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"Start with one."
I decided not to start with me almost being kidnapped. That would scare her too much. "Dad showed up last night. He was very, very drunk. He looked awful, like he'd been sleeping on the street in his clothes."
"What did he say? Where has he been?"
"He's been here in San Francisco since last Tuesday. He had a brief conversation with Mom on Wednesday. She attempted to apologize, but Dad got so angry he slapped her, and some other people tried to intervene—"
"What the hell?" Dani interrupted. "He slapped her?"
"He was blinded by rage. Anyway, she left. He was going to go see her the next day but then she was shot, and he fell apart. He started drinking and he couldn't stop. He said he was so heartbroken and angry that he couldn't talk to any of us. He couldn't believe the woman he'd loved so much had lied to him and deserted him, leaving him with her children."
"We were his children, too."
I drew in a breath. "That was a lie, too, Dani. We aren't his kids."
"What are you talking about, Brynn? We are his kids. I know you didn't always feel close to him, but I did."
"Which is why this is going to hurt you," I said, wishing I didn't have to tell her. "Dad told me that he's not our biological father. He didn't even meet Mom until we were three months old. He said he fell in love with all of us at the same time, and he wanted us to be a family, so they got married, and he adopted us. He and Mom agreed that they would never tell us the truth."
"Why would he tell you now?" she challenged.
"He didn't mean to. It came out as part of his drunken ramblings last night. I brought it back up this morning, and he told me everything. He said he was sorry that he'd let the secret out, that he'd loved us like his own. But we are not his biological children."
"Who's our father?"
"He doesn't know. Mom told him the guy wasn't a good guy and she didn't want him to know about us. He apparently didn't ask any more questions."
"This is unbelievable."
"I know. It's one shock after another."
"Does he know why Mom left?"
"He doesn't seem to know, but to be honest, after he dropped this bomb on me, I couldn't talk to him anymore, and I came upstairs. I needed a minute to regroup."
"Does Vicky know that he's not our dad?"
"He said he told her a long time ago." I paused, tensing as another question ran through me. "You didn't have any idea, did you?"
"Of course not," Dani said sharply. "How could you ask me that, Brynn?"
"You just seem a little quieter than I thought you would be."
"I'm trying to process everything."
"I told Dad that the police want to talk to him. He's not eager to do that, and I know why. The public fight he had with Mom right before she got shot won't look good. And the fact that he's been drunk and missing ever since then will lend more credence to the idea that he got angry and shot her."
"But he didn't do that."
"I don't think he could have. He was a slobbery mess last night. As much as I hate him for keeping this secret from us, seeing how devastated he is, I think he really loved Mom."
"I always thought he did," Dani said. "Have you learned anything else?"
I still didn't want to tell her about my kidnapping, so I went with Jeremy's theory of witness protection. After I'd filled her in on that idea, there was another long silence.
"Well," Dani said finally. "There's a lot to think about, isn’t there?"
"Yes. And a lot to still be discovered. We have a father out there in the world."
