’
My jaw dropped, my heart not sure how many more surprises it could take in one day, as she reappeared carrying him. I was immediately hit with visuals of happy times with my parents. I started to cry again as she came and placed him in my good arm.
‘I’m sorry I took him,’ she whispered.
‘Thank God you’re a thieving git, Shaz Mackie!’ I sobbed as I placed a tender loving kiss on his little orange felt beak.
‘Hey, Alex Bishop. It’s Sharon now. I hated him, but he was right. Shaz was common and I’m trying to be a responsible parent and show a little more class, like my best friend always did. But you better tell your fella to anchor down those fancy toiletries I just saw in the bathroom, or they’ll be making their way into my case before I head home.’
I just laughed and sniffed back my tears, then rested my head on her shoulder as I hugged Peter tightly to my chest. Never would I have imagined that I’d be happy that some of my past had caught up to me.
Castle
I sat on the terrace, supervising Rosie and Izzie as they played in the pool, and lifted my head as I heard the sound of laughter approaching. It felt like someone had just lit a bonfire inside me, a warm glow spreading through my body to hear Alex laughing again. I’d hoped tracking down her old best friend would help her heal emotionally, and it seemed as if I was right. I’d sent Alex down to the beach house over three hours ago, so I’d already figured it had gone well.
We’d had a tough few weeks since her ordeal. On top of hospital stays for both of us, endless police questioning and reports to fill in, she was weighed down with a burden of guilt that she shouldn’t be carrying. Even if she had intended to kill him, after what he’d put her through, there should never be any feelings of guilt on her part. But that’s who she was. She had a far more forgiving heart than I could ever hope to emulate. And that was why I loved her so goddamn much and had moved heaven and earth to find Sharon and get her over here.
‘Mam, look, they have a pool!’ Izzie yelled, full of excitement as she waved at Sharon. She laughed and waved back with her free hand, her other looped through Alex’s incapacitated arm as they climbed the steps and headed over.
‘Mummy,’ Rosie cried, waving at Alex, ‘Look, I’ve got a new friend.’ To hear my daughter call Alex “Mummy” was one of the greatest gifts I’d had this past year, with the exception of Alex coming into my life. I felt as if Rosie had missed out on so much, losing her mum at such a young age, I couldn’t begrudge sharing my precious father daughter time now that she was so enraptured with my tiger too.
‘I know you have, Angel, and so have I, all thanks to your daddy.’ She flashed me a warm and grateful smile that immediately put one on my face, seeing her looking so happy again.
‘What is that?’ I asked, giving a curious look to the oversized creature sticking out from under her good arm.
‘Peter the penguin, turns out Shaz, sorry, Sharon, stole him before I left for America,’ she beamed.
‘You’re welcome.’ Her friend shoulder bumped her and left us alone, heading over to dangle her feet in the pool as she chatted to both of the girls.
‘Isn’t he the most beautiful toy you’ve ever seen?’ Alex exclaimed with wonder in her eyes as she stood in front of me presenting him for inspection.
‘As beautiful as Bear,’ I agreed. She gasped and whacked me on the arm with him, making me grin to see some of her feistiness had returned too. ‘I’m so happy you got him back,’ I added sincerely. ‘I know what he meant to you, Ti … Alex.’
‘It’s okay to call me that again,’ she whispered, as she set Peter down in the chair next to me. ‘I am a tiger now. You helped to finish my transformation into one, and I might not still be here if you hadn’t reminded me who I was and given me the strength to get up and fight. A tiger isn’t necessarily a killer,’ she said, as much to reassure herself as me. ‘I didn’t kill him, I just tried to protect my own. He hurt you and it made me so mad.’
‘He hurt you, which made me fucking furious,’ I reminded her as I pulled her down onto my lap.
‘You taught me to never back down until I knew for sure my opponent was out. You really suck at taking your own advice!’
‘You were a bloody distraction, as usual,’ I muttered, hanging my head in shame. ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t see it through.’
‘No more apologies, okay?’ she warned me, lifting my chin up to hold my gaze. ‘We’ve said sorry enough to last us a lifetime. It’s time to look ahead instead of behind us. Starting with how happy Rosie looks to have a friend to play with. I want to give her a brother or sister.’
