Page 53 of The Intruder

NOW

ELIZABETH “ELLA” CASEY

Yes, I killed my mother.

She was a miserable person. Miserable to the people around her and miserable herself. It wasn’t until I was older though that I understood she had a disease that made her behave the way she did. Although the cigarette burns on my arms were all her.

The years I spent with her, especially the last several years, were a type of hell, which is why I stopped going by the name that she gave me, Elizabeth, and started going by my last name—I was that desperate to leave my old life behind.

As far as I am concerned, burning to death was too good for her.

Yet it was the wrong thing to do. I let my poor impulse control get the better of me.

She deserved to pay for what she did to me, but it’s been hard living with the fact that I was the one who took her life.

It’s been over twenty years, and I still wake up from that nightmare that I am in that house, on fire.

I should never have killed her. I should have told an adult and let them move me someplace safe.

My point though is that I understand why Eleanor is angry.

I have felt that same anger. I have lived with it for years, and I know what she is feeling.

I know that she is liable to do something stupid right now, and I don’t want her to do it.

I don’t want her to have to see it in her dreams every night.

Although when I think of all the blood on her clothing when she showed up at my house, I’m afraid it could be too late.

Even though I’m certain it will be locked, I try the knob for the front door.

It doesn’t turn. I actually have a key for Lee’s cabin in my kitchen, but I was in too much of a panic to remember to bring it.

I think about knocking, but instead, my gaze goes to the open window.

I’m bigger than Eleanor, but I think I could still climb through.

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?”

Eleanor’s face is turning the same color as her hair. “Yes! You think I’d make a mistake about that?”

“No, no, of course not.” Lee’s face is flushed too. “I’m sorry, but…please help me out here. Tell me your name.”

“Eleanor Kettering.” She frowns at the look on his face. “Everyone calls me Nell, but of course, you wouldn’t know that because you abandoned my mother before I was even born.”

Lee’s face is still blank. “Your mother…?”

“My mother is Jolene Kettering.”

The color drains out of Lee’s face. “Jolene…”

Well, looks like he’s going to own up to it after all.

“Oh God,” he murmurs, swaying on his feet. “She asked me for money, but she never told me…”

“Tell me why you did it!” There are tears now in Eleanor’s—Nell’s—eyes. “Tell me why you left us!”

She points the gun straight at him, and the whole room goes completely silent except for the patter of raindrops outside while we wait to hear what Lee has to say.

He stares at her, his mouth hanging open, struggling to come up with an answer.

Her rage seems to build with each passing moment of silence.

Oh my God, she’s going to kill him. I don’t know if I can stop her without getting shot myself, but I have to try.

“Nell,” I say as calmly as I can, using the nickname she prefers now that I know it. “Please just put the gun down and give him a chance to explain. Please, Nell.”

“No!” She doesn’t lower the gun even a centimeter. “I want to hear why he abandoned us. I want to hear now!”

“I…I didn’t,” Lee stammers. He looks at me helplessly. “Nell, I swear, I—”

“Don’t lie! You know her. You admitted it!”

“Lee,” I say calmly. I want him to survive this, but I don’t think he truly knows what this girl is capable of. I’m the one who saw her covered in blood—and that soaked cloth in her bag. “Tell her the truth.”

“Nell.” He’s fighting to keep his voice steady.

“I’m sorry, but the truth is I never even dated Jolene.

I know her, but we never, you know… What I’m trying to tell you is I’m not your dad.

I can’t be. It’s not possible.” He pauses, looking her straight in the eyes.

“I swear to you. Why do you think I am?”

“Because I found your name!” Nell looks between the two of us, hysteria mounting on her face.

Her hand holding the gun wobbles, and I’m terrified it will go off by accident.

“It was in the folder with my birth certificate! Your name and old address and phone number. Why would she put that in there if you weren’t my father? ”

“Because,” he says, “she was dating my brother. He must be your father. Like I said, she did contact me right around when you were born looking for money, but she never told me why. I thought it was a scam because that’s the kind of person she was.

That must be why my name was in the folder with your birth certificate. I had no idea that she…”

Nell’s forehead scrunches up. She looks like she doesn’t believe him, but at the same time, I’m sure she recognizes her evidence that he’s her father is flimsy at best. “Then where is he? Where is my father?”

Lee stares at her a moment as if struggling to figure out how to deliver a piece of terrible news. Finally, his shoulders sag.

“I’m so sorry, Nell,” he says softly. “But my brother has been dead for a really long time.”

Nell stares at him for a moment; then she falls to her knees and dissolves into big soggy tears.