Page 76 of The Intruder

Eleanor’s face is turning the same color as her hair. “Yes! You think I’d make a mistake about that?”

“No, no, of course not.” Lee’s face is flushed too. “I’m sorry, but…please help me out here. Tell me your name.”

“Eleanor Kettering.” She frowns at the look on his face. “Everyone calls me Nell, but of course, you wouldn’t know that because you abandoned my mother before I was even born.”

Lee’s face is still blank. “Your mother…?”

“My mother is Jolene Kettering.”

The color drains out of Lee’s face. “Jolene…”

Well, looks like he’s going to own up to it after all.

“Oh God,” he murmurs, swaying on his feet. “She asked me for money, but she never told me…”

“Tell me why you did it!” There are tears now in Eleanor’s—Nell’s—eyes. “Tell me why you left us!”

She points the gun straight at him, and the whole room goes completely silent except for the patter of raindrops outside while we wait to hear what Lee has to say. He stares at her, his mouth hanging open, struggling to come up with an answer. Her rage seems to build with each passing moment of silence.

Oh my God, she’s going to kill him. I don’t know if I can stop her without getting shot myself, but I have to try.

“Nell,” I say as calmly as I can, using the nickname she prefers now that I know it. “Please just put the gun down and give him a chance to explain. Please, Nell.”

“No!” She doesn’t lower the gun even a centimeter. “I want to hear why he abandoned us. I want to hear now!”

“I…I didn’t,” Lee stammers. He looks at me helplessly. “Nell, I swear, I—”

“Don’t lie! You know her. You admitted it!”

“Lee,” I say calmly. I want him to survive this, but I don’t think he truly knows what this girl is capable of. I’m the one who saw her covered in blood—and that soaked cloth in her bag. “Tell her the truth.”

“Nell.” He’s fighting to keep his voice steady. “I’m sorry, but the truth is I never even dated Jolene. I know her, but we never, you know… What I’m trying to tell you is I’m not your dad. I can’t be. It’s not possible.” He pauses, looking her straight in the eyes. “I swear to you. Why do you think I am?”

“Because I found your name!” Nell looks between the two of us, hysteria mounting on her face. Her hand holding the gun wobbles, and I’m terrified it will go off by accident. “It was in the folder with my birth certificate! Your name and old address and phone number. Why would she put that in there if you weren’t my father?”

“Because,” he says, “she was dating my brother. He must be your father. Like I said, she did contact me right around when you were born looking for money, but she never told me why. I thought it was a scam because that’s the kind of person she was. That must be why my name was in the folder with your birth certificate. I had no idea that she…”

Nell’s forehead scrunches up. She looks like she doesn’t believe him, but at the same time, I’m sure she recognizes her evidence that he’s her father is flimsy at best. “Then where is he? Where is my father?”

Lee stares at her a moment as if struggling to figure out how to deliver a piece of terrible news. Finally, his shoulders sag.

“I’m so sorry, Nell,” he says softly. “But my brother has been dead for a really long time.”

Nell stares at him for a moment; then she falls to her knees and dissolves into big soggy tears.

54

The good news is Nell surrenders my gun.

The bad news is we can’t get her to stop crying. She buries her face in her hands, her small body shaking with sobs. Lee looks at me helplessly, and I crouch down beside her. I put my arms around her, remembering the way that nice paramedic hugged me after my mother died.

Well, after I killed her.

We need to calm Nell down. That’s the first thing we have to do. The second thing we have to do is figure out where her mother is. Because we know that her father is dead. At least we know she didn’t kill him.

I manage to coax her to the sofa. She’s still sobbing, her face bright red and full of snot. I sit down on one side of her, and Lee grabs a box of tissues for her, then sits on her other side. He’s still in his pajamas, but he doesn’t make any move to go change.

“I’m so sorry, Nell,” Lee says again. “My brother never even knew about you as far as I know. If he had…”