Page 86 of Fragile hearts

A sudden laughs bursts out of his mouth. “You were always so naive, you and that brother of yours, always thinking you could do anything.” He shakes his head again, stepping closer to me his shoe touching my bare foot. “Well guess what?” He’s smiling as if he’s the funniest man in the world. “You’re worthless. You can’t do anything. You couldn’t even save your own brother.” His words hit me right in my chest, he smirks knowing his words hit it’s mark. He’s trying to provoke me, trying to get a reaction out of me, that’s what he gets off on. I try to keep my face as neutral as possible, steadying my breathing. He isn’t getting what he wants, he didn’t get it fifteen years ago and he’s not getting it now.

“And now, you won’t be able to save yourself…You’re going to die here, all by yourself, even your firefighter boyfriend won’t be able to save you.” My fingers clenches into fists hearing him mention Carson. He’s not only a psychopath but also a stalker which makes me wonder how long he’s been following me.

“Such a nice guy isn’t he?” He twirls the gun in his fingers, watching my reaction carefully. “Such a gentleman, visiting your brother’s grave and bringing him flowers.” My nostrils flare. He’s not only been following me but also Carson, maybe the whole Cooper family. Mr Monroe sighs dropping his head to his chest. “We were all alone in the cemetery, he didn’t see me. He was so busy talking. God that man talks a lot, I don’t know how you handle that. I had the gun in my hand, I mean no one would have heard the gunshot. But then I thought why should I kill the boyfriend when I can kill you.”

It takes everything in me, to not get angry, the thought of Carson sitting at Micah’s grave while there is someone standing behind him with a loaded gun makes my blood boil. “Do you know why I became a foster parent?” He keeps asking me questions as if I’m going to answer them, even if I wanted too, I wouldn’t be able too, I have no clue who he is, or why he became a foster parent. All I know is that he murdered my brother and that he likes guns and knifes. “I never wanted too,” he explains after a minute of silence.

“But I had too, because my stupid cover was blown.” He starts pacing again then notices the picture of me and Micah that’s standing on the dresser, he looks me in the eyes as he picks in up and trows in on the floor, covering the floor in glass shards. “You look just like you mother do you know that?”

My mother? what does this have to do with my mother, I never met her.

My face must be giving the confusion away, because he starts smirking again. “Oh, that’s right. You never met her.”

He steps on the now ruined picture frame glass shattering even more under his feet. “You know it’s her fault I had to kill your brother…I told her to get an abortion but she wouldn’t listen.” He trows his hands in the air. “That woman never fucking listened!” My pulse hammers in my ears, his words a mantra in my head. He knew my mother, he told her to get an abortion, he would only do that if he knew her, which means that he is either a family member or…My biological father.

“If she listened to me, none of this needed to happen. She knew I didn’t want kids, I had told her that a million times. She came to me, telling me that she was pregnant. When she knew. She knew I didn’t want to be a father.”

Father. He is my father. The man who murdered my brother, who scarred me for life is my biological father. He murdered his own son, and he tried to kill his daughter. Bile rises in my stomach, I have to swallow to keep it down. He’s my father. As a kid I was always wondering who my biological parents were, I made up all kinds of stories, how he was an astronaut, or in the military and that’s why he never wanted us, because he was to busy being a hero. But I never imagined this. I never imagined he could be cold blood killer who would kill his own son. He continues speaking but I can barely hear him over the pounding in my ears.

“She said she would get an abortion, but she didn’t.” He shakes his head.

“That woman never did anything I wanted, it was always about her. I got home from work months later and discovered she was still pregnant, she wanted to keep it. She kept telling me over and over again that I will get used to it that I would love the baby. I kept telling her no, that we needed to give it up but she didn’t listen. Something went wrong with the birth and I was so happy, I was so glad, that the baby would die. The doctors came up to me saying that the babies were fine. Babies. Because of course there had to be fucking two. They said that my wife was out of it, she didn’t remember any of the birth. And I thought that is my chance, I’ll just drop them off somewhere and no one has to know.”

