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“Why did you kill my mother? You had a kid with her.” You had me. Why couldn’t we have a normal life? Why did you have to be a monster? “Having a child with her had to make her different from the others. Why did you—”
“I didn’t kill her. You always get stuck on that. I told you over and over, she left us.”
He would never get the truth. This meeting had been a mistake. Just like the last one. A horrible mistake. “You don’t even know the truth, do you?” And maybe that was what this was really about. “You spin so many lies that you can’t remember what’s real and what isn’t.” He had a plane to catch.
Alina. He had to get back to her.
“I know exactly what is real.” Henry’s amber eyes glinted. “I remember your mother perfectly. I remember every single moment we had together.” His features seemed to soften. “And you’re right. She was different. That made me different. I knew the first moment I saw her that she would be special.”
Hadn’t Midas thought the same thing the first time he saw Alina? That she was special?
I don’t want to be like him.
“I could laugh. We went on hikes. She cooked dinner with me. Had dreams. Made me dream. And she was pregnant with you. Life. She was about life. You were born and you were Midas. Our golden boy.” Henry licked his lips. “But it had been so long, and…the urge came again. I didn’t think she’d know. I slipped out. She had to take care of you, and I slipped out,” he said again, “but…she followed. Saw the body.”
Henry had never said this before. Is this real? More lies?
“Your mom screamed and ran. But she ran—she ran right into the road. Even though I told her to stop. A truck hit her. Slammed right into her. Boom.” His shackled hands hit the table and made it bounce. “There was so much blood everywhere. She left us. Right then. If she’d just done what I told her, if she’d stayed in that motel room with you…she left you alone. What kind of mother does that to a son? Left you alone to follow me that night? Left us both when she ran? She deserved what she got. The truck kept going. Driver probably thought he’d just hit a damn deer or something. Too scared to stop on a dark road.”
Midas made himself breathe.
“I walked to her.” Henry’s eyes had turned glassy. “Already gone. I buried her. Went back to the motel. Thought you’d be screaming your head off. You were…maybe six months then? You’d been alone for hours. Her blood was on my hands when I came back and picked you up. We had this—this damn little mini-crib thing that she’d bought for you. It let us go from town to town and was so easy to set up. You always had a safe spot to sleep. She wanted you safe.” He looked down at the table. At his bound hands. “You weren’t crying. You were still sleeping. She left you. If she’d stayed in that room with you like she was supposed to do, nothing bad would have happened. Not to her. I loved her. People are supposed to do what I tell them. It’s so easy. So easy.” Rage blasted in his words. “I didn’t tell you to come here!” His eyes flew to Midas. Not glassy any longer. Shining with emotion. “Why the fuck aren’t you doing what I tell you to do? I’ve given you everything. Nothing bad would happen. Not if you just paid attention and listened to what I told you!”
His father had broken. Midas could see it. In the pain that flashed in Henry’s eyes. In the words that rolled out one after the other. This was the most vulnerable his monster of a father had ever been.
Because he loved my mother. Or, loved her as much as he could. The chink in his father’s armor wouldn’t last long. “I’m paying attention now.”
And just like that, it ended. All emotion vanished from Henry’s eyes. His mask returned. “No,” Henry said. “But you will be when you bury her.” He stood. “Terrance, I want to go back to my room.”
Midas needed more. “Why didn’t you leave me in that motel room? A kid could only slow you down. Why didn’t you just abandon me long ago?” It would have been so much better if you had.
Terrance had motioned for the guards to escort Henry out. They’d unhooked his shackles from the table and were edging near the door, but Henry looked back. “Abandon my own son? What kind of father do you think I am?” An angry huff. “Now, these fool guards need to get me the hell out of here. I’m not saying another word without my lawyer.”
One of the guards opened the door. But Henry didn’t cross the threshold. He did throw an amused smile toward Terrance. “You really shouldn’t lie. Aren’t you supposed to be one of those upstanding individuals that fights for truth? For justice?”
“Don’t know what you mean.” Terrance pointed to the door. “Guards, I believe the prisoner said he wasn’t cooperating any longer. Not without his attorney.”
“That’s the lie,” Henry murmured. “You began by saying Xander would be here soon. Knew right then that you were trying to play with me. Nice attempt, by the way.” Now he turned. The shackles strained as he maneuvered back to face Midas. “But how on earth could my lawyer be here when he’s not even in the state?”
Midas felt his heart drop.
“I sent him on a very important errand.” Henry nodded. “Very important. He’s off to convey my sincerest apologies to Alina Bellamy. I do hope he gets my message across to her.” A broad smile spread over his face and never reached his eyes. “Think he’ll do the job just right for me?”
Midas leapt to his feet. “You—”
“Out!” Terrance bellowed. “Now! Get him out!”
The guards took him out. The shackles clanked and groaned, and the door closed a moment later.
“Midas?” Oliver’s worried voice. “You okay, man?”
No. “Where. Is. Xander?”
“We’ll find out.” Oliver was on his feet, too. “And we’ll call Memphis and Ophelia. We’ll make sure they stay close to Alina.”
He had to get to her. Tension pounded in Midas’s temples. Boiled in his blood. “I need to get on a plane.” He rushed for the door.
But Terrance stepped into his path. “Do we believe Henry about the witness to the Bellamy murder? Or is that some BS?”
