"It is much, much worse to receive bad news through the written words than by somebody simply telling you. When somebody simply tells you bad news, you hear it once, and that's the end of it. But when bad news is written down, each time you read it, you feel as if you are receiving the news again and again." -Lemony Snicket


Saturday morning was anything but cheery. Jon awoke at 3 in the morning, hot and sweaty. Grayson was laying on top of him with his arms wrapped around his neck. Audrey was pressed up against him as close as she could get. He didn't see how either of them could sleep the way they were. He certainly could not.

Jon shifted Grayson to his side and gently laid him next to him on the bed. The boy squirmed a bit then settled down again without waking up.

He turned over to find wide gray eyes staring at him.

"Have you slept any?" he asked.

Her eyes closed briefly, and she shook her head.

Jon wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose in her hair.

At four, since they couldn't sleep nor could they talk in the Family room, they got up to restore their bedroom to its normal state.

Audrey was silent. And her silence drove Jon crazy. So, he talked. And talked until he ran out of things to say.

Still, Audrey said nothing.

He knew she was grieving the loss of the jacket. It was a ridiculous thing to be so attached to, but she was, and he understood why.

At six, Grayson burst into their room and sobbing after a nightmare about the break-in woke him up. He blinked bewilderedly at the bedroom. It looked the way it always had.

Still the dream bothered him. Audrey sat on the bed and consoled him, stroking his hair and lovingly cooing in his ear. But to Jon, her words sounded hollow because she was empty.

He felt terrible about the situation. He must have failed in some area for this to have happened. For someone to have a key and security code to their home, he must have gotten careless.

He failed Audrey.

He failed the kids.

He felt sick.

How could he have let this happen to them?

At seven, everyone was awake when the doorbell rang. The whole household jumped. It was the security company at the door, ready to change the locks and code.


Shawn helped Julia get Jamie and Bella ready for the day. The two youngest children already had forgotten about the night before and were excited for the day.

Julia was quiet and sick with worry. Shawn did the best he could to comfort her, but he knew he was no substitute for Jon.

"What do we need for the arena today?"

Julia shrugged.

"C'mon, Jules," he said giving her arm a friendly shake. Mom and Dad said they want to keep everything normal today. So, let's help them out some."

She nodded and directed Shawn on what gear Grayson needed to take with them. She got her own bag and put it by the door.

"Shawn?" she asked timidly as they did their best to make breakfast for the family. They knew Audrey wouldn't be up to it.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think this has anything to do with the Boogeyman thing that hurt you?"

"I don't know." Shawn had already checked to ensure that he still had his key. He did. Not that that was helpful. Everyone in the family had their key. Outside of the household members, Cory, Topanga, and Eli had keys, but no one had checked with them yet.

It was possible, of course this was all related. But Shawn was doubtful. He did not have the security code written down anywhere to be stolen. And neither did anyone else as far as he knew. Besides their Boogeyman seemed fixated on the papers.

Jon came down to the kitchen a while later and thanked them for taking care of things. He looked noticeably older than the night before and it worried Shawn a great deal.

Audrey didn't come down for breakfast, so while Jon sat with the kids, Shawn went up to see her.

She was sitting at the end of the bed looking forlorn. Shawn couldn't ever recall a time when she looked lost. Even during times when she was, she never let anyone know. Audrey was always pulled together enough to take care of those around her.

Now she needed someone to take care of her.

Shawn sat down next to her and put his arm around her as he thought back to all those times she had taken care of him as a kid.

"Hey, Mama."

Audrey barely acknowledged him.

He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned heavily against him. He sat with her for a long while wondering what he could do to help.

"At least it was just the jacket," he offered weakly. "No one was home. No one was hurt."

Audrey sucked in a rattled breath at the mention of the jacket. She nodded, but clearly didn't agree.

"I know," she said finally. Her voice was hoarse. "It's just a stupid, torn up jacket. That's what Jon's always telling me."

"Okay," Shawn said curiously. "It is torn up, I guess. But it's not stupid to you. What is it about the jacket that's so important?"

"Jon was wearing it when he had his accident." She grimaced and turned her face into his shoulder.

