Page 46 of Marked

Out of the two of them, Mom had always been the more level-headed, which was why it caught me off guard to see her facing off against Jill. Not that either of my parents were fighters by nature, but if anyone was going to come to blows it would’ve been Dad. Or so I thought.

Thank God for Waverly. No way would I have gotten control over the situation if she hadn’t jumped in to save my ass. Mom was a lot scrappier than she looked and given the fact she was naked meant she was also slippery as hell. Trying to avoid grabbing certain body parts while breaking up a fight was not the easiest task to accomplish.

“Sit there and don’t move. Either of you.”

I scowled at the two women on the ground. One looked confused, which made no sense, while the other—my mother—looked like she was gearing up for another throw down. Turning away from them, a pinch of pain pulled at my side, reminding me why all of this was happening.

“Celebration’s over, people,” Noah hollered out. He, Duncan, and Koen had apparently snapped out of theirstupor and were attempting to herd the crowd away from us. “Grab your clothes and head home. There’s nothing more to see here.”

“What’s gotten into you, Iris?”

A fully clothed Dave pushed his way past the dispersing townspeople, carrying a couple of blankets in his arms. After tossing one in the direction of Mom, he shook the other out and wrapped it around his wife.

“Did you know, Dave?” Dad, who was also thankfully dressed, joined us.

“Know what, Percy? That your wife seems to have snapped?”

“Let’s all take a breath here,” Waverly tried to interject, but it was no use.

“We told you years ago she needed help, but did you listen?” Dad’s shoulders slumped. “Losing Beth hurt all of us.”

“Don’t,” Dave growled. “Don’t you dare say a word about my daughter when yours is standing right there, alive and well.”

Never, in all my life, had I heard him speak with such venom. During the investigation and even after Beth’s body was discovered, Dave never once spoke about or to me in anger. He was the only one who encouraged me when I wanted to join law enforcement. Seeing the disgust in his eyes now, the puzzle pieces started to click into place.

“It wasn’t Jill, was it?” I edged closer, catching a glimpse of silver in Dave’s hand seconds before Noah shouted, “Gun,” while yanking me back by my belt loop. I was pushed unceremoniously behind him as three FBI service weapons were rapidly unholstered and aimed at their target before I could blink. Koen flanked us, sliding a gun into Noah’s open hand, while Waverly and Duncan shuffled myparents backward, then stood directly in front of them. Jill was the only person left unprotected, though she was probably the safest one there.

Slowly and with extreme caution, I stepped to the right, keeping the majority of myself concealed behind my newly appointed bodyguard. He stopped me from moving any farther with a hand on my wrist. When Noah’s eyes met mine, they were blazing.

“You can try to talk him down, but if that pistol comes up, it’s game over. I’m not risking you.”

I nodded, even though I didn’t agree. We were talking about a man I’d known and loved most of my life. If there was a way to keep this from escalating to the point of no return, I had to find it.

“Dave, look at me.”

“It was only supposed to scare you.” He tapped the black-and-silver revolver nervously against the outside of his thigh.

“The gunshots in the woods?”

“Yes,” he spat. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wanted you to leave.”

“Why? What did I ever do to you?”

Holding his attention was my number one priority. If he stayed focused on me, he wouldn’t notice Duncan inching his way closer, or Leland creeping up from the rear.

“It’s never been about me. Jill suffered enough for the both of us. She’d finally gotten past the grief, started to act like herself again, then you showed up and it was like no time had passed. Suddenly, she was back in hell again.”

“How is that my fault?”

Dave shifted, his grip on the gun tightening.

“Easy, Lanie,” Noah spoke softly.

Fuck that!I was pissed.

“You don’t think I suffered, Dave? That I didn’t live in my own version of hell after my best friend was taken?”

“Oh fuck,” I heard behind me when I shrugged off Noah’s hand as he reached out to stop me. Fifty feet separated me from the man I once considered to be like a father. I didn’t think, I just moved.