Chapter 8
I gripped the bat tighter.
“Get out of my house.”
She didn’t move.
“Your house? I helped you with the down payment on this house. I picked out the countertops. I have just as much right to be here as you do.”
“You have no right to be anywhere near me. Or my son. Get out before I call the police.”
Diane smiled.
That same warm, motherly smile that had fooled everyone for so long.
“Your son? He’s my grandson. My flesh and blood. I have every right to see him.”
“You lost that right when you murdered his mother. When you sold him to strangers for money.”
Her smile vanished.
“I did what I had to do! Those men were going to kill me! Kill your father! Kill all of us! What was I supposed to do? Let them break my legs? Let them shoot us all in our beds? I sacrificed one life to save the rest of the family. You should be thanking me!”
I stared at her.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Thanking you? You killed Emily. You destroyed my life. You turned my own son into a commodity. And you think I should thank you?”
“Emily was weak!” Diane shouted. “She was going to ruin everything! She was going to go to the police. I tried to reason with her. I told her I’d pay her back. That we’d all forget about it. But she wouldn’t listen. She was going to send me to prison. To let those men kill me. What did you expect me to do? Just sit there and let her destroy everything?”
“So you killed her.”
“I didn’t mean to! It was an accident! We were arguing. She fell. Hit her head on the hospital bed rail. I panicked. What was I supposed to do? Call 911 and confess? No. I made a choice. A hard choice. But it was the right one. For the family.”
I stepped toward her.
The bat was shaking in my hands.
“You’re insane.”
“Maybe I am. But I’m still your mother. And I’m still Liam’s grandmother. And I’m not leaving here without him.”
She started to walk past me toward the stairs.
I blocked her.
“You’re not going near him.”
“Get out of my way, Daniel. I’m warning you.”
“Or what? You’ll kill me too? Just like you killed Emily?”
Her hand went into her purse.
She pulled out a gun.
A small silver revolver.
“I don’t want to hurt you, baby. You’re my son. I love you more than anything in this world. But I need that boy. He’s the only good thing I have left. The only thing that can make all of this right. Now move.”
I didn’t move.
“If you want him, you have to go through me first.”
For a long moment, we stared at each other.
Mother and son.
The woman who had given me life.
And the woman who had taken the life of the woman I loved.
Her hand was shaking.
Tears streamed down her face.
“Please, Daniel. Don’t make me do this.”
“Put the gun down, Mom. It’s over. Everyone’s talking. The Hales. Dr. Chen. Maria. Even Dad. They’re all testifying against you. There’s no way out. The best you can do is turn yourself in. Try to make amends.”
“Amends?” She laughed bitterly. “I’m looking at life in prison. Maybe the death penalty. What kind of amends can I make from a cell? No. I’m not going to prison. I’m taking my grandson and I’m leaving. We’re going to go somewhere far away. Somewhere no one will ever find us. I’ll raise him. He’ll never know about any of this. He’ll love me. Just like you used to love me.”
She raised the gun.
Pointed it at my chest.
“Last chance, Daniel. Move.”
I heard the front door open.
Hannah’s voice.
“Daniel? I’m home. They were out of the good diapers so I got—”
She stopped when she saw the gun.
Her face went white.
“Diane… put the gun down.”
Diane didn’t take her eyes off me.
“Close the door, Hannah. Lock it. If you try to run or call the police, I’ll shoot him. I swear to God I will.”
Hannah closed the door slowly.
Locked it.
Her hands were up.
“Okay. The door’s locked. No one’s running. Just put the gun down. Let’s talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m taking Liam. And if either of you tries to stop me, I’ll shoot you both. Then I’ll take him anyway. Do you understand me?”
From upstairs, we heard it.
Liam was crying.
The sound cut through the tension like a knife.
Diane’s face softened for just a second.
“He’s hungry. I can tell. Let me go up to him, Daniel. Let me take care of my grandson. Then I’ll leave. No one has to get hurt.”
She took a step toward the stairs.
I moved with her.
Still blocking her.
“You’re not going up those stairs.”
The front door burst open.
Three police officers with guns drawn.
My father was behind them.
“Diane! Put the gun down! It’s over!”
Diane spun around.
The gun was now pointed at Hannah.
“Get back! All of you! Get back or I’ll shoot her!”
The officers froze.
“Diane,” one of them said calmly. “Put the weapon down. We can talk about this. No one else has to get hurt.”
“Shut up! Just shut up! All of you! You ruined everything! I was so close! I was going to make it all right! And you just had to interfere!”
She was hysterical now.
The gun was shaking so badly I could see it from across the room.
One wrong move and she’d pull the trigger.
“Mom,” I said softly. “Look at me.”
She turned back to me.
Tears streaming down her face.
“Remember when I was seven? And I fell off my bike and broke my arm? You stayed with me in the hospital all night. You held my hand. You told me everything was going to be okay. Remember?”
Her lip trembled.
“I remember.”
“You were the best mom in the world back then. You loved me more than anything. And I know somewhere inside you, that woman is still there. The woman who would never hurt anyone. Who would never hurt me. Put the gun down, Mom. Please. For me. For the little boy who used to think you hung the moon.”
She stared at me.
For a second, I saw it.
The woman she used to be.
Before the gambling.
Before the lies.
Before the murder.
Her hand started to lower.
The gun pointed at the floor.
Then from upstairs, Liam cried again.
Loud.
Sharp.
And Diane’s face changed again.
The old Diane was gone.
Replaced by the desperate, dangerous woman who had done the unforgivable.
“No,” she whispered. “No. I’m not going to lose him too.”
She raised the gun again.
This time, she pointed it directly at my heart.
May you like
“I’m sorry, baby. I really am.”
She pulled the trigger.