"I know. I remember seeing it at the hospital," he said. "I kinda thought you wouldn't want a reminder of the accident."

"It was my dad's jacket," she said mournfully.

This surprised Shawn greatly.

"Jon told him in a letter that he still wore the black leather jacket he had when he was fifteen," she explained. "My dad wanted him to get rid of it because of the bad memories it held. Jon told him he'd give it up if he could have Dad's."

Bad memories? Shawn wanted to ask more about this, but she was too upset.

"So, is that why it's important? Because it was Pop's jacket?" At least that made sense.

"I didn't think he'd actually send it to me."

Shawn looked up to see Jon standing in the doorway.

"My jacket looked exactly like yours, Shawn. Except JA was stitched on the inside of the collar and into one of the sleeves," he smiled slightly at the memory. "I always admired Richie's jacket. It was different from what all the kids wore. He took real good care of it and kept it lookin' new. Sometimes if I didn't annoy him too much, he'd let me wear it around the shop while I worked."

"Really?"

Jon nodded. "In one of his letters, he told me he'd trade me jackets. If I sent him my old one, he'd send me his. I thought he was jokin'. See, Lizzy bought him that jacket and it was his prize possession. "

Jon paused. There was a sad look in his eyes. "He sent it to me for my 28th birthday along with a note demanding I send him my old one."

Shawn smiled at the thought of the note then frowned. "I thought the jacket was just 25 years old."

"I've had it for 25 years," Jon said. "Guess I wasn't real clear on that."

"Well, I can understand why it's so important," Shawn replied. "Sounds like a family heirloom."

Jon smiled and sat down on the other side of Audrey who turned from Shawn and sank into her husband.

"Guess this means I won't be inheriting it." Shawn said this jokingly trying to lighten the mood. But in truth he now really wanted the jacket back given its history.

It was interesting: at 15, Jon wore a black leather jacket while admiring Richie's brown one. When he was 15, he wore his black one while admiring Jon's brown one. He didn't know trading them was ever an option.

"You wouldn't have gotten it anyway," Jon said as though reading Shawn's thoughts. He smiled but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Pretty sure your mom planned to be buried in it."

Shawn smiled at this. Audrey did not.

"Mom, is there anything I can do for you?"

For the first time, Audrey looked at him and he saw a glimmer of the woman he loved so much underneath the sadness.

"No, honey. You're doing enough with the kids. Thank you."

Shawn looked up at Jon doubtfully.

"She'll be all right," he assured him. He took a deep breath. "We need to get goin'. The sooner we get outta the house the better everyone will be, I think."

Shawn nodded and stood up. With a final look back at his parents, he headed back to the other kids.


"Now what are you supposed to do today?"

Dylan leaned his head back against the headrest of the car's seat and rolled his eyes.

"We've already been over this, Mom. "

"Tell me."

"You want to know if Mr. Turner is having problems with his wife."

"Yes." Katherine turned to face him as much as her seat belt would allow. "This is important, Dylan. Please don't get distracted."

"Right, Mom."

Whatever, Mom, he thought.

"Okay. Let's go."

Dylan watched with horror as Katherine got out of the car with him.

"Are you going in with me?"

"Of course," she said waving off his concern. "What kind of parent would I be if I didn't"

A less embarrassing one, he huffed to himself.

He tried to argue that he was fifteen and didn't need his mom to walk him to his date.

His mother would hear none of it.

Dylan checked himself into the Arena and got a pair of skates from the rental counter because Katherine left him the moment she saw Mr. Turner. He took his skates over to a bench near to where Julia was with her family. As he tried to lace the hockey skates up, he kept one eye on his mother and Julia's parents.

Katherine spoke animatedly to Mr. Turner who seemed distracted and distant. The few times that Mrs. Turner said something to her, Dylan couldn't help but notice that his mother ignored her.

Dylan rubbed the back of his neck feeling extremely uncomfortable with both his mother's behavior and the skates on his feet.

Strangely enough, it was Shawn who came over to greet him. Immediately, his anxiety shot up.

"You don't have those laced up right," the man told him. "You need to lace up all the hooks."

"Oh."

