“I’m poor, Ellie,” he said. “And now I’m in more of a hole. Losing some of the crop, you know.”
My heart stung and I found myself biting my lip hard. He looked so conflicted and sad. I bet he wasn’t sure whether to feel grateful that I had showed up or if he hated me for ruining everything he had worked so hard for.
“When did all of this happen?” Camden asked.
Uncle Jim looked up in thought. “Uh, maybe around one or two in the afternoon.”
“And you came straight here.”
“That’s right,” he said. His voice was shaking again. The man needed a hug and a drink. “Then I called Ellie. I didn’t know who else to…”
I waited for him to say “trust” but he didn’t. He just trailed off and looked at the floor.
“What kind of car were the men driving? Did you ask?” Camden took another step closer.
Uncle Jim nodded. “Of course I asked, I had to know who to look out for. They said it was a white Ford Mustang. Looked brand new. Probably stolen.”
The room began to spin as my chest pinched. What?
“Are you sure?” Camden asked, finally sounding calm and patient as hell. “Are you sure that was the car your workers saw them driving this afternoon?”
My uncle looked him square in the eye. “That’s what they said.”
Before I could feel anything else, before I could even let my brain tussle with the conflicting information we were just given, the fact that there was no way it could have been the white Mustang since we totalled the white Mustang last night, Camden acted. As quick as anything, he whipped out the gun from his waist and pressed it up against Jim’s forehead, finger on the trigger.
“Why the fuck are you lying to us?!” he screamed, his face turning red, his eyes sharp like blue blocks of ice.
“Camden!” I yelled, going to him. “Put the gun down!”
Camden only pressed the gun harder into Uncle Jim’s forehead. He shrank back in shock, eyes wide and terrified.
“Why are you lying to us!? Tell us the truth, Jim, or so help me God I will blow your fucking brains out right here!”
“I’m not...I….I…” he stuttered, shooting me a look to help him.
“If I find out that you’ve put Ellie in danger by luring her here, I will kill. I will.” Camden’s voice was shaking now, the anger flowing through him and toward the barrel of the gun.
“Camden, please!” I screamed, trying to grab his arms. But he wouldn’t budge. He was going to lose his shit and I was going to lose my uncle.
“Tell Ellie the truth!” he commanded. “Tell her the truth, you owe her that!”
My uncle’s eyes fell to the floor and silence overtook him. Then, after a few beats, he burst out into a sob.
“He promised me he wouldn’t hurt her!” he wailed.
No. No, this couldn’t be. I found my head shaking back and forth, showing my disbelief. Even Camden looked shocked for a few moments before he tightened his grip on the gun, grinding his teeth.
“I’m so sorry, Ellie,” my dear Uncle Jim apologized through his tears. “It was so much money. I needed the money. You know I do. Fifty thousand dollars—I could save everything with that amount. I had no choice, I didn’t. I need it.”
I felt like I was being ripped apart inside, my heart a single sheet of brittle paper splitting down the middle.
“I think you always have a choice,” Camden whispered violently, pressing the gun harder, his eyes boring holes into his head. “You were like a father to her.”
“I know,” he sobbed, eyes tearing and locked on the gun above. “I know. But Ellie, Jesus, Ellie, how you’ve made my life so hard. I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for you. He promised he wouldn’t hurt you, Ellie, he did.”
Camden’s finger was about to pull back the trigger. Through all my pain, I tightened my grip on his arm and said, “Please, Camden.”
His nostrils flared as he tried to regain control of himself.
“Camden, he’s still my uncle,” I told him quietly, working the pain through my words. “He’s still the only family I’ve got.”
With great reluctance he ripped the gun away from his head. “Well now what? How much time do we have?”
Suddenly the room lit up with headlights from outside the gauzy window blinds. We had no time. They were here.
“I’m sorry,” Uncle Jim whimpered again. “I wish I could take it back.”
Camden shoved him hard. “Well you can start by helping us now.”
He ran to the bathroom and I heard him struggle with the window for a few minutes. “It won’t open and it’s too small. I can’t fit through it.”
Meanwhile I just stood there at the foot of the bed, feeling like my life was crashing down on me, reeling from the impossible betrayal by the man I had always trusted.
“Go under the bed, Ellie,” my uncle said to me. “I won’t break your trust again. Go under the bed.”
I looked around the room, thinking there had to be a way out. The car doors slammed from outside. Footsteps.