“Jillian,” Randall began. “You don’t have to do this. You really don’t. So much has gone unsaid over the years that I think that it’s just gotten out of hand. How about… you and I go somewhere alone and discuss this?”
Jillian looked at him as though he had lost his mind. Sydney had to wonder herself what in the world her dad had hoped to accomplish. Obviously, Jillian had come too far now. There was no way she could let either of them live. And she was beyond reasoning with. That much was clear.
Before anyone could say another word, voices approached the kitchen and Sydney tensed in anticipation. Maybe Stephen was alright after all. Was he hunting for her?
Her eyes were frozen on the doorway as her breath caught in her throat. But her hope died yet again as Harrison’s lean body entered the room, shoving a very frightened looking and rumpled Senator Paul Hayes in front of him. The senator had a large bruise forming on his left cheek and there was dried blood on the corner of his swollen lip as he nervously looked around the room.
“Get over there, dad,” Harrison sneered as he shoved his step-dad toward Randall and Sydney. Paul stumbled over his own shoe and Randall reached out to steady his elbow.
“Paul, are you alright? They’re saying horrible things about you. That you did… unspeakable things.”
The uncertainty was obvious on Randall’s handsome face as he pulled his hand away from Paul’s arm and watched him for a response.
“Randall, you have to believe me. These two are sick! I didn’t touch him. I’m not a pervert. I would never touch a child- it’s ludicrous. You know me, I wouldn’t. But they’re behind that picture… the one that you were so angry with me with? Harrison hired that photographer. And that’s my fault because I crossed the line that night. I’m sorry, Randall.”
The anguished look on Paul’s battered face was so sincere, that Sydney believed him in an instant. His eyes were kind and tortured as he gazed at Randall. Sydney could tell that her father believed him, as well. The relief on his face was visible to anyone.
“It doesn’t matter now, does it, lovebirds?” Harrison growled. “The truth, that is. The only thing that matters now is the truth that the public hears. My truth. And that truth is that you were having an illicit affair. We have pictures to prove it. My old man molested me for years and was quite sick. He even had a secret house on the edge of Gary to hold victims in. Such as the poor girl, Deidre.”
“Yes, poor Deidre,” Jillian purred. “You’re a sick, sick man, Paul.”
She stood on the edge of the group, her gun held loosely in her hand as she observed the scene in front of her. She almost seemed amused.
“You make quite a team,” Randall stated, as though he were bestowing a compliment. “You know, it is clear to me why my wife would be involved in this. But why you, Harrison? What have we done to you to deserve any of this?”
“Why do you feel as though you deserve an explanation?” Harrison asked, as he leaned casually against the marble counter. “Although it should be obvious. Last year, when my dear step-father found out that he has cancer, he changed his will. And I’m not in it.”
“You have cancer?” Randall turned to Paul in astonishment, who appeared resigned as he nodded tiredly.
“I didn’t want to upset anyone yet. There was no sense in it, since there isn’t anything that anyone can do. It’s untreatable. The doctor gave me a year at the most.”
“Yes, a year. And a year isn’t very long to stage this whole thing. But we managed to pull it off, didn’t we, Jillian?”
She nodded at Harrison in satisfaction, not taking her gun off of the group as she beamed at her accomplice.
“But I still don’t understand why.” Randall persisted. “Why did you want to stage all of this? He already took you out of the will. What will you accomplish by killing him? Revenge?”
“How can a US senator be so stupid? I’m embarrassed by our elected officials, truly.” Harrison shook his head.
“I needed to stage this in order to make my mother feel sorry for me—that her poor son was so traumatized by having his dear step-father molest him for years and then turn on him that she will leave everything to me with a little bit of gentle persuasion. It won’t take much. She’ll be overcome with guilt for allowing such abuse to happen under her nose. And then, of course, I’ll kill her, as well.”
“I can’t believe that any one person can possibly be so heinous.” Randall glared at him.
“You don’t know the half of it, daddy.” Sydney interjected. “He’s an evil person. He kept Deidre locked up for God knows how long, raping her every day, not feeding her. Mother, you really know how to pick them. How did you two find each other, anyway?”
For some strange reason, she felt a sense of calm as she faced her mother. It wasn’t like they could do much more to her. Her death warrant was already signed.
Sydney was surprised to see that for the first time, Jillian looked slightly unsure of herself. She ignored Sydney’s question and glanced at Harrison.
“Is that true? Did you really have sex with that girl? You didn’t mention that.”
“That’s the part that bothers you, mother… that he raped her while he held her against her will and starved her? You don’t care that he is plotting to murder your family and then his own mother? All you care about is that he had sex with someone other than you?”
Sydney didn’t know if she could feel any more astounded than she already did. Her mother truly was a monster. Harrison interrupted them in annoyance.
“Does it really matter, Jillian? Fate threw us together and we spit in its face by creating our own destiny out of the shit that we were dealt. Everything is going off without a hitch. And in a couple of weeks, we’ll leave here together, and never look back.”
Harrison’s cobalt eyes glittered coldly as he spoke, as he turned to face his accomplice. He reached out to grasp her arm, but she jerked away and took a step back.
“But you didn’t tell me. About the girl. That matters to me.” Jillian stared at him.