Shawn sat next to him and showed him how they should be done. Dylan noticed that the man seemed weary and much less guard doggish than before. It was like he wasn't the same brother of Julia's he'd encountered earlier.

"Here," he said. "You do the other one."

Dylan copied what Shawn showed him then followed him over to the rest of the group.

Bella was having a fit that someone she didn't approve of was talking to her father. Dylan couldn't help but snicker when she screeched at his mom for getting too close to the superintendent.

Sometimes he wanted to do the same thing.

Eventually Katherine left and Dylan was able to relax a little. Mr. Turner introduced him to the family before heading to the players' bench to help his sons' team with practice. He took the seat next to Mrs. Turner that was offered to him. Julia's mom was sweet and friendly, but she had the same look in her eyes that Mr. Turner and Shawn had.

Julia was nowhere to be seen.

"She'll be out soon," Mrs. Turner told him. "She's with her club in the locker room."

"Okay," Dylan said uncertainly. He felt wildly out of place.

The woman next to him sighed and said apologetically, "Dylan, this isn't the best day for you to be with us, unfortunately. There was a break in at our house last night and everyone is out of sorts today. Don't be too disappointed if things are a little boring or Julia isn't too interested in doing anything."

"Oh, I understand, Mrs. Turner," he said sincerely. "I've been through a robbery before with my dad. Sorry, that happened. Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah. Just shaken up."

He nodded. He did feel bad for Julia and her family; he was twelve when the break-in at his dad's occurred. He remembered how afraid he was for a long time after.

Mrs. Turner wasn't interested in talking anymore so he turned his attention to the ice.

Little kid hockey practice was not the most entertaining thing to watch.

Eventually, the superintendent joined them. He nodded a greeting then sat next to his wife and wrapped his arms around her. He leaned his cheek against the top of her head and held her for the rest of the practice.

Dylan felt terribly uneasy about the task he'd been given to do. He didn't think it was any of his business what was going on between Julia's parents and he certainly would resent anyone who tried to do what he'd been asked to do to his. But it wouldn't appease his mother to report back a simple "there's nothing wrong". She wanted him to do some digging to prove what she believed to be true.

Dylan loved his mother and hated to go against her, but he just couldn't go through with this. Especially not after a break in.

Just as the Zamboni made its way out onto the ice, Julia joined the rest of the family. She gave him a small smile and a wave before she sat by her father. The superintendent opened his embrace to include her and held onto both his daughter and wife until it was time for Julia to take the ice.

Dylan may not have had a high opinion on figure skating, nor did it count as a sport in his books, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't mesmerized by Julia's ability to fly and spin over the ice.

"She's not concentrating," Jon commented when she took a fall over her toe picks while attempting to land a toe loop.

"After last night, I'm not surprised," Audrey sighed

Dylan sniffed the chilly air and shoved his hands further into his pockets, feeling like a spy or worse, a double agent.

Just before the Zamboni came out again, a short blonde dressed like Julia walked over and stood in front of him.

"Hey," he said trying to look around her. "Could you move?"

"It's a free country," she sniffed at him and tossed her hair in his face. "I stand where I want."

"What is your problem?"

"You're Dylan Masterson, aren't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, your mom's my problem."

"Maya!"

The girl straightened up and had the grace to look a little sheepish.

"Dylan is our guest," Jon rebuked her. "We don't snap our guests heads off." With a sarcastic edge to his voice he added, "At least not on the first day."

"Sorry, Uncle Jon."

Dylan gave the girl a bewildered look. "Uncle?"

She shrugged. "For now," she said coolly. "He'll be my granddad eventually."

Dylan had never heard of such a weird family dynamic before. He turned away from Maya and went to look for Julia.


Cory brought Auggie and Riley to the World Ice Arena for the public skating. Shawn was waiting for him at the skate rental counter. The two best friends exchanged solemn looks but said little until the kids were laced up and headed for the ice.

"Is everyone okay?" Cory asked as he tugged at the laces of his rentals.

"Yeah, as far as not being injured or anything. But mentally, we're pretty wrecked. Other than Jamie and Bella."

"I can imagine. I'd be going crazy tryin' to barricade the house if that happened to us. Have the police found anything?"

