Part 23 (1/2)

”So, are you trying to tell me everything was just fine until you saw Constance standing there at the door, and that's why you decided to take a swing at me? Because, I hate to tell you this, but I have trouble believing that.”

”Aye, I was planning to hit you anyway, that's a fact.”

”Yeah, no s.h.i.+t. Want to give me a clue as to why?”

As an answer he simply repeated his earlier question. ”What have you done to my sister?”

”I haven't done a thing. Just what the h.e.l.l makes you think I did something to her?”

”She's in jail, ya' b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”

”Dammit, Austin, you think I don't know that? I didn't put her there, you idiot, but I'm trying my d.a.m.ndest to get her out!”

”That's not what I've been told.”

”By who? Shamus?”

”Aye.”

”Yeah, well why am I not surprised by that? What does get me though is that you believed him.”

”Well, you might as well get used to it, then.”

”Really? So when did you all of a sudden start taking his side?”

”Does it matter?”

”Yeah, I think maybe it does. What the h.e.l.l did he tell you, Austin?”

”The truth.”

”The truth, or his truth? Because we both know they aren't the same thing.”

”Says you.”

”G.o.ds,” I muttered, worry filling my voice. ”What the h.e.l.l did he say to you, Austin?”

”He told me the things you've forced my sister to do.”

”He what?”

”The devil wors.h.i.+p. The sacrifices. Everything.”

”G.o.ds, Austin, give me a break, will you? You, of all people, know better than that. h.e.l.l, you've been one of the first to defend me when he's started in on that c.r.a.p before.”

”Aye, but that was before I knew the real truth.”

My frustration was starting to get the better of me. ”Real truth? What real truth? What are you talking about?”

”Stop lying, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He still has the letters.”

The only thing keeping my irritation from reaching a volatile flashpoint was the sudden dousing of confusion applied by his words. ”Letters? Dammit, Austin. Just spit it out. What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?”

”The letters Felicity sent, begging him to help her escape from you,” he growled.

”The what?” I snapped back at him, incredulity tightly wrapped about the words. ”Give me a break. He doesn't have any such thing and you know it.”

”Aye, but I do. I've seen them. And, they're written in her own hand, by G.o.d.”

CHAPTER 20:.

The only thing I truly remember hearing on the heels of Austin's retort was Ben's voice as he all but spat the word ”bulls.h.i.+t” into the room. If my brother-in-law responded to it verbally, either I didn't hear him, or his words simply weren't registering because I was no longer paying attention to his rhetoric.

In fact, I wasn't paying attention to anyone.

Of course, even if I had been able to blurt my own objection, once again there was no need, because Ben delivered the comment with enough disdain for the both of us. Besides that, the single word summed everything up in a neat and wholly unambiguous package. There was nothing for me to add.

It took a moment for me to notice that all normal sound had been replaced by a loud ringing as my blood raged through my body. My ears and face began to feel hot, and the room seemed to waver as an emotional claustrophobia swaddled me in an ever-tightening blanket of anguish. I couldn't even describe what I was feeling as blind anger, because it went so far beyond that.

It was a good thing Shamus wasn't the one in the chair because this was all simply too much. I'd finally had everything I could possibly take, and the fragile self-control I'd maintained thus far was a rapidly fading memory. I couldn't say for certain what I would have done had it actually been him sitting there, but it's a good bet that an ambulance and some manner of charges being filed against me would have been a big part of the aftermath.

I stood there, unmoving. I didn't even utter a sound as Austin's words replayed in my head. I simply stared back at him while every painful event in my recently shattered life joined together and came to a dangerous climax. Then, just as I felt myself pitching over that precipice toward a violent eruption, something far more frightening happened.

Calm swept over me in a comfortable shroud.

Cold, emotionless, calm, and with it came a strange sense of clarity. It was, however, a form of lucidity that I couldn't readily identify. I knew full well that while it could in fact be reality, it could just as easily be the edge of insanity. But, at this point, it simply didn't matter one way or the other.

Thoughts ricocheted around the inside of my skull, and I inspected them with mild interest, still remaining staunchly silent.

There wasn't even the most miniscule thread of doubt in my mind that what Austin had professed was exactly what Ben had said it was-pure, high-grade fertilizer. There could be absolutely no truth to it whatsoever, and that was simple fact. On top of that, it was fresh ordure. It simply stank too much not to be. But, unfortunately, I also knew that right now, Austin firmly believed every word of the steaming pile he had just shoveled.

Given the conversations I'd had with Shamus in the past twenty-four hours, it really didn't come as a shock that he would fabricate something to help prop up his plan to have Felicity deprogrammed. The simple fact that he claimed to have contacted an ”exit counselor” was enough to tell me that much.

When it came right down to it, even though Felicity had said she was certain her mother would shut him down, in the back of my mind I had been just as certain that she couldn't. Not this time. I'd hoped that maybe I would be wrong, but the evidence at hand said otherwise.

Still, all I had truly expected from my father-in-law were a couple of fictional diatribes. A few easily discountable rants spewed forth by a man who wasn't willing to accept anything other than the narrow vision he stubbornly saw as truth. I hadn't begun to imagine that he would go as far as trying to produce some form of bogus doc.u.mentation to lend credence to his accusations. Obviously, even with my belief that he wouldn't back down from his threat, I had still underestimated his conviction. It seemed that every time the man stepped over a line, he would just go find a new one to cross. This line, however, was final. There were none beyond it, not where I was concerned anyway.

The sad thing was, in reality, we were both heading toward the same end-that being the safety and sanct.i.ty of Felicity. He was just approaching from a diametrically opposed direction. Unfortunately, one of the important points on his roadmap called for sacrificing me in order to arrive at that final destination.

In a sense I suppose I couldn't blame him. I had to admit I was more than willing to fall upon my own sword if I believed it would help my wife in the least. But, it wouldn't and I knew that, especially not the way Shamus was trying to make it happen. In fact, if he kept this up, which was plainly his intention, I wasn't going to be his only victim. He was going to end up helping put away his daughter as well.

”Hey, Row?” Ben prodded. ”You okay?”

The ringing in my ears had died away. When, I didn't know, but it had been replaced by the ambient noise of the room. I just still wasn't paying attention to that noise. Words being directed toward me, however, seemed to break that barrier.

Ben's query served to alert me to the fact that I must have been staring in silence for longer than I'd realized. It took a moment for his voice to register, but when it did I set aside the random thoughts which had been occupying my conscious brain and tried to focus on the world around me. I became suddenly aware that the side of my thigh was wet and cold where the makes.h.i.+ft icepack in my hand was resting against it. But, instead of moving the dripping object, I simply clung to it, trying to use the physical sensation to draw me out of the bizarre catatonia.