She paused briefly, and I could see she was digesting my words. Finally, something other than rage flickered in her eyes.
Fear.
I recognized it all too well.
“I’ll kill the old man. I’ll kill his whole family. I’ll take every single person you care about away from you. All you have to do is sacrifice yourself to keep them safe. Sawyer’s handsome and rich. You could do so much worse than him. All he needs to hear is that you love him, that you’ll wait for him. Make him feel like he has something to live for. If he dies, it’s all your fault. I knew I should’ve tossed your mother out when she ended up pregnant without having a steady man in her life. I knew she would bring trouble into my house when you were born. I knew she was no good. She couldn’t even find a man willing to care for her and her child.”
I made a face as she started to move closer to me. My fingers flexed on the pepper spray as I braced myself for whatever attack she might throw at me. I knew it was better to keep her talking because help was bound to be on the way by now.
Huck always told anyone who would listen that I was fully capable of saving myself, so it was time to prove him right.
“My mom deserved better than what she ended up with. I also wish you’d made her leave. I wish she’d never brought me into your house. Because of you and your son, I never even got to tell her a proper goodbye. I didn’t get to mourn her loss.” I was in such a hurry to get away from them, grief hadn’t had time to catch up to me yet. “You used a sick woman as a weapon. There is nothing lower than that in my book.”
As soon as the unhinged woman was close enough to touch, I whipped the hand holding the pepper spray from behind my back and let a massive dose loose. I buried my nose and mouth in the crook of my other arm as the kitchen filled with the sound of her angry screams and the noxious fumes. I heard the gun clatter to the tiled floor as I turned and bolted for the front door. I nearly ran over Mr. Peters, who was back inside the entryway and hastily shuffling toward the commotion. I grabbed his elbow and hustled him outside, coughing as the chemicals from the spray lingered on my clothes and in my hair.
“Call the police and tell them you have an intruder.” I gagged a little and used his frail form to keep me upright as my knees got wobbly. I gasped for air as he patted me on the back.
“I’m not as quick as I used to be. I couldn’t stop her when she pushed into the house after I answered the door. We tussled around a bit, and she got me good on the back of the head with the gun. She saw the pictures of my grandkids and told me she would go after them if I didn’t figure out a way to get you here. I didn’t want to, but I remembered you telling me how crazy these people were. I’m so sorry I pretended to be sick to get you here. I didn’t want to risk my family. I thought I could buy some time and maybe get to my own weapon that’s hidden inside the house, but you showed up sooner than I expected. I called the police on your phone as soon I got outside. These old bones don’t put up a fight like they used to.”
I hacked hard enough I was worried I was going to be sick. It took a minute to catch my breath. When I could finally breathe, I assured the older man, “You told me to be safe. It was enough of a warning that I knew something was up. You shouldn’t have to deal with the monsters from my past. The only reason you were a target is because of me. All you’ve ever done is help me, Mr. Peters. I owe you so much, and I’m so sorry you were hurt because of me.”
Accountability. I would take all of it from here on out.
I was bent over in another coughing fit when a police car pulled up in front of the house, followed quickly by another car carrying not only Huck and Vernon but also Harlen. All three of them had rushed to the rescue. It made me want to cry.
The police officers hurried to check on Mr. Peters, who was trying to tell them there was a woman who was armed and dangerous inside his house. He rushed out an explanation for the wild events that sounded slightly crazy, even though I’d just lived through them. Meanwhile, I collapsed against Huck as he grabbed me and held me in a hug tight enough to crack my ribs, even though I was still slightly coughing.
“Are you okay?” His voice was harsh, and I could feel his hands tremble where he held me against him. “I can’t believe you went into that house, alone, knowing how dangerous it might be. When you can breathe again, I’m going to throttle you.”
I wheezed out a short laugh and rested my forehead against the base of his throat. I wrapped an arm around his waist and closed my eyes, finally feeling like all the scattered pieces of my life had fallen into place.
“I wasn’t alone. I knew you would come after me. I knew I had to face whomever was inside. If I didn’t, nothing we’ve been through up to this point would matter.” I wasn’t ready to tell him yet, but seeing Sawyer’s mother, and hearing all her deranged ranting about the night of the accident, made something else crystal clear. To move forward, I had to finally face the past. I had to right the wrong that had haunted me since the night of the accident. I couldn’t let anyone still think Huck was the one driving that night. I needed to go back and take a stand, regardless of what the consequences might be. I needed it on record that I was driving and that he’d been innocent all along. It wouldn’t get back the years he’d been forced to go to that awful school, but it would clear his record so that the accident could never be used against him in the future. It might be too little, too late, but it was the best apology I could offer.
I had to clear his name, even if I knew he was going to do everything in his power to stop me.
Not only was I fully capable of saving myself, but I was finally in a place where I could do my best to save him when he needed it.
Huck
“I’m not supposed to have any surprise visitors. How did you convince them to let you see me?”
I looked at my half brother and tried to keep my shock in check at how much he’d changed in the five years since I’d last seen him.
I called him a monster.
I thought of him as a demon.
He was always the big bad in mind—the embodiment of evil.
Now, he looked as physically ill as I knew he was mentally. He had lost so much weight that he almost appeared skeletal. His face was hollowed out and sunken in. His skin was papery thin and had a sickly hint of yellow. His eyes, which had always blazed with passion and obsession, were dull and flat, much like Ollie’s looked when she first showed up on my doorstep looking for salvation.
It was hard to reconcile the person sitting across from me with the person who had effectively ruined all of our lives. He seemed harmless and utterly defeated. And neither of those things had anything to do with his wheelchair.
“You know better than anyone that money makes magical things happen. If there’s enough of it in play, nothing is impossible.”
Never in a million years did I think I would be willing to reach out to my estranged father to ask him to pull some strings and throw some money around for me. I was happy having nothing to do with the man, but knew the only way I could get in to see Sawyer was with his help.
My old man didn’t seem at all surprised to hear from me now that both his wife and son were locked away. He thought I wanted to make amends and reclaim my position as his heir, but I was never going to forget how easily he disowned me or failed to protect me from his miserable wife.