“You’re too kind. Thank you.”
She walked quickly and followed the route the woman had given her, arriving outside ICU within eight minutes. As suspected, she found two uniformed police outside the unit. She dipped her head, squirted on some hand sanitiser and pushed through the door.
Megan smiled at the nurse sitting behind the desk and drifted down the ward until she came to her uncle’s bed. Her aunt wasn’t there.
Her Uncle Sam’s skin was grey, and he was attached to several IV drips and a heart monitor. She muttered a silent prayer and moved on.
It wasn’t long before she located Daniel’s bed. The nurses had placed him by the window, Megan presumed at her aunt’s request. Daniel loved looking out of the window, watching the world go by from his chair. Tears welled and she placed a hand on her aunt’s shoulder, startling her.
“My God, is that you, Megan? Oh gosh, it is you. You can’t be here.”
“I had to come. I’m sorry, Auntie Gail, none of this was supposed to happen. Everything got out of control. How are Daniel and Uncle Sam?”
“They’re monitoring them both. The doctor thinks your uncle has had an angina attack. They’re carrying out further tests on him. I should be with him. You should be here, helping me. I can’t sit with both of them. I’m tired of caring for people. I’ve cared for Daniel for eighteen years now. I thought you appreciated what your uncle and I were doing for Daniel, but I was wrong. How could you destroy our family all over again?”
Tears surfaced at her aunt’s harsh words. “I never meant to do that. Daniel has been getting worse lately, I could see that, even if you couldn’t, and it got me thinking. The men who caused the accident are living life to the full and we’re still limping along, caring for Daniel who is declining rapidly.”
Disgust and confusion covered Gail’s face. “None of this makes any sense, Megan. The lion’s share of the caring falls on our shoulders, not yours. Why should it bother you to the extent it has done? How could you put us through this? Your actions reflect on this family. The police believe we’re harbouring you. They think we know where you are, I told them we didn’t and then you show up here, dressed like a damn nurse. I thought I knew you, I clearly know nothing about you or what foolish notions you have running through your head.” Megan opened her mouth to object, but her aunt raised a hand to stop her. “I don’t want to hear any excuses, I need to hear the truth. No more lies or deception, Megan.” She sighed and looked exhausted.
“I’m sorry to have let you down, Auntie Gail. Something inside has been burning for years. I need to avenge my parents’ death and what they did to Daniel. Look at him. You can’t tell me he hasn’t deteriorated in the past few months.”
“I’m not denying that. The doctors are running constant tests on him, altering his medication to ease his pain. We need to give them time to find the solution, not take revenge for what shadows have blighted our past. I love you child, as if you were my own, but you’ve overstepped the mark this time. I’m not sure I want a damn killer in my life.”
Her aunt’s harsh words stung. Megan sighed and wiped away the tear that had slipped from her right eye. “I didn’t mean to cause this much pain, not to you and Uncle Sam. I need you to forgive me.”
“What you need, apart from a kick up the backside and a swipe around the head, is to turn yourself in to the police. There’s a really nice inspector dealing with the case. I have her card at home. Go home and fetch it and get in touch with her.”
“I’ve spoken to her already. She was on the news, appealing for me to come in. That’s how I knew you were all here. I’m gutted it’s come to this, Auntie Gail, but the wheels are in motion and I can’t stop them until everything is dealt with.”
Her aunt’s eyes widened and she said through gritted teeth, “What’s that supposed to bloody mean? Is it true what the inspector told me, that you’ve kidnapped a boy?”
She dipped her head in shame for a moment or two before her fighting spirit emerged from the doldrums. “Yes, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat to obtain the end result.”
“My God, have you heard yourself? I don’t know you at all, none of us do. You’ve been a stranger living amongst us all this time and none of us realised. What end result are you talking about? No, don’t tell me, I think I can figure it out for myself, you’re going to kill the boy’s father, just like the others, aren’t you?”
“I have to.”
“Don’t be so ridiculous, child. Who’s telling you that?”
Megan placed a hand on either side of her head. “Mum and Dad, they’ve been inside my head for years. This is all down to them.”
“Don’t talk such rubbish. You need to put this right, Megan, give the child back and turn yourself in to the police. I hate our name being associated with a bloody murderer. How dare you bring such shame on our family? Do you really think your brother would have wanted what you’ve set out to achieve? No, I can categorically say he wouldn’t. He’d be sick to the stomach, like I am, with the thought of those men lying in a mortuary somewhere. Their families devastated, as we were when your parents died. You’re selfish, you haven’t thought this through properly. Go to the police and give yourself up, for all our sakes.”
Megan shook her head. “I can’t. I refuse to do it. There’s two more pieces to this
