Inevitable Detour (Inevitability Book 1)(72)

And we are right—that is exactly what Farren is planning to do. He steps over to Mr. Barnes and hands him Eric’s gun. Barnes takes the gun and walks over to Eric. He kneels down next to him.

“Just do it,” Eric grinds out, defiant to the end.

Farren says to me and Haven, “Don’t look. Turn away.” Neither of us listens. The scene before us is much too riveting.

Vincent steps back, but not before handing Mr. Barnes a large folded towel from a rack nearby. Barnes places it over Eric’s face and says, “You should suffer for what you’ve done, but this needs to be over.”

And then he fires the gun.

The report is muffled by the towel, but the white material turns red swiftly. Vincent says grimly to Farren, “I’ll clean up.”

Rick, whom I forgot was in the room, stands. He walks over. “I’ll help,” he says to Vincent.

Farren places a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Are you sure you’re up for that? You took a nasty hit to the temple.”

Rick replies, “No worries, man. I’m good.”

Vincent and Rick get to work on cleaning up and removing Eric’s body from the basement. I have a feeling he’ll end up in an unmarked grave deep in the desert, which almost seems too good for him, considering all he’s done.

Farren whispers a few words to Mr. Barnes, and then the two men step over to where Haven and I are standing. “I’d like to introduce you to someone,” Farren says to us, though I note he addresses Haven more than me.

After the introductions are made, Barnes stares hard at Haven. Not in any bad sort of way, but in a very curious manner. I glance from one to the other, perplexed. When my eyes land on Farren, he looks away.

What am I missing here?

Haven, always forward, says to Mr. Barnes, “You wanted to be the one to do it, didn’t you? You wanted to kill Eric yourself.”

Mr. Barnes nods solemnly. “Yes, I wanted to be the one to kill him. This is true.”

“You must have loved your daughter very much,” Haven murmurs wistfully, never having known her own father, since he left when she was three.

“I did,” Barnes confirms, his voice catching. “But she’s not the only child I was avenging.”

Farren clears his throat. “Barnes,” he snaps warningly.

Paying no heed to Farren, which is kind of a shock, since everyone concedes to Farren Shaw, Barnes says, “I shot him for the things he did to both my daughters.”

Haven knows, the same as I do, that Barnes had only one child. She tilts her head, curious, and says, “What do you mean you shot him for both your daughters? Annemarie was your only child.”

Mr. Barnes takes a tentative step toward Haven. “That’s not exactly accurate,” he says softly.

“What are you saying?” Haven whispers, her voice trembling.

Barnes, choking back a sob, says, “I’m telling you that you, Haven, are also my daughter. I’m not just Annemarie’s father. I am your father, too.”

Haven reaches for and practically falls back on the chair she was tied to earlier. Farren places a steadying hand on her shoulder. She reaches back and holds onto her brother’s hand tightly. “What’s going on?” she asks weakly.

Mr. Barnes, his voice choked with emotion so raw that tears spring to my eyes, says, “You and Farren are my children. You’re the children I was forced to leave nineteen years ago.”

Oh my God.





Haven glances back at Farren. “How long have you known that this man is our father?”

“I’ve known since he hired me a year ago. He looked different—”

“Plastic surgery,” Barnes chimes in.

“—but I knew immediately when I saw him.”

“And you never thought to tell me!” she shouts. “All this time our father has been alive, and you’ve been working for him?”

“Only for the past year,” Farren tries to explain. “I didn’t know until then, Hav. I swear.”

I glance around. I’m glad Vincent and Rick are gone. They’re out burying Eric’s body somewhere, which is better than their being here to witness the family drama.

“This is why I was targeted,” Haven says, sighing. “Eric knew, didn’t he? He found out somehow and decided to go after his”—she gestures to Barnes—“other daughter.”

Answers, I think, here is one. Haven was taken because of Quinton Barnes, not as a warning to Farren.

Mr. Barnes looks over at Farren. A silent communication occurs between them. I watch father and son standing together. Now that I know they are related, I can see the similarities—the same strong jaw, the same aquiline nose. Plastic surgery or not, the resemblance is there. I wish Farren had confided in me, but I understand why it was not possible.

“That’s why you are so committed to this cause,” I chime in. “That’s how Barnes lured you. Annemarie was your half sister.”

As if it has finally dawned on her, Haven says, “I can’t believe I had a sister all that time. But now she’s dead, and I’ll never get to meet her.”

Haven begins to cry, and Farren wraps his arm around her protectively and says, “I think that’s enough for now. We’ll discuss more later on.”