19. Alison #2
“LOOK AT ME!” Dad turns back. “You don’t get to look away from me.” Theodore steps closer. “You don’t own Jane.” Another step. “You don’t own Ally.” Another. “You don’t own Tobias.” Another. “And that boy over there didn’t ruin your daughter.” He points at Ryan. “He loves her.”
Dad’s face twists. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“I know what it looks like when a man loves a woman and isn’t allowed to have her.” His voice drops. “I lived it.” Then it rises again. “And I know what it looks like when a man thinks ownership is love.” He points straight at Dad. “That’s you.”
“Get off my property!”
“Fuck your property! Fuck your money! Fuck your name.!Fuck your deals! And fuck every one of us who knew something was wrong and didn’t burn this to the ground sooner!”
Dad’s face goes red. “You’re done!”
“No, Roman.” Theodore looks at me. At Mom. Then back at him. “You are.”
“Dad.” Kaid’s voice cuts through everything.
Callum turns. Thomas does too. Cars. Several of them. Coming fast.
Arthur sees them. “They’re here.”
Victor turns toward the driveway. Dad does too. And for the first time tonight, I see real fear on my father’s face.
“Callum. Thomas. Kaiden. Go — tell them who’s who before they come into this.”
They run. Dad watches them go. “What the fuck did you do?” Arthur doesn’t answer. “WHAT DID YOU FUCKING DO?”
“I didn’t do this.”
“You did, Roman!” Theodore shouts. “You did all of this!”
Victor looks toward the headlights. Then at Dad. “You stupid fucking bastard!”
Dad wheels on him. “Shut your mouth!”
“You let this happen. YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CONTROL HER!” My stomach drops. Victor’s face twists. “You were supposed to deliver what I paid for!”
“STOP!” Mom screams.
Ryan is fighting Arthur. Walter is screaming at Victor. X is trying to get free. And Iz is closer now. So close.
“Ally.” I look at him. His hand is out. “Come here.”
Dad sees it. Sees Iz reaching for me. Sees Ryan fighting to get to me. Sees Mom holding my hand. Sees the federal vehicles coming up his driveway. Sees Tobias gone. And then his eyes drop. To my stomach.
“You.”
Mom moves. “Roman.”
He comes for me. Fast. Dad grabs both my arms. “DAD!”
“YOU LET HIM FUCKING TOUCH YOU?”
“LET GO!”
“You let that boy put a baby in you?”
“STOP!” Ryan roars.
Dad shakes me. “You fucking humiliated me!”
“ROMAN!” Mom grabs him.
He throws her off. “You were supposed to marry Tremblay!”
“I DON’T WANT HIM!”
“YOU DON’T GET TO WANT!” The words hit the entire yard. I stop fighting. Dad’s face is inches from mine. “You had one thing to do.”
Tears pour down my face. “I’m your daughter.” His grip tightens. “I’m your daughter.”
“You ruined everything.”
Something inside me shatters. “No.” His face twists. “You did. You ruined us.”
“Shut your mouth!”
“You hurt Mom.”
“SHUT UP!”
“You hurt Tobias.”
“ALISON!”
“You hurt me.” His face contorts. “And you will never touch our baby.”
He slams me backward. My back hits the stone wall. Pain explodes through my body. My head snaps against it. White. Nothing. Then the ground.
“ALLY!” Ryan.
I can’t breathe. I can’t fucking breathe. “My stomach.”
Ryan is suddenly there, on his knees.“Baby.”
“My stomach.”
Every bit of color drains from his face. “Did you hit it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where does it hurt?”
“I don’t know.”
His hands hover over me. “Don’t move.”
“Mom.”
“Ally—“
“Mom!”
She’s already screaming. She launches herself at Dad. “DON’T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER!” She hits him. Dad stumbles. She hits him again. “DON’T YOU EVER TOUCH MY DAUGHTER AGAIN!”
“Jane!”
She slaps him. His head snaps sideways. Then again. “You don’t get them!”
