Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 74005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Rage hurls through me. “You’re a murderer!” I scream, though it comes out more like a dry rasp.
Something beeps.
It’s a machine in the room.
“Hawk, please.” He grips my shoulders. “I need you to understand.”
A nurse runs in. “Sir, please move out of the way,” she says to my father.
“What’s happening?” Dad asks.
“His pulse rate is up. His blood pressure is up.” The nurse touches my forehead. “Sweetheart, you need to calm down.”
My dad is a murderer…
My dad is a murderer…
My dad is a murderer…
“I’m just going to give you some medicine,” she says. “It will help you relax. Feel better.”
My dad is a murderer…
My dad is a murderer…
My dad…is a…murderer…
Present day…
I’m a murderer…
I’m a murderer…
I’m a murderer…
At least if Eagle dies, I am.
God, Ted Tucker.
He was more of a father to me than Austin Bellamy ever was.
Yet my father killed him. Said he was protecting his family.
As if Ted was some kind of threat. He never would’ve harmed Mom or the girls. He never would’ve harmed me. He had plenty of chances to because I spent a lot of time with him.
And my dad killed him. Took away the best male role model I ever had, other than my older brother.
And now I’m the murderer.
Except that…
I’m not.
Eagle’s not dead. At least not yet.
Plus…
Did I force Eagle to snort cocaine? To take too much?
It is my fault that the cocaine was available.
If a parent leaves a gun within a child’s reach, and the child harms someone, the parent is held responsible.
But Eagle isn’t a child.
Of course, for all intents and purposes he may as well be. He’s never taken responsibility for anything in his life.
The whole thing—trying to dig up Diego’s body, finding the grave empty—must have been too much for my little brother.
I failed him. I failed him when he needed me the most.
And I did it because…
I did it because I wanted to get into a woman’s pants. Daniela’s pants.
Damn, damn, damn…
I’m back in Eagle’s room. Raven has entered and is hugging my mother.
They hardly notice me. I have to leave anyway. Only two at a time, the nurse’s orders.
“I’m going to go home,” I say.
Mom simply sniffles.
“Okay, Hawk,” Raven says. “Falcon and Savannah are coming back soon. We’ll all be here for Mom.”
“I can stay if you need me to,” I say.
“I understand if you need a break,” Raven says. “Go ahead. If you don’t want to be alone, go to my place. Vinnie and Daniela are there, and Robin may still be there as well.”
I simply nod.
I won’t be going to Vinnie and Raven’s place. As much as I want to see Daniela, she won’t want to see me. I treated her like trash earlier.
I head downstairs to the lobby and through the doorway to the parking lot where I parked my truck.
Again I look at the coke in the backseat.
Damn. I valeted my truck earlier. If the valet had seen the coke in the back…
He would’ve called the cops, and I’d be on my way to prison.
I suppose I should be thankful for small flavors.
Once I’m home, I walk inside and shove my hands in my pockets.
Something sharp pokes one of my fingers.
I pull it out.
The star earring—the one I found when we were searching for Vega’s body.
It was Ted’s.
Which means Ted’s body is somewhere close to that spot where I found the earring.
I think back.
Back to how my father said he was a threat. That he acted to make sure that my mother and my sisters weren’t raped in their sleep. To make sure the rest of us weren’t killed.
At the time, after I healed from my gunshot wound and convinced myself that my father was not a murderer, I decided to take his word for it. But things were never the same between us.
Still though, why would a father lie to his son? At the time, even though I didn’t idolize my father the way Falcon did, I never thought he was a liar.
But now…
After my father’s suicide attempt…
And all of the memories it evoked in me…
I wonder if there’s more to the Ted Tucker story.
I hold the earring in my hand, slide my thumb over the star.
“Ted,” I say, as if the earring embodies him, “I may not be able to save my brother this time. That’s eating at me. And now, I realize what was eating at me all those years ago. I couldn’t save you, Ted. I tried to that day. It’s why I got shot. My father asked me to forgive him, and I did. At least, that’s what I told him. Was it selfish?” I sigh. “It made my life easier if my dad thought I forgave him. If he thought I forgot you. And then, last night, it was just too easy to be selfish, and now, it may cost my brother his life. I wish I could save him, but it’s no longer in my hands.” I grip the earring firmly. “But at least maybe I can figure out why my father killed you. Because I don’t think you were a bad guy. I don’t think you were going to harm any of us.”