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“Your dad is back here?” he asks, looking worried. “It took me a couple of nights to get up here, after I escaped, but… Yeah, I guess it makes sense he came to cut me off.”
Eddie and Trisha share a long look and I suddenly know I’m missing something vital.
Just then the three of us hear a sneeze and Eddie signs for Trisha and us to drop to the ground. Whatever injuries he has keeps him in place, holding his ribs on the right side.
“I’ll go and take a look. One person can move quieter than two.” Eddie’s words immediately stop my thought to follow him. His eyes quietly pleading with me to keep watch over Trisha before he turns and signs. “I want you to stay out of sight.”
“I love you guys.” He’s careful to speak clearly while he’s looking down at us and Trisha reaches up and grips my shoulder. I can’t imagine the terror she must be feeling, so I look at her and mouth the words, informing her of the noise we heard.
Within moments, I can hear Eddie call a greeting out, but then I get distracted by voices coming from further downhill. Hoping this isn’t the worst idea I’ve ever had, I stand and grab the lowest branch of the tree near me. I’m not more than ten feet up when I see a tall man on the path that Eddie would have been on not twenty minutes ago. He’s followed by two other people of average build, but they’re so well-covered between tactical and winter gear that I can’t make out any of their faces.
Climbing down a few branches, I drop the rest of the way to the ground and signal to Dylan that there are three more people before I shift closer to Trisha; sliding my hand over her mouth, I give her a stern look.
There’s way too much movement on the mountain today to make me comfortable, especially since I’m only armed with my bow. I wait until she nods, confirming that she won’t make any noise before I move my hand from Trisha’s mouth to her hip and pull her Glock from its holster, quietly sliding it into her hand.
With my rudimentary sign language, I make her aware of the three strangers that I caught a glimpse of and that I will return with Eddie, but I need her watching our backs. I signal to Dylan to cover Trisha’s back, then staying low, I creep further ahead until I finally get a clear view and can barely believe what I’m seeing.
Uncle Eddie seems to be out cold, lying in the snow at Dad’s feet. It feels like the world is tilting under me when my dad tosses aside a branch about the size of his arm and pulls his handgun out.
Dad stands over him before looking around and his hesitation gives me hope that I’m misinterpreting his intent. He can’t actually be considering killing a man who used to be his closest friend. I know he’s gotten angrier and more frustrated lately, but my heart is breaking at the thought that Russ was right about him.
Eddie’s eyes seem to flutter for a moment, then suddenly lock with mine before snapping up to look at my dad.
“You’re really going to do this to your family?” His voice is weak and shaky as he questions my father. His hand slowly shifts to his side, and he lets out a groan when he presses it to his ribs.
In the time it took me to climb the tree and coordinate with the others, I have no idea how Dad used that branch on him before I get close enough to see this unfold. Considering Eddie’s in no rush to move, I figure it’s in part due to the pain he’s in and not just the gun pointed at his head.
“You finally got something right,” Dad snarls at him and I slowly rise up onto one knee as I pull an arrow from my quiver.
I’ve heard this tone from him once before. When I was a child, and he was walking out on Mom to go back to the military base.
Bile swirls in my stomach at the memory of how cruel he was to her anytime she called him out for keeping us in an apartment, hours from the base he was assigned to; not allowing her to have a support system.
“It’s my fucking family. Not yours. You’re the fucking interloper who was never supposed to be here.” Dad’s voice has taken on such a twisted tone, I nearly freeze with shock. “Now, if they want something, they’ll have to come to me first, won’t they?”
“Tyton doesn’t give a shit about you. He’s going to suck that town dry, take everything he can from this land, and roll onto the next one. Tell us what they’re planning so we can stop them—together,” Eddie pleads with him. “Be someone your kids can admire.”
“Don’t lecture me about my children! You, Shelby, and the others, are always fucking badmouthing me to them while I’ve spent every dime I’ve ever made trying to get ahead for my kids. Tyton sees who I am, he’s going to leave me in charge of Dayton when theyroll out; he needs it as an outpost,” Dad insists, and I see the moment he decides to kill Eddie; his finger moving from the guard to the trigger.
“Dad!” I call out, nocking my arrow. Praying I can stop him from this madness. That I can somehow save a good man even if it means wounding or killing my father. “Drop the gun. Let’s go back to the house and talk about this.”
“I am doing this for you and Dylan, baby. Go on ahead, I’ll be right behind you,” he calls over his shoulder, dismissive, like he isn’t about to murder someone.
“If you shoot him, there’s no going back to the house for you, Dad,” I tell him, angry that my voice trembles. But angrier that he’s put me in this position.
I hear movement behind me and quickly glance back to see that Trisha has crawled up to see what is going on. I shake my head at her, hoping she’ll stay silent.
“Julia…”
“No, Dad! We’ll never forgive you for this!” I scream, cutting him off as I rise up to my full height and aim at his back.
I see my dad refocus his attention on Eddie and hear a gun shot, or was it multiple shots? The sounds seem to echo from further off.
Eddie screams out before I see my father collapse on top of him, covering him with his body and I belatedly realize that there wasn’t an echo.
That Dad fired at Eddie then, at least one other person fired at Dad.
I’m momentarily paralyzed. It’s only when Trisha runs past me toward the pile of bodies, seemingly without any thought of the gun I had pressed into her hand, that I start to look around.