Dad grabs her wrists. “You fucking bitch!”
“You don’t get my children!”
“LET HER GO!” Theodore screams.
Mom tears one hand free and claws Dad’s face. “You don’t get Ally!” She hits him. “You don’t get Tobias!” Again. “You don’t get that baby!” Again. “And you don’t get ME!”
Dad shoves her. Mom stumbles toward the steps. Walter runs. Theodore runs.
Arthur screams. “ROMAN!”
Mom catches herself. She turns around. And she goes back. Back toward him. “I’m leaving you!” Dad freezes. Mom is sobbing. “I should’ve done it years ago!”
“Jane.”
“I should’ve taken my babies and run!"
“Shut up! SHUT UP!”
“I’m sorry I let them grow up afraid of you!"
Dad grabs her. “STOP TALKING!”
Mom fights him. “No!”
“JANE!”
“No!” She claws at his hands. “You don’t get to scare us anymore!”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
“NO!”
Dad grabs her by the shoulders and slams her down. Her head hits the edge of the marble step. The sound is wrong. A hard, sick crack.
Mom goes still.
Everything stops. Dad’s hands fall away. Her body folds against the steps. For one second, there is nothing. Then blood slips through her hair. Red. So fucking red. Spreading across white marble.
“Mom?” She doesn’t move. “Mom.”
Nothing.
Dad stares at her.
I shove Ryan away. “Ally—“
I get up. My back screams. My head spins. I don’t care. I look at Mom. Then at him. And I attack my father.
“YOU KILLED HER!” My hands hit his chest. He stumbles. I hit him again. “YOU FUCKING KILLED HER!”
“Alison—“
I slap him. “DON’T SAY MY NAME!” I hit him again. “You killed my mom!” He reaches for me. I claw his face. “DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!”
“Stop!”
“I HATE YOU!” I hit him. Again. Again. “I FUCKING HATE YOU!”
“Alison!”
“GIVE HER BACK!” I slam both hands into his chest. “GIVE ME MY MOM BACK!” He catches my wrists. I kick him. “LET ME GO!”
“Stop acting like a fucking lunatic!”
I scream. “YOU KILLED MY MOM!” I tear one hand free. Hit him. “I WANT HER BACK! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE HER FUCKING BACK!”
Ryan grabs me around the waist. I fight him. “LET ME GO!”
“Ally!”
“I’LL FUCKING KILL HIM!”
“I know!”
Then—
“FEDERAL AGENTS!”
The yard explodes. Men flood the property. Black vests. Guns. Screaming. “EVERYBODY ON THE GROUND! HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM! GET DOWN!”
Ryan pulls me backward. I fight him. “MY MOM!”
“Ally, down!”
“MY FUCKING MOM!”
An agent rushes toward us. Ryan immediately puts himself between me and the gun. “DON’T POINT THAT FUCKING THING AT HER!”
“ON THE GROUND!”
“SHE’S A VICTIM!”
“RYAN!” Arthur roars, both hands above his head. “GET DOWN! ARTHUR WALSH, COUNSEL! ROMAN O’TOOLE AND VICTOR TREMBLAY ARE YOUR SUBJECTS! ALISON O’TOOLE IS A VICTIM — SHE’S PREGNANT AND INJURED!”
“DOWN!”
“WE HAVE A VICTIM ON THE STEPS! GET MEDICAL!”
Mom.
I rip away from Ryan. “Mom!”
“ALLY!”
I crawl. My palms tear against the ground. My knees hit marble. Mom’s blood soaks into my sock. “Mom.” I touch her face. Warm. She’s warm. “Mommy?” Nothing. “No.” I push her hair away. My fingers come back red. “No, no, no.” I wipe them on my skirt. Touch her again. “Mom.”
Behind me, agents hit Dad. “ON THE GROUND!”
“GET THE FUCK OFF ME!”
I turn. They’re forcing him down. I scream. “YOU KILLED HER!”