Shawn shook his head. "I don't know how seriously they're takin this, Cor. Someone had a key and the security code. I think they think someone who knows us well did it and that it's not really a theft. Or at least not one worth their time."

Cory sighed and followed Shawn to the rink's gate.

"How are Jon and Audrey?"

"You know how Dad is. He's upset, he's just not talkin' about it. Mom on the other hand is really upset about the jacket being gone. And not talking."

"About that," Cory said as they stepped onto the ice. "Don't you think that's a little odd?"

"Oh, I think it's a lot odd." Shawn paused then said, "You know what this makes me think of?"

Cory looked at his friend and saw the look on his face. "What?"

"When Miss Tompkins used my key to get into our apartment and take Jon's clothes."

"You think she's the one who broke into your house?"

Shawn shook his head. "I don't know how she could. Maybe she could get a key. But the security code? Who knows that besides us?"

Cory shrugged. "I'm not sure. Topanga and me, but..?"

"Yeah, I can't think of anyone else either. Or where'd they'd have gotten it."

The men stopped by at the player's bench and took a seat. Shawn winced in pain when his back touched the back of the seat.

"You okay?"

"Not really. My back's pretty messed up from that fall."

"Tell me again what happened."

Shawn recounted his encounter with the Boogeyman with as much detail as he could recall. Cory let out a breath and looked deeply concerned.

"I don't know about this, Shawnie. I think we're gettin' into dangerous territory. We told Topanga we'd go to the police if it got serious. I say this is serious."

"You told her you would. I didn't."

"Shawn." Cory should have seen this coming. Shawn almost always did U-turns like this when it came to something Topanga wanted them to comply with.

"Cory. The guy knew my name and told me to leave the past alone," Shawn said firmly. "I've got to find out who he is now. I mean, he may have known my name but clearly, he knows nothing about me, or he'd have known that that tellin' me to leave somethin' alone means I'm not gonna."

"Maybe he does know you."

Shawn paused. He hadn't thought of that.

Cory saw the look on his friend's face. "Look, I know you're gonna go ahead and do what you're gonna do. But at least take me with you for backup."

Shawn nodded. "Yeah, definitely."

"Topanga starts her Pilates class tomorrow."

"I hope she can stick with it long enough to get some information out of Katherine."

"Same. She made it half a class last time."

The men chuckled.

"Cor?" Shawn looked apologetic and held the gate to the player's bench open for him. "You won't have a key to the house for a while. The locks were changed this morning."

Cory nodded. "You wanna come over tonight and tell Topanga about your Boogeyman encounter?"

Shawn shook his head. "No. I'd prefer you didn't either. Not right now. I've some work to do first."

"Work she wouldn't approve of you doin'?"

"What do you think?"

Cory shook his head as they got back onto the ice.

"I think you better keep me up to date in case something happens."

Shawn inhaled a deep breath.

"Yeah, that's probably wise."


Bambi had more grace on the ice than Dylan did.

He couldn't believe how difficult it was to stand up and move on two thin blades. What he found to be more unbelievable was that Mr. Turner was quick to put him out of his misery and help him to save face in front of Julia by teaching him to skate.

Dylan knew he wasn't the most athletic person in the world; he preferred sports in the virtual world rather than the real world. So, his confidence was lacking greatly. But Mr. Turner, unlike former PE teachers, did not point this out nor did he joke about it. Instead, he found something Dylan was good at and built his instruction around that. Before long, Dylan was moving across the ice on his own power rather than dragging himself along the boards.

He really went into the morning thinking Mr. Turner was an unlikeable, uncaring person. He wasn't and that made Dylan feel worse about why he was there.

"Nice job, Dylan," the superintendent complimented him. "Get some practice laps in and you're gonna be able to start pickin' up some speed."

"How do I stop?"

"You aren't goin' fast enough for that," he smiled. "I'll teach you next time."

Next time? This surprised Dylan more than anything else so far.

Shawn and his friend skated over to them. Jon skated off with Cory, but Shawn remained behind. Dylan squirmed under his intense stare.

Finally, Julia's brother said, "C'mon let's get some laps before the race."

"Race?"

