That fact had my adrenaline spiking higher.
Silence followed us as we made our way back towards the front door. I’d just stepped on the very first step of the staircase when I heard my mother scream, “No!”
The fear in her voice was reminiscent of all those days when I’d had to stand by helplessly and watch as fist after fist fell on her frail body. I darted up the stairs, hoping like hell Ethan would keep up.
“Please don’t! Stop!” she cried out.
Even though I didn’t hear the tell-tale signs of flesh hitting flesh, it didn’t matter because I knew he could be doing to her what Ethan’s ex had done to him. As much as I hated my mother for what she’d done, she was still my mother.
The door to her room was slightly ajar. I heard her let out another hoarse cry just before I kicked open the door and stormed into the room, gun drawn. I found her instantly, but nothing about the situation made sense. Instead of seeing her on the floor or bed with my father’s body on top of hers, she was standing in the corner of the room…alone. There were no tears streaking down her face, no red marks on her skin or blood seeping from fresh injuries. The only thing off about her was how flushed her face looked.
Like she’d just run a marathon.
But then I saw it…the same thing I’d seen so many times when I’d begged her to believe me over my father.
I spun around, but was too late. Standing behind me just inside the door was Ethan with the barrel of a gun pressed against his temple and my father standing right behind him, using Ethan’s body as a shield.
My mother had set me up and I’d fallen for it, hook, line and sinker.
Chapter 18
ETHAN
The painin Cain’s eyes as he came to the conclusion I’d reached the second I’d felt the gun pressed against my head was hard to see, but it was compounded by the fact that I’d made things worse for him. With his father using me as a shield, Cain’s chances of getting out of this unharmed were greatly diminished. But since he’d run into the room intent on saving his mother, it was just as likely that he’d be lying dead on the floor right now with a bullet in his back.
“Put it down, son,” I heard the man behind me say. I could tell he was a little taller than me, but I wasn’t sure if it gave Cain enough room to maybe shoot him in the head. I doubted he’d do it anyway since the man could end up reflexively shooting me in the process, but part of me still wanted him to do it. If he didn’t, the likelihood he’d get out of here alive was slim to none.
“Don’t,” I said to Cain, hoping he’d get the message, but he ignored me and dropped the gun to the floor.
“Moira, get the gun,” the man said. I watched in disbelief as Cain’s mother hurried to do the man’s bidding. Her eyes met her son’s, but she didn’t speak to him.
As soon as she reached us, the man released me and shoved meforward. Cain put me behind his back and kept his arms out to prevent me from trying to go around him.
“Ain’t that sweet, honey?” the man said as his dark eyes scanned his son. “Our little boy’s gone and got himself a boyfriend. Told you he was a pansy,” he said as he glanced at his wife. He took Cain’s gun and tucked it in his pants at his waist.
“Let’s just go, Jimmy,” Moira said as she settled her hand on her husband’s arm.
I saw a large suitcase sitting on the floor near the door and another smaller bag next to it.
Jimmy was a big guy, but not as heavily built as Cain. His hair was dark, but it looked like a bad dye job. He was wearing dirty jeans and a stained, button-up shirt. A long black trench coat hung off his narrow shoulders. I wondered if he’d worn a similar coat when he’d attacked his son ten years earlier…it would have been easy to hide a knife in the folds of a coat like that.
Jimmy studied his son for a moment and then said, “Nah, Moira.” He shook his head slightly. “Look at him,” he said as he waved the gun in Cain’s direction. “Seen that look in his eyes before,” he murmured. “Boy thinks he can come between us like he did when he was a kid.”
“No, Jimmy,” Moira said quickly as her eyes flicked to Cain. “If we just tie ‘em up like you said-”
“Shut the fuck up, Moira!” he shouted. “You so stupid you can’t see it?” he added. To Cain he said, “That’s right, ain’t it, boy…you’re gonna keep huntin us.”
I wasn’t surprised when Cain didn’t answer.
“See, Moira,” Jimmy said knowingly.
As he raised his arm, Cain’s mother shook her head and then she was stepping in front of the gun. “No, baby, he won’t. He’ll listen to me.”
“Like he listened to you when he was a kid? Always gettin between us!” His eyes jerked back to Cain. “You ain’t gonna stop, are ya?”
“No,” Cain said without hesitation.
“Honey, don’t say that,” Cain’s mother said, her voice high anddesperate. She turned to face Cain and I was stunned to see her close the distance between her and her son by more than half. “Tell your father you know he didn’t do those things you accused him of…tell him you were confused.”
