Page 64 of The Puck Decoy

Lincoln clears his throat. “Callia Barratt did a summer internship for your father when she was sixteen. She worked under him for three months, and Penelope Barratt was born eight months later.”

Bile rises in my stomach. “She was a fucking child,” I spit in fury, as I start to pace back and forth behind the chair I vacated. “She was still in high school for fuck’s sake, and you’re telling me my father fucked her and got her pregnant?” I flick my stare back to the paper again and still I can’t believe it. “Does she know?” I ask, coming to a stop and focusing back on Lincoln. “Is Callia certain that my father is one hundred percent Penelope’s father?”

Lincoln nods. “She went to your father when she found out she was pregnant and he paid her off to have an abortion, but she took the money and left for a while. Since she’s been back I’m not sure if they have seen each other, but clearly your father knows she never had the abortion, because a deal is already in place for Penelope to marry when she comes of age.”

A deal, a fucking deal, that’s what it always comes down to with my father, doesn’t it? Not his children’s wellbeing, but what he can exchange them for in fucking business. I think back to the conversation I heard about him having to wait on a return for his investment and it’s only now that it makes sense. I thought by stepping in and marrying Hallie that I would end all of this, but clearly he is always one step ahead.Well, not this time.No, this time I won’t let him win, this time he doesn’t get to come out on top, and there will be no more fucking deals.

“Take him down,” I demand. “I don’t care what you do or how you do it, but I want my father gone and I want every single person in the state to know exactly what kind of man he is.”

Blood means nothing to me, not anymore, not when it comes to him, but for Maddie, and now for Penelope, I will do whatever I can to protect them, and to do that, he has to go.

Lincoln smirks, not a big one, but enough of one to tell me that to blow the horn on my father will be a pleasure. “Consider it done.”

I nod, gesturing to Hallie for us to leave because I don’t care about all the information found, as long as it’s enough to stop my father, but then I find myself halting in my tracks. “What about the marriage deal?” I ask, and Lincoln looks at me in question. “You said the deal was already done, so what about the man who has signed the deal for Penelope?”

I mean what kind of man signs a fucking marriage deal for a seven year old child?

Lincoln’s smirk turns completely dark and twisted as he replies, “Oh don’t worry, I’ll deal with him too, and it will be my pleasure.”

From the look in his eye I don’t think I want to know what that means, so instead I just nod and move to leave. “Call me when it’s going down,” I toss over my shoulder, knowing now with confidence that Lincoln can do this.

Hallie slips her hand into mine but I can’t even look at her right now, my mind is still reeling from all the information I just received, and there is only one place I know I need to go right now.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks, rushing to keep up with me, while also waving goodbye to Eliza as we leave.

“What’s there to talk about, Hallie? It’s not like I wasn’t aware my father was a fucking piece of shit human, all that Lincoln confirmed in there is that more people were lying to me than I thought.”

I don’t mean to be angry towards her, but right now the only thing I can focus on is the fact that Callia has been bringing her daughter to my class for almost a year, and not once has she bothered to tell me who she really is. I’ve been teaching Penelope, driving her to the diner, having dinner with her, allample opportunities for her mom to tell me she was my fucking sister, but she didn’t.

Opening the car door for Hallie, she climbs inside without a word, and then I jump in the other side. Silence stretches between us as we begin the drive back to Fairfield, and I can feel her staring at me, but my focus remains on the road.

“It’s okay to be mad, Josh,” she whispers, and all I can do is nod, because I am mad, and the last thing I want to do is take it out on her.

By the time we pull up at the diner, I know Callia will have already started her shift, and though Hallie has told me a hundred times that this is a bad idea, and that I need to calm down first, I can’t. Turning off the engine, I climb from the car and storm inside, Hallie hot on my heels, and as soon as we are through the door, Callia is smiling our way.

It only takes a second, one second for her to see the look on my face, and her entire relaxed persona changes, her eyes flicking around the diner as we approach her.

“You know,” she whispers, looking nervous, and even though I know she was a victim in all of this, I can’t help but still be mad at her.

“You mean I know that I have a sister that you never told me about? Yes, I know,” I spit, not caring how rude I am being right now.

“Josh I’m so sorry,” she breathes, looking both stressed and relieved as she leans over the counter slightly and lowers her voice. “I wanted to tell you a hundred times, but I was scared of what your father would do. I even almost told Maddie when she dropped off the fairy house for her the other day, but I just couldn’t get the words out.”

Hallie steps in closer beside me, and I know she is trying to show her support, but I don’t think even she can calm me down right now.

“It’s been almost a year, Callia. A year, since I have been coming here, since Pen has been coming to the center, and you couldn’t get the words out? What the hell am I supposed to do with that?” I snap back. “She’s mysisterand I didn’t know, for the last year I’ve been teaching her.I didn’t know, for the last seven years.” I add, shaking my head as I try to keep control of my temper.

I have been looking out for Maddie before I was old enough to even know what being a big brother meant, I just knew I had to protect her, it was in my blood. The weight of my wedding ring feels heavier than usual as I remember just how far I am willing to go to protect her, and all the while there was another little girl left defenseless.

Before she can respond, a man appears like a ghost beside me, placing a firm hand on my shoulder, “She said sorry, so why don’t you take a step back.”

His voice is firm and full of authority and Callia looks nervously towards him and mutters, “Angel, it’s fine, really.”

The man, Angel, whatever kind of name that is, doesn’t even look at her as he responds, “No, it’s not fine.”

I look him up and down, noting he is around the same age as me, yet his eyes look far more haunted, as I reply “And you are?”

Now his stare flicks to Callia and then back to me before he replies, “Just a concerned stranger.” Which is complete bullshit because I just heard her refer to him by name, but whatever.

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