“What. Happened?”
She knew he was taking in her ripped blouse, her runny makeup, and her disheveled hair.
“What happened to you?” He came over to her.
“Nothing,” she said.
He gently rested a hand on her shoulder.
“Nothing. Grant—”
“Grant,” he spat. “Grant did this.”
“No, it’s not what it looks like!” she said. Horrified, she realized Walter thought Grant had forced himself on her!
“I’m calling the police,” Walter said.
“No! You’ve got it all wrong!” She hurried after him.
“I knew it was too good to be true,” he growled. “He’s exactly like his mother, that sociopathic—”
“Stop, please! That’s not what happened! Listen to me!”
“Stefan,” Walter said loudly, “call the police! And Kate needs to go to the hospital.” She ran after him, trying to calm him down.
“Where’s my rifle?” he yelled, striding into the boardroom and grabbing a gun from the case. He marched up the stairs.
“Don’t!” Kate screamed, grabbing onto the larger man. “It’s not what you think!”
“Don’t try to protect him. I’m sick of you women trying to minimize the threat of psychopathic men. I will not let it happen again.”
Kate was dragged behind him as he strode to Grant’s bedroom and kicked open the door. She tried to pull the gun out of his hands. The rifle went off, blowing a hole in the ceiling.
Then Grant wastherewith a large knife in his hands. He lunged at his father, slashing at him with the knife and wrestling him to the floor. Kate screamed as Walter blocked Grant’s attack with the rifle. Grant grabbed his father by the collar and held the knife to his throat, but Walter had maneuvered the gun to aim it at Grant’s head. Grant seemed unfazed at being held at gunpoint. His eyes flitted between Kate and Walter.
“You told him I raped you?” Grant hissed at her. “I would never do that. Ihaterapists. I killed three men I caught with a young kid in Kabul. The MP wouldn’t do anything about it, said they were part of the coalition and we should let them do what they want. Screw that. I murdered them in cold blood while they were eating. Got knocked down a rank and was under investigation, but it was worth it. Do noteveraccuse me of being a rapist,” he said, still holding the knife to his birth father’s throat.
“Please put it down!” Kate whimpered.
She didn’t know who exactly she was talking to. Neither man backed down. The police showed up then. She could hear the sirens as the pulled up the drive.
“Let go of each other, please. They’ll arrest you,” she pleaded with the two men. There were boot steps up the stairs and coming down the hall.
“Drop your weapons! Drop them now! On the floor!” the police officers barked as they barged into the room. Walter put the gun down slowly on the floor and put his hands up. After a moment, Grant did the same with his knife.
“Don’t arrest them,” Kate pleaded with the officers after they had taken her down the hall to another room. “It was a simple misunderstanding.”
“So you weren’t raped?” the female officer asked her skeptically. Kate shook her head.
“We had… sexual intercourse. And it was fine. Better than fine, even.” She smiled, but the officer only scowled at her. Kate pressed on. “But then he accused me of sleeping with his father as well.”
“Fine, then,” the female officer said, closing her notebook with a snap. “But you can always come file a report later. We have detectives that are trained to help people in your situation.”
“It’s not…” Kate sagged. “That’s not what happened, but I appreciate your concern.”
After the EMTs finished checking her out, she slumped to the floor. She didn’t have the energy to cry.
“Why do I keep making terrible decisions?” she whispered to herself.
