Chapter 28 - A Father's Confession
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Heavy gunfire echoed up the stairwell. Screams, shattering glass, and the distinct, terrifying pop of grenades filled the air.
"Stay here!" Dad ordered, heading toward the reinforced steel door of my office.
"Dad, no!" I yelled, pulling myself up using my cane, my titanium braces locking into place with a sharp metallic snap. "You can't go down there alone!"
"Emily, listen to me!" Dad shouted, turning back to face me, his face grim. "Twenty years ago, I made a mistake. I thought I could fight a war with Marcus Kane's father and keep my family completely safe. Your mother... Sarah... she didn't die of cancer, Emily."
My breath caught in my throat. "What?"
Tears welled in my father's eyes as the sound of gun battle raged just outside the hallway. "Kane's father put a bomb under her car. She died right in front of our brownstone while you were at school. I lied to you because I couldn't bear the thought of you growing up with hatred in your heart!"
The truth hit me like a physical blow. All those years thinking my mother had passed away peacefully in a hospital bed were a lie.
"I swore to Sarah on her deathbed that I would keep you out of the blood," Dad sobbed, racking the slide of his gun. "I failed her when I let you marry Brandon. I failed her when I brought you into this life. I am not letting Marcus Kane take my daughter twice!"
Dad kicked open the office door and charged down the hallway, firing three rapid shots at two cartel hitmen who had breached the top stairwell landing.
"Dad!" I screamed.
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I didn't hesitate. I grabbed a sleek, black submachine gun from the emergency gun rack behind my desk, unlocked my braces to allow full movement, and dragged my broken body down the hallway after him, fueled by sheer, unadulterated fury.
If Marcus Kane took my mother, he was not taking my father.
