“Yes, Cindel… I saw everything!” He leers at Dax. If looks could kill… I wouldn’t be as concerned about the weapon, as I would the man holding it. “In fact, I watched the video thirteen times. Just to make sure I had every detail memorized.”
Dax’s jaw ticks, pulling his shoulders back as he audits the people in the room. Why is he just standing idly by? This conversation is completely one sided. He’s not even trying to communicate!
Eamon's arm shakes faintly, but he never lowers the barrel from Dax’s face. I need to be his voice! The rationale to all this madness. My influential words could be theJigglypuffcard, ultimately making the boys stop. When in the hell did I become a Pokédex? I rest a hand on his arm.
“Eamon…”
He wrenches his gaze from his target to look at me.
“I’ve watched the recording too. I read over the log and the letter my brother wrote…”
His lips part followed by a strenuous swallow. As if whatever he was about to say is lodged within. “I’m sure you did, little fish… but you didn’t know what to look for.” His words are filled with heartbreak. “Did you recognize the other man in the video?”
I consider Dax, whose eyes remain forward, glossy and distant. Has he even blinked?
“No…” I answered, but then thought better of it… “Maybe? He looked familiar, but I don’t know whoheis, per se.”
Eamon steps closer to Dax, pressing the pistol’s end flush against his temple. Oh my god.
“Well, let’s go back a few years then… back to when Dax magically showed up.” Eamon doesn’t falter, as though he got a second wind, his arm steadies.
Mairead pulls her legs in, sitting cross-legged, carrying on with her random snacks. Andrea isn’t concerned in the slightest. She migrates over to Kent, ensuring he stays put in the corner of the room. All the while, my uncle’s smug face makes me feel queasy. I was completely ineffective. No weapons and not a single person to back me up. My only option is to listen, to believe he’ll calm down and eventually lower his gun.
“As if he fell off a delivery truck, Dax shows up at my boxing club, one day. No one had ever seen, nor heard of the guy before. Of course I was ready to send him packing, but then one of our families’ best guys vouched for him. We believed him. Fiercely loyal, he was with my family for years! I gave Dax a chance. To my surprise, he fit right in. Took each job I threw his way. Hell… even my old man liked him and he hates everyone.” Eamon pauses, sucking in air until his cheeks puff out, then blows it out hastily. “I stayed by your side the entire time you were healing. Always felt like it was my fault. My call did this to you… I made you a part of my family... My. Fucking. Family!” he bellows; as he shoves the piece against the side of Dax’s head, causing it to tilt to one side.
I gasp and squeeze my eyes shut. Holding the threatening tears in place. Dax remains silent. His chest rising and falling is all that moves.
Eamon continues, “shortly after Dax showed up, my mother was murdered. No… it wasn’t him! His hands were clean, because the guy who assumed blame was shot on the spot. This video was recorded just a few days before my mother died. The older gentleman, with whom your uncle met, is the man who shouldered accountability. The same man who supported hiring Dax.” With his free hand, Eamon pulls his phone out and holds the screen up to my uncle. “Never would I have suspected that a Lombardi had planted a mole in my house for years. Until I saw this guy’s haunting mug come across my screen. Now, all those raids made perfect sense.”
My uncle watches the video play, likely the first time he’s ever seen it, then looks to Eamon with an impish smirk. “Did you know the boy was there too?” With his chin, he motions toward Dax. “Even then, he was a disappointment.”
That’s an odd choice of words. Nicholas looks between the two men, looking positively delighted with how the tables have turned. Disappointed. Wait. The text! The one I saw on Dax’s phone, when he was showing me something on the screen, at his place. It said, “I’m disappointed in you, son.”No… no. My attention jumps from the allegedly blameless Dax to my subdued uncle. Nicholas’ stare pins me in place, as he watches the discovery wash over me. What I never noticed until this moment. I force myself to look up. Dax’s brilliant silvery vision floods in the corners. Those eyes. They were almost identical to my uncle’s.
“He’s…” I couldn’t breathe. “He’s your father?”
Dax’s once blank stare falls. His downward cast eyes tell me everything I need to know. The room turns on its axis, but I manage to stay upright by leaning against the closest wall. My stalker. This whole time? He followed me. Spied on me. Manipulated me. We… I thought this was different! Fuck. I’m so stupid. Why? Do I have,Lie to Me,tattooed across my forehead?
Mairead pops up from her discarded snack pile, brushing off her hands with a loud succession of claps, and then proceeds to drag an empty chair behind my uncle. I can’t move, as I watch Eamon escorting Dax to a vacant seat. The two men sit, back-to-back. Pistol permanently positioned at his temple. He doesn’t even put up a fight… not even attempting to deny the allegations. Dax simply does what was expected of him. Sitting down in the chair behind his father, he waits for the Murrays to finish tying him up. The wall was the only thing I have left to support me.
“Soooo, does that mean you’ve fucked your cousin?” Mairead probes, when she’s done helping her brother subdue Dax.
Preceding my reaction, Andrea gets involved and whacks the callow girl upside her head.
“Oww!” she grumbles.
“You had that coming,” her brother quips. “Be happy it wasn’t with the brass knuckles. Now keep quiet and let the grown-ups talk.”
Mairead regards Andrea with admiration, as she saunters over to the tied father-son duo. She stops in front of Dax and leans in close, whispering something in his ear. I can’t see her mouth; she speaks too softly for anyone to hear. Dax’s eyes go wide just before he returns to staring off at nothing in particular.
Andrea reaches to the ceiling, folding her fingers together before tilting to either side. Stretching for what, I wasn’t sure. “I have reliable intel in the city.” My roommate declares. “Your weasel of a friend over there was very informative, once we became acquainted… isn’t that right?!”
Officer Kent screams in short bursts behind his gagged mouth, clearly displeased with her commentary.
She bends at the waist, leaning forward into Nicholas’ face and clutching each arm of the chair he sits upon. “Do you know what I learned, daddy Lombardi?”
My uncle's lips pout into a sneer, directed at the authoritative woman above him.
“I know why you killed Mary… did you really think a mother wouldn’t recognize her own son?”
