Page 75 of The Intruder

I touch the silver chain that I still wear around my neck, weighing my options. I haven’t picked a lock in a very long time. I could still do it—I’m sure of it—but not when time is of the essence. The window will be faster.

Except as soon as I start climbing through that open window, I deeply regret my decision. I also regret every cookie I have eaten in the last year. By some miracle, I squeeze myself through the open frame, but I lose my balance halfway through, and I end up sprawled on the floor of the living room.

And when I look up, Eleanor is standing over me, an unreadable expression on her face. My Glock is in her right hand.

“What are you doing here, Casey?” she says flatly.

I slowly sit up, careful not to make any sudden moves because I don’t want to spook her. “Where is Lee?”

“Still asleep.” She has obviously been sitting in his living room, working up the nerve to do what she has dreamed of doing for God knows how long. “I’m sure he’ll be up soon.”

I keep my hands in the air as I slowly get to my feet. I need her to know that I have no intention of hurting her. “He’s your father, isn’t he?”

She crinkles her freckled nose. “How did you know? He didn’t mention me, did he?”

The hopefulness in her eyes breaks my heart. But I can’t lie to her.

“He didn’t,” I admit. “But I figured it out. Also, you…you look like him.”

She does. Now that I know the truth, the resemblance is obvious. The hair is different, but she has his eyes and his nose.

“So you know,” she says, “how he left me and my mother. Before I even had a chance to know him. He left me with that monster.”

“I know your side of the story, but I don’t know his. We don’t know his reasons for leaving.”

“What reason could possibly be good enough?” she bursts out.

“We won’t know until we ask him, will we?” I raise an eyebrow at her. “You really don’t even want to give him a chance to explain?”

She sneers at me. “You don’t get it.”

“Actually…” I pull up my coat sleeve, revealing my bare forearm underneath—this is what I came here to show her. The pattern of cigarette burns doesn’t look that much different from hers. “I do get it. Believe me.”

Eleanor’s eyes widen. But before she can respond, the sound of the bedroom door squeaking open grabs our attention. She swivels her head and raises the gun just in time for Lee to emerge from his bedroom in his checkered pajamas, his light brown hair mussed, sleep still in his eyes. But he’s fully awake when he sees the girl in his living room, holding a gun.

“What the…?” He looks between me and Eleanor, trying to work out what’s going on. “Casey?”

“Don’t move.” Eleanor shakes the gun at him. “I want to see your hands in the air.”

Lee has a baffled expression on his face as he raises his hands above his head. “This must be a misunderstanding.”

“No misunderstanding.” Eleanor’s voice is flat. She is struggling to suppress her emotions, but I can see the seething hatred in her eyes. “You’re Lee Traynor?”

Lee keeps his hands in the air. He still looks more confused than scared, which is a mistake. “Yes…”

Eleanor’s hands tremble. “You abandoned me and my mother. You left us. And now you’re going to pay.”

“Whoa.” Lee starts to lower his hands, but Eleanor takes a step closer to him, and he gets them right back up again. He looks over at me, his eyes wide. “Casey, do you know what’s going on here?”

I shake my head. I came out here to save my friend. But now that we are both here and Eleanor has the gun trained on him, the truth is I’m curious to hear what he has to say. I want to know why he did what he did. My dad always said there’s nothing more important than family, and she has been betrayed by hers.

For his sake, I hope he has a good explanation.

“Let’s just calm down here.” Lee’s voice shakes slightly—he finally gets how serious this is. That she might actually kill him, right here, right now. “Please tell me—what’s your name?”

Eleanor stamps her foot on the ground in a gesture that makes her seem much younger than I suspect she actually is. “You know my name! You’re my father!”

Lee sucks in a breath, raking a hand through his already messy hair. “I really don’t… I’m sorry. Are…are you sure I’m your father?”