Eli parks the Buick along the street and cuts the engine. “Remember, from here on out, don’t worry about what happens to me. It’s the others that are the priority. It’s the others that you must save.”
I’m gripping the gun in my lap a little too tightly. My thumb touches the safety as I think back to Hoboken, the cop standing over me, and how in that instant I thought I was going to die but wasn’t afraid.
“John.”
I blink, tear my gaze away from the gun. “Yeah?”
“Are you sure you can do this?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He reaches for the door. “Now let’s go see if anybody’s home.”
fifty-four
The men with the guns told her to walk to the living room.
Ashley looked around the kitchen, searching out anything she could use as a weapon or some form of escape. But then her gaze settled on her mother’s face and the sadness in her mother’s eyes, and Ashley knew it was no use. It was no accident these men happened to show up when they did. They had been here the entire time. Ashley hadn’t been having any nightmare, at least none of the sleep variety. Everything that had happened had truly happened, and these men had taken her from the hospital and brought her here to her parents’ summer home. And her parents-her parents! — played along with whatever story they had been fed.
“Mom?”
Her mother just shook her head. Tears began to well up in her eyes.
One of the men behind her said, “Move,” and shoved her forward.
“Hey,” her father said loudly. “There’s no need for that.”
“Sorry, sir,” the man mumbled.
A hand touched her back again and pushed her forward, this time more gently.
Ashley started moving. Past the counter and her mother. Past her father who couldn’t seem to meet her eye. Into the living room where there was a small fire going in the fireplace, the flames licking the stone and crackling the wood.
“The couch,” one of the men said, and Ashley, purely out of spite, lowered herself into one of the leather armchairs facing the fire.
Her parents shuffled into the living room, her father holding her mother’s arm for support. They sat on the couch. Her mother had begun to cry silent tears. Her father comforted her mother as best he could, telling her that it was okay, that everything would be all right, and then looked up at the two men and motioned at Ashley.
“May I?”
One of the men nodded for her father to go ahead.
Before her father could speak, though, Ashley asked the two men, “Are you going to shoot me?”
Neither man answered.
“If you’re not going to shoot me, can you at least put away the guns?”
The men didn’t look like they were going to give her any response. Then, after a moment, the one man holstered his gun, followed by the second man.
“Thanks,” Ashley said. “Oh, and while you’re at it, you can go fuck yourselves.”
“Ashley,” her mother gasped.
Her father was shaking his head. “Ashley, these men are not here to harm you. They’re simply here to … make sure everything goes according to plan.”
“Really? Because I’m pretty sure they’re responsible for Melissa and her family’s death.” She looked up at the two men. “How did you do it? How did you make it look like a murder-suicide?”
Neither man answered.
Her father said, “Ashley, don’t make this any harder than it has to be. These men are here to help you.”
“Help me?” She wanted to laugh. “They’ve been trying to kill me.”
“Ms. Walker,” one of the men said, “I can assure you that isn’t the case. There has been some … confusion about certain matters that your parents are now going to explain.”
“Confusion?” Ashley looked from the men to her parents and then back to the men. “You mean about Melissa and her family being murdered?”
A tissue box sat on the coffee table. Her mother leaned forward and plucked a tissue and immediately began dabbing her eyes. Her father placed his arm around her, kissed her head, took a deep breath.
“Ashley, your mother and I love you very much. It was always our dream when we first got married to have a child. Several children, in fact. But, well, this wasn’t meant to be. Your mother and I were heartbroken. We wanted a child to share our life and our legacy with. We looked into adoption and considered a number of agencies. But then … we became aware of another route.”
Ashley didn’t know why it had taken this long, but everything began falling into place. “No,” she said quietly. “This … this can’t be happening.”
“I don’t know what you’ve been told, but nothing bad ever happened to you, even before you came into our lives.”
Ashley started shaking her head, her body now trembling, the entire room beginning to shift and tilt around her. She tried standing but her legs had gone weak and she fell back down onto the armchair.
“I know this is difficult to accept,” her father said, “but just remember that your mother and I love you. We did everything we could to make sure you had the very best life possible. And you did, didn’t you? You had a great childhood. You have a great life.”
Her body still trembling, her head still shaking, Ashley attempted to stand once more. This time she managed to stay up, despite the weakness in her legs.
The men with the guns started to take a step forward, either to help keep her steady or push her back down onto the chair.
Her father said, “Don’t,” and raised a hand to stop them.
The men stopped.
Ashley said, “I … you … no …”
Her mother was openly weeping now. She plucked another tissue from the box and blew her nose.
“It’s going to be difficult at first,” her father said. “We understand that it will be hard to accept the truth. But just remember that we love you. Remember that you will always be safe.”
She wanted to run away. She wanted to scream. She wanted to grab one of the men’s guns and use it to shoot herself in the head. It was such a wild, irrational thought, but after everything she had gone through, after everything she had learned, to find out that she had been …
No. She refused to accept that. She refused to believe she had been a test tube baby. Born in a lab. Born for purposes other than what she eventually became.
“How?” she whispered.
Her father frowned. “How?”
“How can you be associated with these monsters?”
Her father opened his mouth but said nothing. He appeared to be at a loss. He even looked toward Ashley’s mother for help, but the woman was still crying, clearly no help at all. It didn’t matter anyway, because at that moment, the doorbell rang.
fifty-five
Zach immediately reached for his gun.
Hogan waved him off. He said, “Mr. Walker, does anyone on the island know you’re here?”
The old man thought about it for a moment. “I don’t believe so. But we have several neighbors who live here year round. They may have noticed our car out front and came to say hello.”
“Have any of your neighbors been known to do this in the past?”
Before the old man could answer, the girl said, “Christ, I’ll answer the door,” and started toward the hallway.
Zach stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
She glared up at him. “Move.”
He didn’t even bother shaking his head. “Ma’am, maybe you should have a seat.”
Her jaw clenched. “This is my house, and I’ll answer the goddamned door if I want to.”
The old man said, “Ashley, please, sit down.”
She didn’t move.
Hogan said, “Ashley? I know you don’t want to believe it, but we’re not here to hurt you. In fact, we’re here to protect you and your family. So if you could sit down until we get this all sorted out, that would be great.”
Still Ashley didn’t move.
The doorbell rang again.