Page 68 of Romeo
Shaking her head, she seethed. “No, you aren’t like them.”
“Mother, my dad was a Walker. You were married to him, remember? That makes me as much of one bloodwise as any of them.”
She looked away as if she refused to accept this obvious fact.
“But I didn't come here to rehash anything,” he went on. “We need to know about this exchange.”
“What about it?” She now looked back at him.
“Well, we don’t know where or how. You know, important things like that.”
She shrugged and gave no answer.
“Look, mother. The kidnapper never told Jarret any of that. He just sent him here.”
She smirked. “Yeah, that lit a fire under his butt, didn’t it? The prodigal son finally came home.”
“Why do you think any of this is funny?” Rip glared at her smirk. “You took a young girl and locked her up. Your own niece in fact. You threatened to kill Glory. What in the hell is funny about any of that?”
“Son, I already explained it to you,” O replied. “I can’t go to prison. I did it so I could go free. You don’t want me to survive? Is that it?”
If Rip didn't play this right, we would get no information. “We just need to know the specifics,” he stated in that flat tone again.
“And you all will get them, when we leave tomorrow.” She nodded her head.
“You mean after we leave?” he asked her as he clenched his fists.
“Yes, that is what I just said. Weren’t you listening?”
He slowly shook his head. “I will be in a SUV with you the whole ride, so will you tell me?”
“Well sure, when the time is right,” she answered.
“So, what are the rules to this?” he dared to ask.
“Rules?” she repeated back. “We make the trade, that’s all.”
“Who has her?” He stared at her.
She paused to stare at him. “I gave all my instructions to Deacon. He always carries my orders out to the letter.”
He leaned forward again. “Who is this Deacon?”
Shrugging, she said, “He's your brother. I thought I already made that clear?”
He let out a frustrated breath. “So you raised him and not me.” He was treading bad water here. This could piss her off and it took very little to do that.
“Yeah, see,” she went on. “I was never with anyone else. I had to leave town real fast.” She shook her head. “I was pregnant with him when I left here.”
Rip sucked in a breath and stood from the chair. “You mean this guy is my full brother? Bronson was his father?”
Nodding, she replied, “Well, yes. I would never betray my vows like that, son.”
Rip looked like he was gonna lose it at any moment. Stepping closer to the cage, he leaned in and said, “So, you killed our dad, then you raised his second born son, thinking you were being virtuous?” His voice rose.
With round eyes, she stepped closer to the cage net too. “I did what I had to do. I made sure Bronson felt no pain. I went on and had Deacon. I sent him to college, he became an agent for the FBI. He made me as proud as I was of you. I did two things right in this world. You and him.”
Rip grasped the cage with his fingers and nearly hissed his words at her, “We could have grown up together with a father and a mother, but you changed all that. Now, he’s as bad as you are. A serial killer with blood on his hands and a kidnapper. Tell me something, does he skin people alive too?” His voice had risen to a shout.
