Page 93 of Chasing Honor

Yeah, my mom was furious. If looks could kill, my father would be dead on the floor.

“You okay, Mom?”

“No! I’m so sorry, Ethan. I tried to stop her. I knew your dad was on his way. But when he put the gun to my head, she told him she’d go with him.”

“It’s okay, Mama. We’ll find her.”

“She wanted me to tell you something.”

“What did she say?”

I stared at my mom as she told me Honor’s last words about how much she loved me and had known from the first day she saw me in the park. Her message sounded a lot like a goodbye and my gut knotted at the idea.

“I’m so sorry, son.” Seeing the look of fury and devastation in her eyes, I knew Mama Bear was in full force. “That son of a bitch caught me by surprise.”

“I know, Mama. There’s nothing to be sorry for. We’re gonna find her.”

I was one lucky son of a bitch having Lily Lenox as my mom.

27

Frank had officially lost his marbles. He was screaming at me about videos I’d stolen from his house. I had no idea what he was talking about and now I was up shit creek without a paddle. When he’d put his gun to Lily’s head and demanded I tell him where they were, I’d lied to him and told him they weren’t at the house, and I’d hidden them. I’d already given him my camera, memory cards, and laptop. He thought he’d successfully confiscated the images I’d taken of him sneaking in his whores. Idiot. He’d forgotten about cloud storage.

“You better not be lying, or you’ll end up like your mother. You’ve always been a pain in the ass and you never could follow directions.”

My mom? What did he mean by that? My mom had died in a car accident.

“Don’t talk about my mother,” I bravely demanded. He could say whatever he wanted about me, but I never wanted to hear my mom’s name come from his lying, cheating lips.

“Your mom was a blackmailing bitch. Bet you didn’t know that, did you?” He laughed. “She thought she could play me. In the end, I taught her the same lesson you’re about to learn. I always win. Now, where the fuck is this park?”

“What did you do?” I yelled, not bothering to answer him. “Did you have Sam run her off the road too?”

“Samuel? I wouldn’t trust that nincompoop with anything of importance. He’s lazy and doesn’t have what it takes to get the job done.”

And I wonder who made him that way? Frank had given Sam anything he’d wanted when we were teenagers. He’d made him into the spoiled, entitled prick he was today.

“Then who, Frank?”

“You know the saying: if you want something done right, do it yourself.”

“You wouldn’t dare get your hands dirty.”

Frank slammed on the brakes and pulled into a fast food parking lot and turned to me.

“Wouldn’t I? You have no idea what I’m capable of. Now tell me which goddamn park you buried the videos in.”

“Not until you tell me what happened to my mom.”

Fuck him. If I was going to die, I wanted to the truth about my mother’s car accident.

“The bitch had gone too far. She wanted me to kick Sam out. She’d caught him in your room being a normal teenage boy, and, as always, she over reacted and demanded I tell my own fucking son he had to move out of my house. The nerve of that bitch. It was easier to let her believe she’d been blackmailing me into not divorcing her. I knew she didn’t want to go back to being a waitress and living in a shitty apartment with her brat, and I needed her on my arm for state dinners. It was a win-win. She was useful until she wasn’t. Then it was time for me to dispose of her.”

“Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!” I screamed and did my best to swing my zip tied hands in his direction. I only made contact once before he grabbed my hands and yanked them to a stop.

“You’re gonna pay for that, too, bitch.” Spittle landed on my forehead and cheeks as he yelled in my face.

I couldn’t believe my mom had actually said something to Frank about Sam. All the times I’d talked to her about what he’d been doing, she’d blown me off and told me I was wrong. I wanted to ask what she had on him, but it didn’t seem all that important at the moment. Instead I thought back to the accident. Frank was home with me when my mother lost control of her car and slammed into a semi.