Caged

Epilogue

Ethan released a long sigh and checked his watch. "It's time you let him go, Samantha, you can't hold on forever."

She threw him a glare then turned to stare down at the grave marker. "I won't let him go, he's my son. I won't let it go until the bastard who killed him is caught."

"Cagney, much like his namesake, is quite dead. Catching the person responsible isn't going to bring him back, he will still be dead. It was a random act of violence and I'm sure the perpetrator is long gone by now, you've wasted too much time, energy, and money on this endeavor already. Nearly all of our savings have been squandered on your effort to bring this person to justice. You've alienated our friends over a lost cause. What's left for us?"

She spun to face him. "I don't care, I won't rest until the person is brought to justice! He was my son, Ethan! If you had children of your own then you would understand the depths of my pain! Sadi's mother is so deep in her grief she has nearly driven herself to the grave. This thing you call a lost cause is the least I can do for us both!"

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting?"

Startled, she looked beyond Ethan to the man shifting uncomfortably a short distance beyond where they stood.

"Mason?" she asked with a small gasp.

"I can leave if you want." He gestured toward Cage's grave. "I just wanted to stop by to see him. I didn't mean to intrude."

She sent Ethan another glare before she focused on Mason again. "You aren't interrupting and you have every right to see him."

Ethan's eyes narrowed on him. "And who is this then?"

She sighed and brushed a hand over her face. "Ethan, I'd like you to meet Mason Hollington, he's Cage's father."

Mason bobbed his head. "Nice to meet you."

Ethan looked him up and down, then turned to Samantha without greeting him. "I'll be in the car. Do hurry it up, I have to get back to the office. One of us must make a living considering the other is spending it on nonsense," he told her brusquely. He left without waiting for her to respond.

Mason watched him walk to the car. "He seems ... nice."

She rubbed her temples and shrugged. "He was at one time. Since Cage ... since he ..." She couldn't seem to find the words to finish the thought. She sighed. "Mason, why are you here?"

He blew out a loud breath. "I'm sorry, Sam. So sorry for everything I put you through and for leaving the way I did." His shoulders slumped slightly. "And for not coming back. I wasn't the man you and Cage deserved, if I had been then maybe he'd still be here."

"You can't possibly blame yourself for this."

"Yes, I can. I slunk out in the middle of the night. It took me a long time to realize what a loser I was and how badly I'd screwed up. The moment I realized it, I started working on straightening out my life so I could be the man you deserved. By the time I managed it, you had moved on." He looked over his shoulder toward the car and Ethan who was rapidly texting on his phone.

"It doesn't matter, you can't put this on your head. It wasn't your fault. You didn't kill him," she insisted.

He walked past her and sank to his knees beside the grave to reach out and brush the tips of his fingers over the cold stone. "No, I didn't kill him but I might as well have done it. I wasn't there for him. A father should protect his child. I ran away."

She sat beside him with her legs curled beneath her. "Mas, I was here. Ethan ... well he was sort of here. You can't blame yourself, it was some random thing. Some psycho grabbed them from the side of the road. There wasn't anything we could have done."