Page 49 of Capturing Hearts

He lunges for his son. Bruce yelps and stands in front of me with his arms and legs spread wide. Blocking me? Tommy anticipates his dad coming, and weaves quickly to the side. His dad barrels into the wall and curses.

“Good to see you, too, Dad,” Tommy says, with a hardened smirk.

“How are you out of prison?” his dad snaps.

“Bruce told me what you were going to do here. I can’t let that happen.”

Stunned, I stare up at Tommy through the gap under Bruce’s arms. His father growls, “She took your life, Tommy! She took all of our lives!”

“Looks like you’re still breathing, Dad. How about you, Bruce?”

Bruce nods. “Still breathing.”

Tommy says, “Yeah, me too.” Eying his father who’s still by the wall like he’s ready to pounce, Tommy says in the softest voice I’ve ever heard him use, “I know Mom left you, Dad. But that doesn’t mean you have to do this.”

There’s no sense of logic or reality behind Walter’s eyes as he listens. It’s like he can’t hear. He lets out a roar and attacks Tommy, but Tommy meets him in the middle and they punch each other again and again. Bruce turns around and runs behind me, untying my hands.

“NO!” Walter yells, lunging for me. Tommy grabs his torso and wrestles him to the ground. Bruce kneels down to untie my ankles, meeting my eyes with urgency just as Walter lays a blow on Tommy’s face that knocks him back. A roar bursts from him and he lunges for me. Bruce kicks him in the face and yells to me, “RUN!”

I make a break for it, holding onto my stomach as I fight off the heaviness the drug has left in me, running through the hallway of the empty house, down the stairs still hung with family photos. Outside, I turn to look behind me. I stare up at the house and turn around to escape. “HELP!”

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