Page 62 of Reckless

“Yeah, not like my mum at all,” I reply with a frown.

Seeing the house in this state has me concerned and makes me even more determined to discover what the fuck is going on because this is not my mum.

I begin rinsing the dishes and filling the dishwasher as Seb takes the rubbish out and puts a new bin bag in. Once the kitchen looks a little more normal, I check the lounge, but other than a layer of dust, it’s reasonably clean and tidy.

Leaving Seb downstairs, I head to Mum and Dad’s room. The bed is unmade, and there are clothes scattered over the chaise lounge. Ignoring the mess, I open the top drawer of Mum’s dresser knowing this is where she usually keeps important documents. It’s not there.

Next, I try the bedside table, but again, nothing.

I tap my finger against my lip as I scan the room, trying to think where else she may have put it. Office. My dad’s office.

Jogging back downstairs, I pass Seb, obviously on his way to find me, and he follows me to my dad’s office.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing here?”

“Nope,” is all I say, as I begin opening drawers and rooting around inside. Finding nothing in the first two, I open the last one and lift out the stack of papers in there. It looks like a pile of old articles, but as I leaf through them something catches my eye. An article about a woman and child who died in a car accident in London. I recognise the names instantly, and I quickly scan the rest. What the hell is my dad doing with articles about the death of Cam’s mum and daughter? Unless…Holy shit!

“It was my dad,” I say out aloud.

Seb stands up straight from where he was leaning against the door frame and comes over to me, snatching the paper from my hand. He looks up at me with surprise in his eyes.

“Well, shit me. I wonder if Ryder knows about this?” I shrug before going back to the pile. This is just another reason for me to be pissed at my dad. I stack the pile of papers back up ready to put them back in the drawer, but as I do so, I notice a large envelope I must have missed before. I pull it free and place the other pile back in the drawer.

There’s no name or address on the front and it’s never been sealed. I up end it, tipping the contents onto the desk. A dozen or so pictures fall out along with several letters. I pick up a photo, it’s of me outside the hospital, and there are several more, all of me. The others in the pile are like mine but of my mum, just like Dad said.

I flick through the letters, copies of the ones my dad received from whoever is threatening us, and they are all the same until the last letter in the pile. It’s different and has a hospital stamp at the top and DNA Test Results written underneath.

It’s a sibling test, or half sibling to be exact. My dad’s name clearly stated on one side, but the name on the other has been redacted making it illegible. It confirms that whoever this other person is, they are my dad’s half-brother.

I literally have no words. I had no idea my dad even had a half-brother, and I’m guessing from this, neither did he until recently. I barely manage to get Seb’s name out as I offer him the paper.

“What is this?” he asks as his eyes scan it. “Well, fuck me.”

“Yeah. I knew he wasn’t telling us everything. Is there any way we can find out who this guy is?”

Seb frowns, and I can tell he’s pissed that my dad knew something this important and didn’t say anything. I really don’t understand why, though.

“Maybe. Do you think your dad already knows who it is?”

“Wouldn’t fucking put it past him.” Seb nods his agreement. I shove everything back in the envelope and make sure the desk looks just as it did before.

I didn’t find what I was looking for, but this will do. At least now Seb and Rick know what they are working with because it seems to me that the man who is my dad’s half-brother definitely has it out for us. The question now is why?

Seb tries to take me back to his place, but I just want to be alone. It’s what I’m used to after all. I eventually persuade him that I’ll be fine, and he agrees only after I agree he can come back later.

I order take-out and after a long soak in the bath, I eat while pouring over the letters from Dad’s brother. It is not a pleasant read, and in fact my dinner almost makes a reappearance on more than one occasion.

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