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“Alright.” Burt takes a quick sip of his soda. “Your request was fulfilled. Victor finished off the wanker.”
I stare at my newest friend sideways. Burt’s acting a tad off. First when he mentioned Uncle Red entering the building, and now . . . he knows something. Just as I’m about to call him out for withholding somesignificantdetail, Uncle Red’s voice erupts like a riot after years of abuse.
“That’s not enough!” Uncle Red clasps the coffee table, sending the whole thing spiraling over onto its head. “I want proof, Burt! Proof!”
Uncle Red glares at a can of soda leaking into the plush-pile carpet. As I scooch in my chair to retrieve it, Uncle Red comes to his senses with a groan.
“I’m sorry, Luxxie. I truly am, for my behavior. But you have to know, the second I started beating on that door, I thought it was me. She didn’t want me. And the moment I-I found out your momma was gone forever, I hated myself for the lack of faith in us. I told myself, perhaps your father—or whoever harmed her—was still inside. That I could’ve helped.”
He imbues a sob in the palm of his hand. “I could’ve helped.”
Pains stretch across my chest as I murmur, “Uncle—”
“I never should’ve left, Luxxie. That doesn’t excuse me going off just now.”
I blink a few times before murmuring, “I see that this has haunted you for a long time, Uncle Red. I don’t hold your outrage against you.”And I have a feeling my next question for Burt will just break your heart . . . all over again.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” His dark eyes zip from me and back to Burt. In a firm tone, he adds, “Now this proof, Burt, please.”
“That can be arranged, sir.”
* * *
Iassist Burt to the car sometime later. A second after the door is closed, my mouth opens. The concerns I’ve had come out in a keyed-up voice. “Burt, don’t play with me. We’ve had the discussion about being real with each other.Ifound Momma.The doorwasn’tlocked. You have some explaining to do,”
One hand pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’d hoped you’d not recall that bit of information, Luxury.”
“But Uncle Red couldn’t get inside the house when he returned. While I have been terrorized with fi-finding my momma.”
“You . . . came by the day after, sweetheart. That was always Detective Caruso’s reasoning to hold Dr. Everhart’s statement against him. The wholeattemptat return,” he says derisively.
"But—”
“The authorities had a subpoena, combed through every home Dr. Everhart owns, every office. Sweetheart,” he takes my hand, “the poor bloke blames himself. Had we continued our conversation . . . I dare say his mental state would be further diminished. Yes, Eugene returned. Now, take my word, Luxury, you know all that you should.”
“No, Burt. I’m not Uncle Red. Don’t you dare spare my feelings! I fought through hell. You know that. N-now, talk.”
As he silently regards me with a mirror of sorrow and regret, eerie intuition whispers from my mouth. “If Eugene Orson came back—he-he had a key?”
“He did. Per Dr. Everhart’s statement, Eugene must have entered while the door was unlocked and was able to retrieve your mum’s key for . . . when he returned.”
“Yes, you keep stopping at the part where he returned. Tell me everything, Burt!”
Burt sighs deeply, wilting before me. “A more extensive search of the Doorbell application indicated that Eugene left sometime before the sun came up the next day. Victor never spoke with me after advising that Eugene was gone. However, Paul and Monica believe he may have held her against her will. Allowed Dr. Everhart to return while she was incapacitated. Your parents did not have the Doorbell app. The recordings connected to the robbery, which occurred at the jeweler located on the corner, showed that Eugene was indisarrayupon his final departure.”
Disarray.And he left before the sun came up.Tears creep down my cheeks. “Now I have more questions. Did Vic actually vindicate Momma? Or was the asshole already dead? Did Eugene escape Victor’s wrath, and you didn’t have the heart to tell Uncle Red—just like how her murderer returned.”
Burt glances out the window then turns back to me. “Victor sent confirmation that he expired Eugene Orson the same night he left. He didn’t share anything else.”
I feel like shit for forcing Burt to tell me everything, and his last revelation makes me go all wobbly. The more than thorough,calculatingVictor murdered my mother’s tormentor just in case.
Just.
In.
Case.
He never got the chance.
