Epilogue
The next hours were long. The police were called again and a search instigated, but there was no trace of Lawton. It was hard to say if or when he would turn up again.
The police had, at least, located the caretaker having been paid off and on vacation in the Caribbean Islands, but he could tell them very little. He had received an envelope with money and a note from his little-seen employer, telling him to go on vacation and not worry about the property for a couple of weeks, so he had gone. He was horrified to learn of all that had happened and had insisted he didn't know his boss was "that" Lawton.
Radley sighed and shook his head as he sat on the edge of his bed and idly looked through his childhood books. "What a day," he remarked. "I guess the most we can hope for now is that Lawton will just not turn up anywhere for a while."
"And that if he does, he won't be trying to take over another Crash Town," Kalin growled.
Radley nodded. "With him, it's hard to say. The police are definitely staying on alert, and even if he changes his name again, his picture has been released everywhere."
"Good." Kalin hesitated. "Are you going to call Malcolm again?"
"Yes, I am. I was just waiting to hear the police's final report tonight." Radley set the books aside and took out his phone.
Soon Malcolm was on the phone again, looking wary as he had the last time Radley had called. "Well?" he greeted. "Are you going to tell me what's going on now, Radley?"
"Yes," Radley said. "To start with, Lawton is alive."
Malcolm wavered. "How?!" he demanded.
Radley and Kalin spent the next several minutes explaining all that Lawton had told them and all that he had done over the past couple of weeks. Malcolm listened, shaken, growing angrier the longer they talked.
"And that's everything," Radley finally concluded. "Right now he's at large again and we have no idea where he's going. Canada has been alerted in case he really does try going over the border there, but he'll probably do something completely different."
Malcolm clenched his teeth. "He never even mentioned me at all?!"
"No," Radley said quietly. "I'm sorry."
"Well . . ." Malcolm looked away. "I'm glad he's not dead. But things are over between us anyway."
". . . Maybe not," Radley said. "My family came back. There's always a chance that he will remember you're his brother and have some feeling for you."
"Not likely," Malcolm growled. "We both know he didn't care what happened to me in the Duel Monsters world or when my former employees beat me to a pulp."
"Yeah," Radley sighed.
"I'll probably never hear from him again unless he thinks he can get something out of me," Malcolm said. "That's all anyone is to him anymore—tools he can use. He feels the same about Barbara."
"Does she know about that, or any of what's been happening?" Radley asked.
"She's a smart lady. I'm sure she's figured out he doesn't care about her," Malcolm said. "I guess I'll get a message to her that Lawton's alive, maybe. Or maybe I'll just let her find out in the morning paper."
"You do whatever you feel comfortable with," Radley said.
"You have no obligation to tell her anything," Kalin grunted.
"You're right, I don't," Malcolm said. "And maybe I won't."
"Good," Radley said.
"Thanks for calling again," Malcolm said. He sounded gruff, but touched.
"Of course," Radley said. "I'll let you know if there's any other news." He hung up and picked up the books again.
Kalin shook his head. "Malcolm has bad luck with loved ones," he remarked.
"To say the least." Radley frowned. "I always thought it was outrageous how they treated him and how Barbara deliberately led him on. Or was she genuinely interested in him before Lawton came back? I've heard both tales and I don't know which is true or which is worse."
"He probably deserved it either way," Kalin said.
"I know he was a horrible person back then, but it still seems too cruel to lose your family and your girlfriend," Radley said.
"Like you did," Kalin said.
"Yes. Ironic that we have that in common." Radley sighed. "I have mine back, but even though I tried to give Malcolm some hope, I don't know if Lawton has any heart left, even for his brother."
"I doubt it," Kalin said. The memory of Lawton's cold eyes as he pushed Kalin overboard flashed before his eyes. But, not wanting to talk about it, he looked back to Radley. "Did you figure out what you're going to do with those yet?"
"Hmm. Well, I know Scotch would definitely enjoy my Pokemon books," Radley mused. "And probably any other fun books. I'd like to give some to Emilio too. I might want to keep my more intellectual books for myself."
"Did you leave everything behind when you went to college?" Kalin wondered.
"No, I took some things. My Bible and my copy of The Lord of the Rings. And . . ." Radley looked slightly embarrassed. "A plushie."
". . . A plushie," Kalin intoned.
"I had a really nice plushie of the Pokemon Eevee and I didn't want to leave it behind," Radley said. "Plushies . . . could really be great friends when there wasn't anyone alive to fill that role. There were so many nights when I fell asleep just hugging it out of loneliness and sorrow."
"What happened to it?" Kalin wondered.
"I really should have given it to Scotch, but I still have it," Radley admitted. "It's in my closet. Sometimes I still take it out."
"Obviously it still means a lot to you, if you don't want to part with it," Kalin said.
"Yeah, it does," Radley said softly. "Maybe I'll bring it out permanently."
"There's no shame in it," Kalin said.
Radley smirked a bit. "I guess I figured it wasn't something a tough motorcycle gang leader should have around. Or even a softer motorcycle gang leader, when he's trying to be the adult."
