The Fury - Jason Pinter [11]
lisecond it rang. The system wasn't foolproof, but it's
The Fury
37
the best I could come up with. The trick was to simply
be the first to answer the phone when it rang. The
moment that shrill bell rang, the phone was in my
hands. "Henry Parker," I would say, hoping if the call
was for me, my father would simply leave it alone.
Every now and then I was slow, distracted or in the
shower, and he'd pick up. It meant I had to deal with
hang-ups from sources who were scared off by unrec
ognized voices on the other end. And if, heaven forbid,
someone called during dinner, I could count on James
Parker locking me in the garage. If I was lucky. And if
I wasn't--I had a scar or two to motivate me to quicken
my reaction times.
My mother, Eve Parker, was withdrawn. I hate to say
aloof because that wasn't it, but it seemed as though
she'd been shell-shocked by her husband into a per
petual state of submission. She rarely flinched, just went
through the motions like an automaton who forgot that
at one point she was human. I wondered what she had
been like before she'd met James. If she'd been strong
or vivacious. If she'd hoped to marry the man of her
dreams. Or if somewhere, deep down, she was resigned
to a life married to this thing that called himself a man.
If anything, though, I had to credit James Parker
with making me stronger. He made me work harder,
longer, better, if only to give myself every chance of
getting the hell away from that house. When I was
growing up, I wasn't strong enough, mentally or physi
cally, to stand up to him. Now, I was twice the man he
ever was. And I considered him lucky that his son left
before he could stand up to him the way that he
deserved.
38
Jason Pinter
"Wait," I said to Makhoulian. "If Stephen Gaines
and I had the same father...who's Stephen's mother?"
Makhoulian nodded, as though expecting this
question to be asked sooner or later.
"According to the birth certificate, her name is
Helen Gaines."
"I've never heard that name before," I said. "Where
is she?"
"Actually, I was hoping you could tell me," the de
tective said. "All we know about Helen Gaines is that
she was born in Bend, Oregon, in 1960. Her financial
records show that she closed out her bank accounts in
Oregon in 1980, and moved. Where, we don't know."
"So if she was born in 1960, and Stephen Gaines was
thirty, that means he was born in, what, 1979?"
"March twenty-sixth," Makhoulian replied.
"Then Helen Gaines was only nineteen when she
gave birth to Stephen."
"That's right."
"And my father was...twenty-six. I know he married
my mother when he was twenty-five. Jesus Christ, my
father's mistress gave birth to his child while he was
married to my mother."
Makhoulian stood there silent. I don't know what he
could have said. I rubbed my temples, still trying to
process everything. I still hadn't spoken to Amanda all
day. I felt like crawling into her arms, just sleeping for
a while, hoping this would all have been some dream
when my eyes finally opened.
"Have you contacted my father yet?" I asked.
"We've left several messages for him and your
mother at home. None of them have been returned."
The Fury
39
"Not totally surprising," I said.
"Is your father prone to ignoring calls from the
police?" Makhoulian asked.
"He's prone to ignoring any calls that aren't either
Ed McMahon with a giant check or someone offering
him a free longneck."
Makhoulian let out a small laugh, not wanting to
distort the gravity of the situation too much. "What
about your mother?"
"I think he purposely bought an answering machine
she wouldn't know how to use. Let's just say last I
heard, she didn't get many calls, didn't return many
calls."
The detective nodded. "Listen, if you do hear from
your father, tell him to call me." Makhoulian took a card
from his wallet, handed it to me. I looked it over, put it
in my pocket.
"I promise you I won't hear from him."
"But if you do..."
"If I do, I'll make sure he calls."
"That's all I ask."
"In return," I said, "will you