‘Right this second?’ I grinned, my heart expanding at the thought of creating new life with her. Making our family bigger.
‘Not this second, but maybe later?’ she waggled her eyebrows at me.
‘Easy, Tiger,’ I warned.
‘Is it really wolf, your code name?’ she asked.
‘No,’ I chuckled, kissing her bare shoulder, no longer a pale milky white like it had been when I first met her, now she had a sun-kissed glow all over. ‘It’s stallion, because I’m hun–’ I laughed out loud as she walloped me with her good hand and rolled her eyes.
‘Will you ever tell me? The staff just laugh when I ask them and won’t say what it is,’ she sighed, pulling a perfect pout that I swear my daughter must have taught to her.
‘Maybe, one day.’
Chapter Nineteen
Alex
April - Two Months Later
‘ALL PACKED?’ SHARON ASKED, as she stuck her head into Castle’s and my bedroom in the main house to find me zipping up my case.
‘I think so, you?’
‘Yeah,’ she nodded. ‘I’m going to miss it here. We’ve had an amazing time, and I know Izzie’s going to miss Rosie.’
‘We’ll miss you too, all of us, me especially. But it’s not goodbye. I can come and see you in Glasgow in that swanky new flat of yours that you got in the divorce, and you can come and stay here with us again, or visit when we’re in London. We’ll make it work.’
‘We’d bloody better. And just so you know, I’m going to be tougher to shake off than herpes,’ she retorted, making me laugh.
‘You, Tom and Janice are going to get on like a house on fire when we can sort out a get together.’
‘Already hate them for stealing my best friend,’ she winked. ‘Right, come on, I was sent up to tell you that dinner is ready.’
‘Dinner? Listen to you getting all fancy on me,’ I laughed as I linked arms with hers and we headed towards the stairs.
‘Don’t tell anyone, but there’s still a little bit of Shaz left inside me.’
‘I should hope so. I happen to have very fond memories of Shaz. She was an incredible friend to me.’
‘Well, so was Izzie to me.’
‘Looks like we’re stuck with each other again then, huh?’ I beamed.
‘Looks like,’ she grinned back with a shoulder bump.
‘Sleep, Angel,’ I whispered as I kissed Rosie’s forehead, and Castle did the same. We were met with a soft snore that made us smile at each other. I wished I could fall asleep with the speed that she did.
Castle pulled the door to behind him and grabbed my hand. ‘Come on, let’s take a walk before we head to bed.’
‘Okay,’ I agreed. It was a balmy night and as of tomorrow we’d be plunged into the freezing temperatures of winter in London. It would be nice to soak up some last hours of heat. Plus, there was that little nagging concern that if t
hings didn’t go as planned this week, I might not see Pepper Island again for a long time.
We walked in comfortable silence, our fingers laced together, the sound of the tree frogs and crickets making more than enough noise for us both. He’d been right, I found them soothing now, not at all irritating like they had been when I first arrived here.
We took the path down to the north beach and left our shoes on the sand as we went to paddle through the warm evening surf. Castle led me around to Lizard Point, his favourite spot on the island, and I gasped to be confronted with a picnic blanket on the sand. It was surrounded by dozens of lit candles in hurricane lanterns and there was a bucket with a bottle of champagne on ice.
‘What’s this in aid of?’ I asked as he led me over to it.
‘I’m just being selfish. I wanted a bit of time alone with you. I’m not used to sharing you with so many people,’ he said, spinning around to face me and pulling me to him by the waist.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my fingers through his hair. It was so good to be out of my cast, with them back in working order, even if they were noticeably stiff, particularly if they got cold. I was just grateful that Richard hadn’t broken the fingers on my right hand, affecting my ability to paint as it brought me so much joy.
‘You invited them,’ I reminded Castle.
‘I know, and I’m glad I did, it’s been so good to see you back to your old self. It’s just going to take some getting used to having guests over more frequently, now that you’re a permanent part of my life.’
‘I know that you hid away to grieve, and shelter Rosie, but look how happy she is to have friends to play with and the extra company. It’s done her so much good. But at the end of the day it’s still your home, Castle, don’t do anything that makes you unhappy in an attempt to please me.’
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