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Everything became so silent that you could hear a gunshot. It was like the moment someone drew back a bow and was right on the precipice of shooting it.
Even with Zane obscuring most of my view, I could sense the betrayal on my mother’s face, her voice, and her eyes.
“Her what?” It was a whisper of betrayal.
Casey was looking at everyone with confusion on his face. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“It can’t be,” my dad muttered with restrained fury, and he stalked forward. Zane moved so he would be in the way, but I stepped out so I could see my father crushed face. The crumpled-up look of disbelief in his eyes and the rage shielding despair nearly broke me. His tone was quiet—a sound of heartbreak—and guilt overwhelmed me.
Zane attempted to step in front of me again, but I shook my head. I wanted to tell him that my dad wouldn’t do anything to me, but my throat was choking with tears I couldn’t shed.
“Daddy, I…” The tears made my voice watery. I didn’t know how to continue. “I—”
“You wouldn’t do that to your sister,” he spat in a harsh whisper. “After this bastard killed her….” My father’s voice shook with the force of his emotions. “He got her pregnant, and after she ran home here with her child, he convinced her to come back, and then he killed her.”
“That’s not what happened, Mr. Mulin,” Zane replied in a calm tone.
“What?” Casey’s voice broke the tense atmosphere. Confusion was clear on his face. “Wait, what are you guys talking about?”
Oh no.
This was way worse than the worst-case scenario. This was so far beyond that we were looking at the worst-case scenario in the rearview mirror.
Because even though no one answered the question, I could tell Casey would figure it out simply from the words my father said. He was already thinking and figuring it out. There was no way to lie to him or to cover it up anymore. I could see the wheels turning in his head, his eyes flickering to Zane and then back to me, noting the odd yellow eyes they shared.
And then, when it hit him, he paled.
My heart broke for him.
But no one else seemed to be noticing his reaction because my father was advancing threateningly toward Zane. And then, all of a sudden, he stopped.
He came to a halt, clutched his chest for a few seconds, and then dropped to the ground.
“Dad!”
“Grandpa!”
“Jerry!”
The nearly simultaneous screams crackled through the air as we all jumped into motion.
The next few minutes were filled with chaos and pure panic. My mind was too occupied with worry that I couldn’t even really process the series of events. Zane somehow swung my father, who was clutching his heart in pain, into the truck as quickly as he could and then got in the driver’s seat. Mom, on the other hand, was yelling at him, telling him to let him go so she could call for an ambulance.
“We can’t wait for an ambulance,” Zane retorted while looking her dead in the eyes. “He’ll die.”
My mother paled even more at his words.
After a brief moment of indecision, she jumped into the backseat behind him, and Casey got in on the other side, both of them keeping an eye on Dad while I quickly hopped into the passenger seat up front.
And then Zane was off, driving like a maniac to the hospital. The whole time, my mother was alternating between checking on my groaning dad and yelling at Zane.
“It’s your fault!” she accused. “Oh God, this is all your fault. You’ve killed him now too!”
“Mom, stop,” I bit back, feeling my heart race with fear. “Calm down, or you’re going to stress Dad more.”
Or distract Zane.
Although Zane didn’t seem like he was paying attention to my mother at all. He ignored her and focused on driving fast and furious to the nearest hospital. My dad was still conscious when we reached the hospital, but he was breathing laboriously and wasn’t speaking.