I try to get up. Ryan catches me. “Baby, stop.”
“LET ME GO!”
“Stay with your mom.”
“I WANT HIM DEAD!”
“I know.”
“I WANT HIM FUCKING DEAD!”
“I know, baby.”
Dad’s face hits the marble. Right beside Mom’s blood. Agents wrench his arms behind his back. Cuffs close. “Alison!”
“DON’T SAY MY FUCKING NAME!”
Victor is screaming somewhere behind us. “This is ridiculous! Get your hands off me! I want my attorney!”
“DOWN! ON YOUR KNEES!”
“Alison!” Walter erupts. “LEAVE HER ALONE!”
Victor tries to turn toward me. Agents take him down. Hard. “You don’t understand!” he screams. “She belongs—“
Ryan lunges. “FINISH THAT FUCKING SENTENCE!”
Arthur grabs him. “RYAN!”
“I’LL FUCKING KILL HIM!”
“HE’S IN CUSTODY!”
“I DON’T FUCKING CARE!”
X is on his knees with an agent behind him, staring at Victor like he’s praying for him to get loose. Iz is down closer to me, his eyes never leaving my face. Theodore is on his knees too, looking at Dad, and there is nothing left in his face but hate.
“You did this,” he says. Dad looks at him. Theodore’s voice rises. “LOOK AT HER!” Dad doesn’t. “LOOK AT YOUR FUCKING WIFE!”
“Shut up!”
“No!”
An agent orders Theodore down again. He stays there. But he keeps screaming. “LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID! You killed her!” Dad’s face changes. “You killed Jane because she finally chose her children over you!”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
“YOU KILLED HER!” Agents haul Dad upright. Theodore screams after him. “I HOPE YOU SEE HER EVERY FUCKING TIME YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES!”
Dad is dragged away. Victor too. I don’t care. Mom isn’t moving.
“Help her.” Nobody hears me. “Help her!” I look around. “HELP MY MOM!”
Ryan drops beside me. “They’re coming.”
“WHERE?”
“Right there.”
People are running toward us. Not fast enough.
“HELP HER!” My voice breaks. “PLEASE!” I turn toward the Harrington house. “DARLA!” Nothing. “DARLA!” I scream until it hurts. “DARLA, PLEASE!”
Walter drops beside me. His face is wet. “Sweetheart—“
“GET HER!”
“Ally—“
“GET DARLA!”
“Medical is coming.”
“I WANT DARLA!” My voice tears apart. “She knows! She knows what Dad did! She knows about the baby! She knows me!” I grab Walter’s shirt. “Please. Please get her.”
His face crumples. He turns toward the house. “DARLA!” I scream with him. “DARLA!”
Then—
“ALLY!” I look up. Darla is running. She reaches us and drops beside Mom. Her eyes go to the blood. Mom’s head. Her face. And I see it. For one horrible second, Darla knows.
“No.”
“Ally—“
“No.” I grab her. “Help her.”
“Okay.”
“HELP HER!”
“I need you to let them work.”
“Please.”
“We’re going to help her.”
“Don’t let her die.” Darla’s eyes fill. “Please don’t let my mom die.”
“Ally.”
“Promise me.” She can’t. Oh God. She can’t. “Darla.” Ryan grabs me as I try to crawl closer. “PROMISE ME!”
Darla cups my face. “I need you to let them work.”
“I’m not leaving her.”
“You don’t have to. You stay right here.”
“Don’t let them take me away.”
“I won’t.”
“Don’t let her be alone.”
“She won’t be.”
Ryan moves me just enough. I stay on the marble.
My hand stays wrapped around Mom’s. “I’m here.” The EMTs move around her. “I’m right here, Mommy.”
They start working. Hands. Equipment. Words I don’t understand. Then compressions. Mom’s body moves with them, and I scream.
“STOP!”
Darla grabs me. “No, sweetheart.”
“THEY’RE HURTING HER!”