Family Sins(76)

He snagged one camera from the bedroom, a second one from the living room, and the one he’d secured in the kitchen area last. Then he locked the house and tossed the key in the lake.

He drove all the way back into Eden with only one thought. Get his things from the hotel where Nita had put him up before she thought to have him locked out, and then get the hell out of Eden. His time in paradise was over.





Seventeen

The race between nephew and aunt back to Eden was straight out of a Hollywood movie. Their headlights were small bright patches in the vast darkness, leaving them with the misconception that they were isolated and beyond human law. The speed limit did not exist, and the two-lane road became their racetrack. Before they cleared the lake area, Nita barely missed hitting a deer, and once they were out on the highway, rather than slow down, Charles kept his speed and ran over a possum with a sickening thump that made his gut knot.

They were neck and neck more than once, until they were forced to slow down because of oncoming traffic, but they always accelerated again through the next open stretch of highway.

Once Charles thought Nita was actually going to force him off the road, and then she took a curve too fast and fishtailed before spinning out. He looked up in the rearview mirror with a sense of relief that he was finally ahead, but when he looked again, her headlights were behind him again and gaining ground. At that point he pushed the accelerator all the way to the floor, and by the time he passed the Eden city limits his tires were screeching as he rounded every bend.

He needed to get home so he would have protection or face the reality of an actual fistfight with a woman twice his age. In desperation, he took a shortcut through a residential neighborhood, which cut off ten blocks, but he still didn’t breathe easy until he pulled in beneath the portico and ran for the door.

Jack was on the phone in the office when he heard the front door slam. He looked up just as Charles raced past, caught a glimpse of the bloody scratches on his face and neck, ended his conversation and ran out into the hall.

“Charles! Stop! What the hell happened to you?” he shouted.

Charles slid to a halt, but before he could answer the front door flew open. Nita entered the foyer in an all-out sprint.

“Where are you, you little bastard?” she screamed.

Jack stared at his niece in disbelief. Her clothing was awry, her hair a mess, and the expression on her face was pure rage.

At that point Blake had heard the shouting and appeared at the head of the stairs. His saw his son’s bloody face and his sister’s manic demeanor, and came down on the run. “Did she do that to your face?” he demanded.

“Yes,” Charles said.

“Oh, hell, no,” Blake muttered, and grabbed her by the shoulders and started shaking her so hard they heard her neck pop.

At that point Charles panicked, afraid his father would break Aunt Nita’s neck, and began trying to get between them to break it up, but he couldn’t budge either one of them. His dad was furious, and Nita was now trying to claw her brother’s face the way she’d clawed his.

When Fiona raced out of her room and stopped at the top of the stairs, she gasped and then screamed, “Uncle Jack! Make them stop!”

Charles yanked a bouquet of flowers from a nearby vase, threw it aside and then flung the water on both of them.

Blake turned Nita loose to wipe his eyes, and Nita slipped on the water and fell backward, whacking her head. She was moaning and Blake was cursing, when Charles silenced them all.

“Everyone! Shut the hell up!” he shouted. “All that’s wrong with Aunt Nita is that she’s pissed because she caught me and Andrew screwing.”

Blake’s mouth opened, but he couldn’t think what to say.

Fiona started laughing and sat down on the top step to watch the drama unfold. “Oh my Lord! That’s rich! What a hoot! Does he run a discount with two or more from the same family?”

Nita tried to get up and slipped again.

“Somebody help me up,” she moaned.

Jack thrust out his hand, and when she grabbed hold, he pulled her to her feet.

“Nita, for God’s sake, stop carrying on,” he said. “Despite the unsavory aspects of this situation, the man was nothing but a high-dollar prostitute like all the men you drag home. At least this one didn’t steal the family silver. He didn’t owe you any allegiance and Charles was nothing more than another paying customer, although I will say, young man, you could have made a more thoughtful choice.”

Charles wilted under his uncle’s judgmental gaze.

Then Jack pointed at Nita.

“As for you, attacking your own kin like some wild animal? That should be beneath you. Until they heal, those scratches on your nephew’s face will be a visual reminder of the poor decisions you’ve made in life.”

Nita glared at Charles, who was glaring back. Commenting on the fact that he’d hit her, too, seemed pointless, since the truth was that she’d struck the first blow.

“Fine. I’m going to bed now,” she said, and stumbled up the stairs, sidestepping her sister at the top.

Blake was a little taken aback by the sordid aspect of the situation his son found himself in; although, to be honest, he’d never thought one way or the other about what Charles did in his spare time.

“If you’ll come upstairs with me, I’ll put something on those scratches for you,” Blake said.