Page 58 of Tattletale

“Dead.” I glance to the back seat and Colt’s seemingly lifeless body. “My brother shot and killed him point-blank six years ago.”

“Why isn’t he in jail?” Linc asks.

“He was thirteen. The courts ruled it self-defense. Colt got therapy and community service, and that was it. My dad was a detective, but he was also an abuser and a drunk. I think…”

“Think what?” Linc presses when I trail off.

“I think everybody knew. I mean, yeah… I’m sure of it. It almost seems like they were glad Colt did what he needed to. It was the only way my family could be free. My dad had the resources to hunt us to the ends of the world. We couldn’t run. Colt said his death was our only way out.”

Colt groans quietly from the back, causing Linc to pull out his phone. He speed-dials a number and puts his phone to his ear. “I’m at the gate; let us through. I have the target…and a plus-one… I’ll explain when I see you in a moment…” He glances at me. “Vesper, it’s complicated.”

Great. I’m complicated.All I know is Linc is not law enforcement. He’s clearly a hitman of some sort. The only reason Colt is alive is because I’m assuming they want information from him. I have no doubt torture will be one of their extraction tactics, considering the way Linc nearly snapped his neck to subdue my meth-filled brother. What they do with me is still up in the air. Linc wasn’t expecting me, that’s for sure. Now… I’m either their burden or collateral damage. Jury’s still out.

“So, I don’t understand,” Linc says after hanging up the phone, not bothering to tell me who he just called. “Your dad has been gone for years, but for some reason, your mom still looks kicked to shit?”

I swallow down the bile that bubbles up in my throat. It’s the dirty, shameful secret I’ve kept for far too long. The excusesI’ve used to rationalize for so long come to the forefront of my mind; Colt is just lashing out. It’s the drugs. I’m too young to do anything about it. It’s ultimately Dad’s fault for setting such a bad example. This will end.

This will end…

But it never did.

It’s the reason I finally had the courage to pick up the gun tonight and end Colt the same way he had to end my dad all those years ago.It was the only way.But by some miracle, Linc arrived before I chickened out. I had the pistol pointed at my brother’s forehead, but when I saw the fear in his eyes, my anger cooled, and all I felt was pity, sadness, regret, and confusion.

It should’ve been easy to kill the man who was beating my mother. Except that man was my brother.

“We needed money. Insurance wouldn’t help us, seeing as my dad’s death was a family-inflicted murder. My mother had a psychotic break sometime when my dad was abusing her.”

The doctors said it was genetic, but I don’t believe that bullshit for one second. My father beat her until she lost her mind. In a way, it was murder. But the damn doctors want to call it schizophrenia.

“Anyway,” I continue, “my mom is highly dependent on prescription medication, and we needed money. My brother started running around with some gang, dealing drugs a few years back. Mom and I didn’t ask questions. He was bringing money home. He bought my mom’s medication out of pocket and filled the fridge with groceries. But then something snapped in him.”

“Look at me.” Linc turns on the overhead lights.

I turn toward him but don’t look him in the eye. His gaze is hot on my cheek, jaw, and my left eye. He’s examining the faded bruises. “It’s nothing,” I mumble.

“Colt started doing drugs, and turned out to be just as bad as your dad, didn’t he?”

I hold my breath, refusing to let the tears form. “Even worse.”

The gate in front of us opens, swinging backward. Linc throws the car into drive, but he keeps his foot on the brakes. “Levi, I wasn’t expecting you tonight. Colt has information we need. The gang he runs around with is a little more than a gang. But I had no idea he was living with his mother and brother. Now, you’re a witness.”

“I don’t want to go into the system,” I say.

“Is there anyone else who can take you in?” Linc asks.

I shake my head. Abuse tends to create an impenetrable bubble between you and the world. Not a soul outside of my mom, Colt, and now Linc knows what we’ve been through.

“I’m going to ask Vesper, my boss, if we can help you, but I can’t make any promises. She makes the rules, not me.”

I nod silently, looking forward at the dark road ahead of us. “Okay.”

“One more thing,” Linc adds.

“What’s that?” Reaching up, I turn off the cabin lights, not wanting the spotlight on the bruises on my face.

“My mother was really beautiful, too. Before the drugs took over her life, she was a different person. Those are the memories I focus on. The more I stay focused on the good, the more all the other bullshit fades away. Make sense?”

“Yeah, makes sense.”

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