He chuckles pursing his lips. “I didn’t wanted to kill you Alexis.” He steps closer to me, the gun still in his hand. “I wanted you and your brother to live. Just not with me, after I told your mother you two were dead she became crazy she started screaming and crying that she knew you were alive, she went to the hospital, blaming them for your death, but they told her that you and your brother didn’t die there, you were perfectly healthy, and that I took them home.”

He starts muttering something, but my mind is still focused on the other words he said. He took us from the hospital and abandoned us on the street because he didn’t want children, he told my mother that we were dead. But she knew he was lying, that is probably why he killed Micah, he was trying to hide the evidence of his lie.

“She came home asking about where her kids were, she was hysterical calling me a monster. And I knew she caught my on my lie, so I got the hell out of there, I changed my my name, and found out that you were living in the system, so I became a foster parent, I just wanted to know how it would feel to be your father. But your mother started going to the cops so I had to end it. That’s why I killed your brother.”

He jams the gun against his head in frustration. “Your mother was the love of my life, the only love, she should have just gotten the abortion when I gave her the chance. Then none of this would have happened. You and Micah should have never existed.”

“Why now?” I ask when I found my voice again, he raises an eyebrow. “You know I’ve been alive all this time, so why do you come back now, why didn’t you kill me years ago?”

“Because I didn’t have a reason too. Your mother died, so I didn’t care if you lived or died.”

“Did you kill her too?” Simone must have been my mother, she was the one who called him after he called Micah, she was trying to find me all this time.

“Yes,” he states. “She called me after I was finished with you, telling me she was going to the cops, she wanted to give me up, after everything I did for her.” He shakes his head. “I couldn’t let her do that.” I gaze at the gun in his hand as he raises it inches away from my face. He wants to kill me, but I still don’t know why. He got away with, there was so evidence linking him to the murder. So why did he decide to kill me now? There was no DNA found at the scene that they could test, the cops would have never found out that he’s my biological father.

“Kane” I say. He talked about him, how Kane shouldn’t have said something, Kane was the officer who was on scene, he could have easily damaged or hidden some evidence, no one would have ever known.

“Very good,” he praises. “I was sloppy, I left some DNA behind, and I knew if they tested that, they would found out it was me. I found out Kane had some gambling problems he was in deep dept, so I gave him some money. I would clear his dept, and he would make the evidence disappear. That was our deal. But he called me a few weeks ago saying that he couldn’t do it anymore, that he knew you were in town, and he couldn’t live with the fact that he knew who your brother’s killer was. He said he was going to the cops, apparently he never threw the evidence away, he was hiding it all along and was planning on handing it over.”

“Then why kill me, and not him?”

He cocks his head. “Who says I didn’t kill him? Think about it Alexis when was the last time you saw him?”

He’s right. it has been a while. I thought he gave up on talking to me. I have been so busy the past few weeks that I never thought of the possibility he could be dead.

“I killed him just like I killed your mother and your brother. Just like I’m going to kill you.” He raises the gun to my face, his hand still trembling. He doesn’t like doing this. Micah was sleeping when he killed him, so he never stared into his eyes, I’m guessing he killed my mother and Kane without them knowing. But if he wants to kill me he has to look me in the eye. I know he’s planning on killing me, he can’t hide it this time. The gun is right in front of my face, a few inches and it would touch me.

“Do you have any last words, Alexis?” His voice trembles, he tries to act tough, but deep down he’s scared. He knows my face will haunt him for the rest of his life.

“After you killed Micah,” I start. “I went back into the system, there was one man I lived with who knew a lot about guns.” I nod towards the one he is holding. “The most important part if you want to shoot someone is to take the safety off.” His eyebrows furrow, like I thought he would do, his gaze leaves mine. I reach out and do what I practiced countless times. I disarm him. And hit him across the head as hard as I can. Knocking him out as his body crumbles to the floor. I step closer my hand shaking due to the adrenaline that’s coursing through my veins.

I stare at his motionless body, the gun still in my hand, lean over him and whisper, “Revolvers don’t have a safety. You fucking idiot.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine