Part 23 (1/2)
I nod. ”There's somebody waiting to hear from me. If they don't, people are going to find out what you did.”
”You have no proof,” he says. ”Hearsay. You say you saw a web search from years ago.”
”Maybe that's all I've got. Maybe.”
”The medical examiner confirmed your mother died of a stroke. He then retired. I think if you pursue this, you'll find it's a dead end.”
”Maybe,” I say, softly. ”Maybe that's not all this person's been instructed to do. Maybe this person's a certified marksman and there's a .338 Lapua slug with your name on it. You're not the only one with friends. Dad.”
He swallows, his throat bobbing, red spreading on his face.
Stare him down, Hawk. Sell the bluff.
”I don't give a f.u.c.k who the mayor of this town is,” I say, very softly. ”You want to win, fine. I came back here to make sure Alex is safe. You touch her, you're a dead man. You put me down, you're a dead man.”
With his free hand he opens a desk drawer, and then he lays the pistol inside it and slides it closed. He takes a handkerchief from his desk and blots his forehead, and sits back.
”We're at an impa.s.se.”
”Nah, you think you've won. You think you took Alex away from me forever.”
He says nothing, as still as a statue.
”That means I have nothing to lose,” I tell him. ”I'd best go get my suit.”
I turn and walk out of the office, close the door behind me, and walk upstairs.
May pokes her head out of her room and stares at me.
”Not now,” I whisper.
She grabs my arm and instead of shaking loose, I step into her room. She runs over and closes the heater vent on the floor and puts a book on it.
Her room looks like somebody put a bomb in her clothes hamper.
”You need to police this up,” I whisper.
”Not now. Jesus, Hawk, I heard everything. He killed your mom?”
f.u.c.k. May didn't know.
”Yeah.” I whisper. No point in hiding it now. ”He put an illegal pesticide in her coffee. It looked like a stroke.”
May clutches her throat, and goes pale.
”Relax. If he poisoned you with it, you'd know by now.”
”Jesus Christ,” she whispers. ”Holy Jesus Howard Christ. Uh, sorry.”
”Right.”
She paces the room and looks at me. ”All that stuff about some guy shooting him and telling everybody...”
”Yeah,” I confess. ”I wish I'd thought of that before I left.”
”Alex didn't tell me what happened last night.”
I fold my arms over my chest.
”Jesus you're huge,” she whispers.
May's lip trembles. ”I wanted you to come back,” she whimpers, scrubbing at her cheeks as she starts to cry. ”Alexis won't stop trying to do whatever and get your dad in trouble. He's crazy, Hawk. If he finds out she's been spying on him and stuff he'll... he'll hurt her.”
”She's in trouble.”
May hugs herself and sobs. ”I want it to be like before. I want you to be her boyfriend again. I missed you so much. Your brother is a creepy perv and he's been eyeballing me for years.”
”What?”
”Lance,” she hisses. ”He's always looking at me. One time he walked into the bathroom while I was taking a shower and he wouldn't leave until I yelled and Alex came and-”
”Has he touched you?”
”No.”
”Stay away from him. If he won't leave you alone, come get me.”
She nods. ”Okay.”
”If he hurts you, I swear I'll kill him.”
May nods softly, still shaking. I put my hands on her shoulders.
”You're Alexis' sister. That makes you my sister, too.”
A weak smile quivers on her lips and she nods.
”I'm glad you're back.”
”Listen to me. We might need to go, at any time. Can you get a bag ready? Stuff you can just grab?”
She nods. ”Yeah.”
”Good. Do that, keep it somewhere no one will see it, but you can get to it in a hurry. Only pack important things. One bag you can carry easily. Understood?”
”Yes. Sir!”
I roll my eyes. ”Right. I have to go. Put my number in your phone.”
After she has my number, I duck out into the hallway, shower, change.