Shawn nodded. "When it's empty like today we like to race each other. Let's go."

With some uncertainty Dylan skated after him.

He may not have won any races, but he did have fun. At the end of the session, as he was taking off his skates, Dylan felt even more guilty about his harsh judgement against Mr. Turner. He was a good guy. And funny. And caring. He could see why Julia was so attached to her father.

Shawn wasn't the horrible person he thought he was either. He was much like his dad, funny, rebellious, and a decent person. Dylan only had Mathias for a sibling, but if he had a sister then he'd probably be protective of her like Shawn was with Julia and not very nice to guys who wanted to date her.

Mr. Turner wasn't a bad guy like he thought.

Shawn wasn't a bad guy like his mother thought.

This understanding made Dylan feel even worse about what his mother wanted him to do.


After the public session was over, the family and Dylan went out to eat. It was strange sitting at a table with so many people. There was constant chatter and movement, but it was comfortable in a way Dylan didn't understand.

Julia's family was wildly different from his own.

He and Mathias would never be allowed to talk so much at once. They had to take turns. There were topics that couldn't be discussed at the table and so on. His father had a thing about keeping up appearance in public. His parents, when they were still married, rarely had much to say to one another that wasn't a rude snip at each other hidden in pleasantries or boring business talk. After their divorce, it was constant bickering when they had to be together for their kids. In private or in public.

So much for keeping up appearances.

Julia was not so standoffish towards him either although she was unusually quiet.

"Hey," he ventured timidly after taking almost the entire day to initiate conversation. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really."

"You still thinking about what happened at your place last night?"

"Yeah," she seemed surprised he understood. "I'm still pretty freaked out about it."

"It is scary. Sorry that happened to you."

He was glad he said something to her because after he did, Julia talked to him a little more openly than before.

Dylan went back with the family to their place to wait for his mother to pick him up. Everyone drifted away to different corners of the house, and he worried about what to do. Julia was distant and he understood why. As much as he wanted to get to know her and wanted her to like him, he left her alone hoping that next time would be better.

Mr. Turner had said next time.

Feeling like an intruder Dylan sat in the closest chair to the front door to wait. He was there for a while, scrolling through the browser on his phone when a shadow fell over him.

"Hey."

Dylan looked up to see Shawn standing in front of him. He looked tired.

"You wanna come play Burnout Paradise with my brothers and me while you wait?"

Dylan was surprised by the offer. "Yeah. Sure. Thanks."

After an hour of playing something he was good at, Shawn sent him down to the kitchen to get some sodas. Dylan got a little lost on his way back and ended up circling around the lower level trying to find the entrance to the stairs. He made a turn and stumbled across Mr. Turner and his wife. Dylan stepped back into the shadow so as not to be seen.

His mother's instructions echoed in his head.

Mrs. Turner was upset and might have been crying but he couldn't' tell for sure. Her husband stood in front of her with his hands on her shoulders.

"It's just a jacket, Aud."

"No, it's not!" she cried. "It's a piece of family history and I want it back!"

Mr. Turner looked pained. "Babe, you gotta face reality. We're not gonna get that jacket back. It's gone."

At that Julia's mother bowed her head. Her husband wrapped his arms around her and held her for a while. Then, the superintendent stepped back and briefly left. He returned with an article of clothing.

"Look, I know it's not the same thing, Aud," he said softly, "but you always loved this sweater." He held up an old looking black sweater with a red stripe across the middle. Tenderly, he put it on her.

Mrs. Turner grabbed a handful of the fabric and held onto it tightly. Mr. Turner held her again.

Dylan leaned back against the wall and sighed. He knew all too well what parents on the verge of splitting up were like.

Mr. and Mrs. Turner were nothing like them.

He knew what husbands sneaking around on their wives were like.

Mr. Turner was nothing like them.

Dylan had a sinking feeling that everything his mother had told him about Julia's parents was wrong.


The moment Dylan got into the car his mother interrogated him. She wasn't interested in how his day was or if he got along with Julia. All she wanted to know about was Mr. Turner.

He was frustrated by this, and, in anger, told her exactly what he saw and heard.

His mother was furious and accused him of not paying attention.

