Page 186 of Perfect Liar

Save her. Get the gun. Kill him.

I obeyed the voice, picking up the gun, aiming it directly at Parker’s chest.

“You will not take her from me,” I—she said.

Parker moved his murderous eyes from Jess to me.

“I will. I’ll kill her…and you. Her first, so you can watch me do it. I wanted you to see me kill your sister. Oh wait, my mistake…I forgot she’s not your sister. Not a drop of your father’s blood in her veins. The others didn’t want her dead. That was just me.”

He killed Isabel. Shoot him.

An involuntary shriek exploded from inside my chest.

That fucker just grinned.

“Yes, quite right. Your father’s secret isn’t much of a secret anymore, now is it? But you, you daft bitch, how could you not have known?”

“You’re a fucking liar,” I said.

“Ellie, don’t listen to him…just back away?—”

Parker pressed the knife harder against Jess’s neck to make her shut up.

“You’re the one we all wanted. I joined with them to get to you…to hurt Hastings and his brother. They fucking destroyed my family. He?—”

I jabbed the gun into the side of his head.

Anger and hatred blasted through me. My mind screamed for vengeance against this man.

“You shut your mouth and drop the knife right now,” I said.

He let it fall out of his hands.

“If you live long enough, girl, you ask Hastings what they did to my family. You ask him what he did to my sister.”

I pushed the revolver harder against his temple.

I released the safety.

“You go to hell. I’ll never ask him. Now let her up and you stay down there on your knees.”

With my gun pressed against his head, Parker did exactly what I said.

I kicked the knife away from him.

“Pick it up, Jess.”

She jumped to her feet and grabbed the knife.

“Okay, this is good, but now I need you to step back. Listen to me, you’re too close to him.”

“He killed Isabel, my grandmother. He’s mine,” I snapped.

“This isn’t you right now. I won’t let this happen to you. Please, just step back.”

Parker taunted me, staring at me while talking to Jess.

“Don’t worry yourself over it, red. She can’t do it anyway.”