Chapter 6 - THE GUN
Claire froze.
Ethan didn’t.
“Nora.”
“Move away from him.”
Her hands shook so badly the gun barrel jumped.
Marcus went still.
“Nora, put that down.”
“You said that twenty-five years ago.”
Ethan slowly stepped between them.
“Look at me.”
Her eyes found his.
Immediately, something softened.
“Ethan…”
“Give me the gun.”
“He’ll take you.”
“No one is taking me anywhere.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then help me understand.”
Nora looked at Marcus.
“He was there.”
Marcus laughed once.
“I was twenty-three.”
“You were there.”
“At the hospital.”
“You held me down.”
Ethan turned toward Marcus.
“Is that true?”
Marcus’s silence answered.
Nora’s breathing grew faster.
“They told me you were dead.”
She looked at Ethan.
“I woke up after the crash and Richard was standing by my bed. He said you died in surgery.”
Ethan felt his stomach twist.
“No.”
“I begged to see your body. He said it was too damaged.”
Richard had told Ethan the opposite.
That Nora had died.
Two people.
One lie told in both directions.
Nora continued.
“I lost my mind.”
Tears ran through the dirt on her cheeks.
“I screamed. I hit a nurse. I tried to jump out a window. They sedated me.”
She pointed the gun at Marcus again.
“And then Dr. Pierce signed papers saying I was psychotic.”
Marcus spoke carefully.
“You were unstable.”
“My son had just been murdered in my head!”
Ethan’s eyes burned.
Claire covered her mouth.
Nora lowered the gun slightly.
“When they moved me to a psychiatric facility, Richard filed for permanent custody. Then he moved you out of state.”
Ethan whispered, “You signed the papers.”
“No.”
“The signature—”
“Wasn’t mine.”
Marcus looked away.
Ethan noticed.
“Who forged it?”
No answer.
“Marcus.”
“I didn’t forge anything.”
“But you know who did.”
Nora suddenly stepped forward.
Marcus reached beneath his jacket.
Ethan shouted, “Don’t!”
Nora raised the gun.
Claire screamed.
A shot exploded through the alley.
Birds burst from the warehouse roof.
Ethan spun.
Nora dropped the gun.
For one horrible second, he thought she had been hit.
Then Marcus collapsed to one knee.
Blood spread through his pant leg.
“You shot him!”
Nora stared at the gun as if she didn’t understand what had happened.
“He was reaching—”
Marcus pulled his hand away from his jacket.
Empty.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Claire looked toward the street.
“Police.”
Nora panicked.
“No.”
“It’s okay.”
“No police!”
“Nora—”
“They’ll send me back!”
She turned and ran.
Ethan chased her.
“Mom!”
The word stopped her.
Nora froze.
Slowly, she turned around.
Ethan was crying now.
So was she.
He held out his hand.
“Don’t run from me again.”
For three seconds neither moved.
Then Nora reached toward him.
Her fingertips almost touched his.
A black sedan screamed around the corner.
The rear door flew open.
Two men grabbed Nora.
Ethan lunged.
“NO!”
She screamed his name as they pulled her inside.
Ethan caught the door handle.
The car accelerated.
He fell hard against the pavement.
Claire ran to him.
The sedan disappeared around the corner.
Marcus stared after it from the ground.
And for the first time, he looked genuinely afraid.
Ethan grabbed him by the collar.
“Who were they?”
Marcus’s answer was barely a whisper.
May you like
“Not your father’s men.”
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