The Chosen Ones

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"What happened?" Matt asked.
"I don't know." Shannon said, biting her fingernails and pacing back and forth from the kitchen to the living room. "He seemed really interested in Tyler, ever since we left the Lounge last night. I mean, I thought maybe he was just being nice, but he wouldn't shut up about meeting him and wanting to hang out with him."

"Why would he want to hang out with a four year old?" Matt asked.
"I did tell him I help take care of him and he's at my house a lot." She told him.
"What did he ask exactly?" Casey asked.

Shannon shot her a look. Here we go again, Matt thought. But to her credit she didn't give Casey an attitude. Shannon was really concerned, and she knew this wasn't the time. There were more underlying things going on.

"How old he was, he asked about Amy, was Tyler smart, did he seem advanced for his age...." Shannon rattled off his questions.
"Jesus Christ, Shan." Matt said. He turned away. He was disappointed in his friend, but he knew it wasn't her fault.

"You didn't tell him where I live did you?"
"Matt, no, of course not." She started crying. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." Matt said. "You didn't do anything wrong." He hugged her.
"This is what they do. They use people." Casey said. "They manipulate to get what they want."

"I don't know what to do." Shannon sobbed. "This is all my fault."
"It's not." Casey said. "We draw him out. Lure him somewhere secluded. You say Matt is bringing Tyler to meet him and you and Daniel are taking him out for the day."
"No way, it's too risky." Matt said, sternly.
He didn't want to put Shannon in the line of fire.
"No, I can do it." Shannon insisted.
"Where?" Matt asked.

"Maple Brook woods." Shannon said, suddenly. "The clearing. We'll go for a hike. I'll say we're meeting you and Tyler there and we're taking him to get ice cream or something."

She wiped her tears, anger was setting in. Nobody was going to use her, if he wasn't who he said he was she was going to make him pay.
"Just me and him....... Alone. If he is who we think he is he'll jump at the chance to see Tyler."
"Yeah? Then what? He can kill you and Tyler on the spot." Matt argued.

"Tyler won't even be there." Casey said. She was catching on to the plan. "You and Tyler never come. We wait close by, hiding, with our guns. The moment he realizes Tyler isn't coming his reaction will tell us what we need to know."
"It could work." Shannon agreed.

Matt considered. The thought of putting Shannon in danger wasn't sitting well with him, but it could be the only way to get something out of Daniel.
"Okay." He said, finally. "We'll do it tomorrow night. But we need everyone to agree. I'll call everybody over tonight to go over the plan."

Tyler ran into the room and hugged Shannon.
"You picked him up already?" She asked.
"Ah yeah, about that. We actually staked out Daniel's place this morning. I guess right before you two got together today. He was out front arguing with Kate. They definitely know each other. So if Daniel is in on this, so is she."

"You should have told me you were doing that." Shannon said.
"If I told you, you never would have let us do it." He said to her. He then cursed to himself for saying "us," which was admitting Casey went too.

Shannon looked at Casey. "If this turns out the way we're thinking, I'll owe you an apology."
"You don't owe me anything." Casey said to her, giving her an appreciative smile. It was the nicest thing Shannon had said to her since they met. And it made her feel relieved. It was a start.

Matt sent out the group text and planned a meeting later that night. He also called Bill, wanting to let him know ahead of time to maybe stay away from Kate, especially with the new developments with Daniel. His call went unanswered, he'd just have to talk to him later.

They were all there at 7:00 on the dot. Shannon had not left. She sat on the bottom stair that led to the second floor. There was one noticeable absence: Bill. Shaun said he went to see Kate and hadn't returned. He did text Shaun an hour ago to say all was good and he couldn't make it to Matt's, which eased their minds.

Shannon started telling the others about Daniel. Matt then mentioned to Phil and Gab about Daniel and Kate meeting in front of his condo and their heated exchange. They were all concerned and now knew something wasn't right.
Matt laid out the plan they were putting into place for tomorrow night.

"Shannon, no." Gab said. "That's way too dangerous."
"I thought about it. I have to do this." Shannon said, adamantly.
Phil let out a big sigh. "We got your back." He told her.
"I know." Shannon replied. "That's why I feel good about it."

"So we agree? We do this tomorrow night?" Matt asked.
Casey eyed them all. Was this group really ready for this? Was SHE ready for it? They weren't going to know until the situation was right in front of them. And tomorrow, it would be.
"Let's do it." Casey said.