Page 136 of The Right to Remain

His voice was quaking, but Jack couldn’t tell if it was nerves or anger. Perhaps both.

“I have this under control,” said Jack. “You shouldn’t have come back.”

“You should have locked your front door.”

CJ cut a glance in Jack’s direction, then spoke to Elliott. “How much of this did you hear?”

“All of it,” said Elliott. “I saw your car across the street and knew you’d be telling lies about me. It’s time for that to stop.”

“This isn’t the way to stop him from lying,” said Jack.

“I’m notlying! I’m being blackmailed!”

“By my mother, not me,” said Elliott.

“For something that never happened!”

Elliott’s face was red with anger. “Never happened? Just because my mother passed out and there were no witnesses doesn’t mean itnever happened.”

Jack tried again to defuse the situation. “Elliott, whatever it was, if you say it happened, I believe you. Put the gun down and let’s talk about this.”

Elliott’s glare tightened. “Deny it again, CJ. I’ve wanted to do this for seven years. So, please, deny the truth again. Give me a reason to pull the trigger.”

“There’s no reason to pull the trigger,” said Jack.

Elliott’s gaze was fixed on CJ, but he spoke to Jack. “Have you ever wondered, Jack, why I changed my mind about the adoption at the hospital?”

“That’s none of my business,” said Jack.

“Have you ever wondered why it was CJ who came up with the quarter million dollars my mother demanded from the Pollards for the adoption to go through?”

“I’m sure there was a good reason,” said Jack.

“Have you ever wondered why, the minute I laid eyes on my baby, I knew I wanted to keep him?”

Jack had wondered about all those things, and he wanted to hear more—but not while Elliott’s finger was on the trigger.

“Elliott, you have your whole life ahead of you,” said Jack. “Don’t throw it away.”

“I’m not throwing anything away. It wastaken—by CJ and then by my mother. Tell him, CJ. Tell Jack how I used to hide in my bedroom while you and my mother stayed up all night doing drugs in the living room. Tell him about that night my mother passed out and you decided to come to my room and have your way with a sixteen-year-old girl.”

Jack froze. The situation just got much more dangerous.

“Were you disappointed, CJ, to find out I was no virgin?”

“Please, put the gun down,” said Jack.

Elliott’s eyes welled, glistening with anger. “My mother convinced me that you were the father. The same way she convinced you. That’s how she got me to give up my baby for adoption. That’s how she got you to find the Pollards in the first place and then to pay up and make the adoption go through.”

Jack saw the look on CJ’s face—a look that said he, like Jack, was hearing this for the very first time.

“I nearly screwed it all up for her,” said Elliott. “As soon as I saw my baby, I knewyouweren’t the father.”

CJ’s surprise turned to anger. “I told you, Jack! I told you they were blackmailing me for something that never happened. The kid isn’t mine!”

“You raped me, you piece of shit!”

“Don’t shoot!” Jack shouted.