The drive home was unpleasant. She made him recount what he saw over and over. He didn't change his story and she grew even more upset.

He stared out of the car window.

Dylan didn't understand his mother's attitude. She was dating this new guy, EIi, and had been out with him nearly every night since they started seeing each other. Everything seemed to be going well. And while he may not have liked the idea of his mom being with anyone but his father, Eli was cool. And he was nice to him and Mathias.

So why was she still obsessed with Mr. Turner?

Dylan didn't know much about relationships and break ups, but there was a bitterness in his mother over Mr. Turner and his wife that worried him. He'd seen it before when his parents divorced, and his father brought the new girlfriend around.

Things got very ugly for an awfully long time.

His mother did everything she could to wreck his father's relationship which, in his opinion, hurt her more than his father. If she'd just left things along his father's fling would have burnt itself out faster than it did with her meddling.

Dylan chewed on his thumbnails anxiously.

He was now worried that his mother might try to do to Mrs. Turner what she did to his dad's girlfriend.


After dinner, Shawn headed up to his room. Jon was in his office working. Audrey and Julia, still unnerved by recent events, did their work in his office with him. The younger children were in bed.

Shawn pulled out his desk chair and sat down. He opened his laptop and pulled up Documents. Then he began to write down everything he knew so far about Jon and Jay.


Jay Jon

Shadowed Pops Shadowed Pops

Worked at Venus Worked at Venus

Always in trouble Always in trouble

Got in major trouble; went to court Got into major trouble- can't/won't talk about it

Ran with a gang of rich kids Ran with a gang including Angelo

Couple from CT got involved Parents from CT

Mack says he's Pop's son Lived with Pops for 3 years.

Mom says no relation; he doesn't exist anymore Went by Jonny; Called J by Pops


Shawn stared at the list. Undoubtedly, Jon and Jay had a lot in common. But even so, no solid answers came to his list of questions from his chart.

What bothered him most was that Audrey said Jay did not exist anymore.

How could that be possible? Someone's son just doesn't vanish into thin air.

A cold thought struck him.

I did, he thought bemusedly. If it hadn't been for Cory, Dad certainly could have thought I vanished into thin air.

Regret gnawed at him with sharp teeth. Just as it was about to drag him down a dark path, Shawn was pulled back up when the burner phone went off.

The countdown is on, Jonny. This Spring will Break you.

Shawn froze as he stared at the phone. His mind went blank on him, and he had trouble starting it back up. After some time, he regained his senses and screenshot it. Then he deleted the text and all evidence of it from Jon's phone.

There was something very wrong here and for the first time since he'd been home, Shawn knew he was in over his head.

Did he tell Jon?

Jon was under such enormous stress that, even during lighthearted times and fun outings, he seemed weighted down and a shell of his former self. Shawn could not rid himself of the look on Jon's face when he asked about his past.

He'd never seen such a haunted look on someone's face other than his own.

How could he tell Jon about this now?

Did he tell Audrey?

Audrey was so weighed down with maintaining house and home and keeping Jon from falling apart, that she wasn't even able to take much joy in her final pregnancy. And that pregnancy wasn't easy to get through under the circumstances.

How could he tell Audrey about this now?

Another worry weighed heavily on him since the first text came in and he couldn't decide what to do about it.

Should he respond?

The texts were coming in every few days now, but he had a feeling that this would not last; that they would increase. If this was blackmail, then demands would soon follow and Shawn worried that the texter would attempt to do this in person if their messages were ignored.

Then there was this most recent message: The countdown is on, Jonny. This Spring will Break you.

At first glance, there appeared to be capitalization errors in the text, but the longer he stared at it the clearer the message became: Spring Break.

Whatever they were planning, they were planning it at Spring Break.

They were supposed to go back to Philly over Spring Break.

Shawn still could not put into words why it was imperative that he and Jon make it back to the place their family began, but it was. He was convinced that if they didn't, the world they had created would fall apart and that he would lose Jon.

Shawn didn't fully understand what this meant, he just knew it to be fact. If they didn't go back and figure out why things went so horribly wrong between them, he would lose Jon. Audrey just might lose him, too.

He looked at the message again.

