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Holy shit, it took everything I had to mask my utter disgust. “Who is that, Gordon?”
“My mom. She got real sick, and he wouldn’t give us more money.”
I moved in small increments to get closer to Paris. “Who wouldn’t give you money?”
“My father!” he wailed and then shot a half dozen BBs at Arthur, who barely even moved.
My eyes bounced over to Paris, and she was silently crying. “Don’t hurt him,” she begged me. “Please don’t hurt him.”
“We’re not going to hurt your father.”
“Not him. Gordon.”
“You’re such a good sister, Paris.” His smile only made the creep factor rise.
My brows pulled tight, and I tilted my head but had to trust she knew what she was talking about. “Okay, I won’t hurt him, either.”
I kept my hands visible as I distracted Gordon. “Do you want me to call an ambulance for your mom? It sounds like she’s been sick for a while. One of my friends is a doctor. I’ll make sure he takes good care of her.”
“No. I just want her to see.”
“Want her to see what?”
“That I finally got him to notice me.”
CHAPTER 19
Paris
My fingers were numb, and I was pretty sure there was no circulation in my legs anymore. I don’t even remember getting here, but I was already tied to the chair when I came to. My head was dizzy and pounding, and I was surprised my racing heart didn’t cause me to keel over from a heart attack.
“I finally got him to admit I was his son. I didn’t want to hurt my sister,” Gordon said, still staring at Dad’s nearly lifeless body. “You know that, right? I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“I know, Gordy. You said I could call you Gordy, right?”
“Yes. That’s what I was trying to tell you before.” He moved his attention to me. “I wanted your help. I didn’t want to hurt you. He didn’t have to threaten me.” He waved his hand in Scotty’s direction.
Scotty took the opportunity to get closer to me. “I’m sorry about that, Gordon, but you understand I didn’t know who you were, and I wanted to protect her.”
“I suppose, but I didn’t want to scare her. I hope I didn’t scare you when I sent you the picture. I just wanted to talk to you, and I followed you, but you didn’t see me, so I sent the email because you were spending too much time with Scotty, and I needed to talk to you.”
Scotty’s forehead wrinkled, and his jaw set. I didn’t tell him about the email. “I’m sorry I didn’t see you, Gordy. I see you now, though. We all do. Dad does, too.”
“But he made me hurt you. You wouldn’t talk to me, and Austin has a kid at home, and I didn’t want to scare her.” He whipped his head over and wiggled the BB gun at Dad. “You wouldn’t talk to me, either! The only reason you came here was because of the picture of her. You never came just for me, not me, never me.”
“I… sorry,” Dad croaked.
When I first got here, my dad was more alert, but after being pelted with metal BBs at close range for hours, it was like death by a thousand cuts. He stopped being able to scream when Gordon put the barrel in his mouth and shot it. The sound that came from my dad was nauseating, and as much as I hated him, I didn’t want this for him.
“You’re not sorry. You never cared, you never cared, you never cared! You loved them, you never loved me.” Gordon’s face twisted, and ironically, he looked like our father when he was angry.
“He didn’t love me, either, Gordon.” I tried to distract him and heard Scotty’s low warning but ignored him. “He didn’t.”
“Don’t lie to me!” he screamed, his patience waning. “I saw your house. It was a mansion, so big it took me almost an hour to find him in his leather couch and his big TV and his expensive scotch.” He hit Dad with another BB.
I shook my head. “What else did you see while you were there, Gordon? Think about it. Were there family pictures on the wall? Our old bedrooms ready and welcoming for us to visit any time we wanted? What about any homemade art projects on display? A tire swing or even an old bicycle? Did you see any sign that children grew up in that home?”
Gordon looked thoughtful. “No. I didn’t.”