Kalin shrugged. "You collect things like One Piece figures."
"That seems different somehow," Radley said. "But maybe it's not."
"If it's something you care about, it's the same," Kalin said.
Radley smiled. "Thanks, Bro."
They both looked up at the sound of someone in the doorway. Lucia was standing there, looking stern. "May we assume that all of this nonsense with that madman is over now?" she asked.
"I don't think he'll bother any of us anymore, Grandma," Radley said.
"He had better not," she sniffed. "Well, it's late. We should all get to bed."
"I know," Radley said. "We will." He got up and went over, giving her a gentle hug. "Goodnight."
She didn't return it, but she did lay a hand on his shoulder. "Goodnight."
"She's still not very affectionate," Kalin remarked when she had gone.
"No, but she actually did hug me back at the diner," Radley said. "It was a huge deal. And even just doing as much as she did now is more than she often did." He smiled as he took the books and set them back on the shelf. "You weren't real affectionate either for quite a while."
"I know." Kalin looked away. "It was losing you in the Duel Monsters world that made me want to change that."
"I'm glad you did," Radley said softly. He turned back the covers and climbed into bed.
Kalin got in beside him. An unwilling shudder went up his back.
Radley rolled onto his side and put an arm around Kalin. "I was so afraid tonight," he said. "I almost lost you. I know you must have been terrified too."
". . . I was," Kalin admitted. His voice cracked. "I didn't want to die. . . ."
"We owe so much to Scotch," Radley said.
"I'm glad he was in that tree." Kalin hugged Radley close.
"I can never be grateful enough," Radley said. He sighed. "It's ironic that the more Lawton tries to hurt us, the more things work out when he does. Now, because he chased Scotch up that tree, Scotch was there to save you."
"I'd still rather it hadn't happened, but since it did, I'm glad it happened the way it did," Kalin said.
"I felt you trembling in the bed," Radley said quietly. "You're trying to be strong for me, but you're still really shaken, aren't you?"
". . . Yes," Kalin confessed.
"It's alright to show it," Radley soothed.
Kalin snuggled closer. "I don't really want to talk about it unless you want to. I was talking about it with poor Yusei earlier. I was already dead to him twice, and he witnessed it one of those times. And I've been in danger so many other times, including when I tried to throw my life away in Crash Town."
"I know," Radley frowned. "We've all had a terrible time seeing each other suffering, haven't we?"
Kalin nodded. "Unfortunately. I don't really want to think about what happened any more tonight. But . . . I'd love to just be here with you, feeling you holding me through the night."
Radley smiled. "I would love that too." He held Kalin close to him as they both finally, peacefully dozed.
xxxx
Everyone was waiting at the table when Kalin and Radley went down for breakfast the next morning. Yusei smiled and got up, going over to them. "How are you guys doing today?" he asked. He looked worn-out. It had taken him a long time and a long conversation with Antinomy before he had been able to get to sleep.
"We're alright," Kalin said. "Yusei, I am so sorry you had to see that last night. . . ."
Yusei sighed. "It wasn't your fault, Kalin. Now I have another reason to want to see Lawton brought to justice." He smiled again. "I'm just glad you're safe."
Radley smiled too. "Yes, that is definitely the most important thing."
Emilio hurried over and hugged him. "And everything can be happy now, right?"
"I sure hope so," Radley said as he hugged back.
Marisol smiled. There was still a lot to work out, and a lot she wasn't sure of, but she definitely knew she wanted her sons to be in each other's lives. Even if she chose to live here, she would make sure to visit frequently with Emilio, and Radley had promised to visit here often as well. Somehow they would make it work.
"How long can you stay?" Lucia asked.
Touched surprise flickered in Radley's eyes that she had been the one to ask. "We planned on a week, and I think we're still good for that," he smiled. "I don't know if Yusei and Antinomy can stay that long . . ."
"We can't," Antinomy interjected.
"But we're happy to stay as long as we can," Yusei added.
"Then we'll make these days amazing, especially now that we don't need to worry about Lawton," Radley said grandly.
And they did. The rest of their visit was happy and wonderful and filled with amazing new memories. When it was time that they had to return, it was bittersweet for all of them.
"We will come out there very soon," Marisol promised as she hugged Radley close.
Radley hugged back. "You still haven't decided what to do, huh?"
"I wish we could all stay together like this," Marisol admitted. "When we cannot, it's still difficult to decide what the best solution is."
"Well . . . frequent visits back and forth are amazing as is," Radley said. "I never thought I could really have even that much."
"I wish we could visit every week!" Emilio said.
Radley smiled. "Me too. Well, at least wecan sure video call every week, and now we don't have to keep our letters secret."
Emilio beamed. "That's amazing!"
"It really is," Radley said, looking around at all his family. They were all smiling; even Lucia didn't look so gruff. All of this was a miracle the likes of which he had longed for in vain for so many years. Now it was actually real.
Kalin smiled, drawing an arm around Radley and hugging him close. Their visit was ending, but this was an incredible beginning for all of them. Who knew what other wonderful horizons lay ahead?