Talk to me.

Sending that text was, perhaps, one of the most ill-advised decisions he had ever made in his life.

He was in over his head, but it was too late to turn back.

Shawn didn't wait for a response. He jumped out, grabbed his leather jacket, and headed back to the Good Old Days.

He texted Cory to let him know where he was going just in case something happened.


Mack didn't seem surprised to see Shawn back in his store. There were a handful of tourists milling about but Mack was unoccupied, and he was glad to see the young man.

"I honestly expected to hear from you sooner," he said with a warm smile.

Shawn was amused by this. "Really?"

Mack shrugged. "You seemed upset when you left. Like you had a lot of questions left."

"I do," Shawn admitted. "And I have even more now."

"Why are you looking for Jay?" A serious look overtook the older man's eyes. "Or it is, what's your dad's name?"

"Jon. Jonathan."

"Jonathan. Why are you looking into his past?"

Shawn shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Something happened to my dad when he was a kid. Something so bad he won't tell me about it. I've never seen him afraid of anything, but he's afraid of me finding out what it is."

Mack nodded as though he understood. "Is he a good man?"

Shawn didn't have to think about the answer to that. "That's an understatement," he replied. "He's everything I want to be."

The older man gave him a sad smile. "Then at least you know why he doesn't want you to know about his past."

Shawn frowned.

"Nobody wants to be their kid's fallen idol, son," Mack explained.

"That's not possible," Shawn insisted. "No matter what happened, it wouldn't change the way I see him!"

Mack lowered his head for a moment then looked up at him with the saddest look in his eyes. "It would change the way he sees himself," Mack said quietly, "if he had to tell you."

"You've been through this?"

"Yeah," Mack admitted. He cleared his throat. "But this isn't about me. What do you wanna know, Shawn?"

Shawn took a deep breath. "I wanna know if you know anyone who worked with Pop's during the time Jay worked there. I think my dad knew Jay. Maybe someone who worked there knew them both."

Mack nodded in thought. "Smart kid. That's possible."

He scribbled several lines of script onto a notepad and gave the paper to Shawn.

"I can't promise they'll know anything, but they will know someone who does."

Shawn gave the man his gratitude and headed out of the shop. As he did, another text on the burner phone came in.

There's nothing to talk about, Jonny. The truth will come out. There's nothing you can do to stop it.

Anger flared in Shawn. A wave of violence crashed over him, and he wanted to destroy whoever was behind this.

Then why tell me?

Instantly the reply came:

So that you have a chance to get your affairs in order.

Shawn felt a numbness settle over his anger. It was a strange feeling to sense outrage boiling away but not really be able to feel it.

He looked up from the phone and saw the Boogeyman standing across the street staring at him.

Fiery anger consumed the numbness, and he defiantly stared the thing down.

"I'm not gonna stop! Do you hear me?!" he screamed, letting the ire surge through his words. "I won't leave the past alone! You can't have my family! No one's gonna take them from me again!" Shawn gestured angrily at it. "You tell your boss that! Huh? You tell your boss who's sending the texts, they can't have my dad!"

The Boogeyman stood unmoving for several moments after Shawn's tirade ended. Then he lifted his hand in a small salute and disappeared.

Shawn stood alone in the bustling crowd. His shoulders heaved with each heavy breath.

What did I just do?

Exercising wisdom had never been Shawn Hunter's strong suit.


AN: Sorry this is shorter than planned. It was such a weird week.

But I didn't want to leave you hanging since I've been pretty good at consistent updates lately.

Next few updates may take longer, though. We are 5-6 chapters away from concluding Book II, so I'm going to take more time to craft them to the best of my ability. I also want to have the prologue for Book III ready to go, because the ending of Book II could be upsetting. I think you all know I love Jon and Shawn too much to do anything that won't be rectified by the story's end.

Between chapters if you want something to read, I wrote a couple of new short stories for AiP which are posted on here called Flashbacks. A Boy and his (Teacher's) Motorcycle and the Darkest Night (heavy angst here) are the newest. Sick Day is also a short story, not in AiP.

Anyway, thank you, thank you, thank you for reading. You mean the world to me.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. No comment is too small/short.