Page 112 of The Promise
Michael couldn't argue his father's faults. The fact was that his mother loved his father despite those flaws. It hadn'tmattered. Suddenly his worries about Cara took on new relevance.If she was still alive. His mind fastened on the idea, holding it close to his heart. She had to be alive.
"She turned you down. All of it. She turned you down," Patrick hissed.
Owen's face twisted with anger. "I did it all for her, and she had the audacity to say no. No one says no to Owen Prescott, no one."
"But what about Zach?"
Owen waved the gun. "Oh, that was simple enough. I used my rifle. The man was dead before he knew what had happened."
Michael took a step forward. Owen pointed the gun.
"Move back."
Michael obliged him. "But surely you didn't expect my mother to fall into your arms after you murdered her friend?"
Owen looked surprised. "He wasn't her friend. He was a no account muleskinner. Beneath her notice. It never occurred to me that he mightmatterto her."
Michael was struck at the way Owen dismissed the man.
"But he was a husband and a father," Patrick put in.
Owen shrugged, obviously not understanding the relevance of Patrick's statement. "He was nobody. And if he did have a wife, she was nobody as well."
"So you proposed to do what?" Michael asked. "Take my mother away from all the murder and mayhem?"
His sarcasm was wasted on Owen. "Of course. She deserved better."
"And you were the one to give it to her?" Patrick's jaw tightened, his hand moving between his body and the wall.
"I was the only one who could give it to her, " Owen said.
Michael grimaced. "But she didn't want you."
Owen's face flushed with fury. "No. She only wanted your father. The stupid woman couldn't see what was right in frontof her eyes. She called me a murderer and a traitor. Me. Who'd loved her since New York…" He broke off.
"So you killed her." Patrick's voice was calm, but firm.
Owen cocked his head, looking at them both. "I killed her." The pronouncement was absolute.
Michael needed to know. It was probably perverse, but he needed to know. "So then you stole the silver?"
"Only after I'd killed them I couldn't exactly leave it lying around, now could I? Thanks to your father it was readily identifiable." Owen sounded almost disdainful.
"The rose."
"Yes." Owen sighed. "It's a pity you two had to figure this out. I had hoped to avoid the unpleasantness." He leveled the gun.
"So what? You hid it?" Patrick asked.
"Right here. Under your father's nose. I used the lower level. One of the tunnels we'd abandoned. I hid it in some old machinery."
"But Father found it. That's why you killed him."
"The drunken bastard. Always nosing around. I should have melted the damn stuff and sold it off. "
"Why didn't you?"
"I got lazy." Owen shrugged. "Truth is, it was more work than it was worth. I didn't need the money, and I never thought anyone would find it. Besides, I liked knowing it was here, right under everyone's noses."
