Globusz^® Publishing 

Ryan arrived at the bar fifteen minutes before the agreed meeting time. In everyday life he had a habit of always being either just in time or a little late. In this exceptional case he had over compensated. And he was the first to arrive. He ordered a drink and sat in a corner of the bar near to the door. So he could see if anybody would go in. He’d been sitting there for five minutes when Shannon walked in.

“Hey Shannon, how you doing honey?” Ryan stood up quickly from his seat and gave Shannon a hug. “I was pretty sure you’d be here.”

“Yeah, it took about a second to make my mind up”– Shannon spoke with a little trace of a tear in her eye, as they broke up the hug but maintained strong eye contact.

“Guess you’ve got more reason than any of us to go after him.”

“Well yeah, we know that. Thanks for not telling any of the other guys.”

“Hey, no worries, it’s not like it affects any of them. Oh here’s Lee.”

“Hi Lee, thanks for joining us”– Shannon said.

“Not a problem. I may be a reformed character but I’m still very old school at heart. I like to carry out my own justice.”

“Well I’m sure you’ll be very useful to have on board”– Ryan said and shook Lee’s hand.

“Any sign of the other two?” Lee asked.

“No not yet.” Ryan said.

Ryan bought Lee and Shannon a drink and the three of them sat down in the area Ryan had been sitting prior to Shannon’s arrival. None of them would have been too surprised had Rachel and Lori not turned up. But for some reason that none of them could put their finger on, they all wanted both of them to be there.

Just after five past eleven Rachel walked into the bar, looking very unsure and scared. As soon as she walked in Rachel saw the three of them sat down in comfy chairs and walked to them.

“I’m really not sure about being here. I’m not sure about how much use I’m going to be on a revenge mission”– she said, not looking like crying but clearly extremely emotional.

“Listen honey”– Shannon said. “If you want to be here, you have every right to be here. After what this guy has put you through, we all have the right to be here.”

“You’re right. As we were driving home I was thinking I wasn’t going to be here. Today though I spent all day very stressed out, often literally looking over my shoulder. I couldn’t stand another day like that, let alone a lifetime of it. I want this to be over one way or another.”

“We all do”– Lee said. Then he bought a drink for Rachel and the four of them sat around, still not quite feeling complete.

“So how much longer are we going to wait for her?” Lee asked impatiently.

“Let’s give her to half past at least”– Ryan said. “She was clearly struggling with the whole thing.”

“Yeah I think this has affected her most of all”– Shannon agreed.

“She was very quiet on the way home”– Rachel noted.

“Very quiet”– Ryan said. “Even though I hardly know her, I thought it was unusually quiet for her.”

Half past eleven came and went and after two sessions of giving Lori five more minutes, the four of them agreed to go home, and meet up the next day and leave Lori out of it. When they looked to the door to go out there was Lori. She stood motionless at the doorway.

“Wasn’t sure you guys would still be here”– Lori spoke quietly and stared blankly almost, looking at the group as a whole but none of them in particular.

“Remember Lori, you don’t have to do this”– Shannon said.

“Yeah, none of us will think any less of you if you don’t”– Ryan added.

“I have to do this. But I need to tell you guys something first. I have to do this because I’ve been haunted by this for the last four years or so. And I need to tell you guys about it because all of this is my fault. I’m so sorry but it is.”

All four of them were taken aback by Lori’s words.

“Lori, just take a seat, take your time and tell us whatever it is you need to tell us”– Ryan managed to say after a few moments of silence.

The five of them sat down, the other four ready to hang on every word of Lori’s.

“Oh wow honey, that doesn’t make this your fault”– Shannon said full of sympathy after Lori had finished telling the story of that fateful day she went to pick up her car. Shannon got up and gave Lori, who by this stage was slightly teary, a big hug. The other three took turns giving Lori a hug.

“I should have told you as soon as I made the connection”– Lori said once the hugging had finished. “But I swear I only knew that it was something to do with that bank robbery when Rachel told us about what happened with her and Mick in that room.”

“Well it’s not as if it would have made a difference had you told us any earlier anyway”– Lee said.

“Yeah, Lori you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong here”– Rachel agreed.

“Remember, he’s the bad guy in all of this. There’s only one person to blame and I believe his name is Bret Jensen. But I still think evil psycho suits him better”– Ryan added. “Look I felt very sorry for Beckham when he got sent off in that game you watched that day. It was a joke of a decision if you ask me. But I feel even more sorry for you!”

“Thanks Ryan! Coming from and English football fan, that means a lot!” Lori broke into a smile for the first time in the bar that night. “Trust me guys, I think you are all making the right decision. I’ve been living in fear for four years, fearing that in some way I was going to be punished for what I did. Believe me that is no way to live.”

“That’s the main reason I’m here”– Rachel told Lori.

“So now we are all present. And correctly we can sort out what we are going to do next”– Lee said.

“Well I don’t normally like stating the obvious but we have to find him first”– Ryan said.

“Our only link to him is his brother”– Shannon said.

“From what I could tell he idolized his brother”– Rachel said. “He is going to want to tell him all about his revenge mission.”

“Luckily for us I got a bit freaky about following the whole case and I know what prison his brother is in”– Lori said.

“Not always a bad thing to be a little freaky!” Ryan said.

“So we meet back here tomorrow at noon. Then we go and stakeout the prison”– Lee suggested.

The other four agreed with Lee’s idea. And they were all about to leave for their respective homes when Shannon spoke up.

“Sorry guys but I have something to tell you as well”– she said and from her tone the others knew it was serious.

“Shannon, honey you don’t have to do this”– Ryan said and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Yes I do, they all deserve to know and Lori has been so truthful with me she deserves the same in return.”

“But yours isn’t really as relevant”– Ryan looked sympathetically into Shannon’s eyes. “But hey if you want to tell them then go ahead”– he could tell that Shannon was determined to tell her story.