Chapter 13 - Owen Wanted His Family BackOwen stood beside the dock with one hand around Melanie’s arm.
The gun rested against her ribs.
Snow had begun falling.
Landon carried Everett’s metal box.
Wyatt walked beside him.
Police remained behind cover.
Owen shouted:
“No cops closer!”
Landon stopped thirty feet away.
“You came onto a property surrounded by police.”
Owen smiled.
“You were always the practical one.”
Landon studied him.
Age had changed Owen.
But not completely.
The green eyes were the same.
So was the smile.
Everett’s younger brother.
A dead man.
A ghost their family had accidentally invited back.
“Let Melanie go.”
Owen laughed.
“Which one of you is asking?”
Wyatt stepped forward.
“I am.”
Melanie looked at him.
Something passed between them.
Pain.
History.
Landon felt it.
He could not pretend it no longer hurt.
But survival came first.
Owen looked at Wyatt.
“You disappointed me.”
“Good.”
“You were almost useful.”
“You lied.”
“I told you what you wanted to hear.”
Wyatt’s face tightened.
Owen smiled.
“That’s the easiest way to control people.”
Landon thought of Melanie.
Fake messages.
Marriage resentment.
Wyatt’s anger toward Everett.
Owen had found every fracture and widened it.
“What’s in the box that you need?”
“Evidence.”
“Against you.”
“Against everyone.”
Landon held it up.
“Then why not destroy it?”
Owen’s expression changed.
“Because there’s something else.”
“What?”
“My son.”
“Nathan?”
“Yes.”
Owen smiled strangely.
“Everett stole thirty-three years from me.”
“Olivia gave Nathan up because she was afraid of you.”
Owen’s face darkened.
“That is what Everett taught her to say.”
“No.”
Landon’s voice stayed calm.
“She wrote it herself.”
Owen’s hand tightened on Melanie’s arm.
“Bring the box.”
“What does that get us?”
“Melanie.”
Landon looked at her.
She was crying.
“Landon.”
His chest tightened.
She had destroyed their marriage.
But eight years of memories were standing on that dock.
The mother of his son.
He would not let her die because forgiveness was impossible.
He stepped forward.
Owen lifted the gun.
“Enough.”
Landon stopped.
“Slide it.”
Snow covered the ground.
Landon placed the box down.
Kicked it.
It slid several feet.
Not far enough.
Owen looked annoyed.
Wyatt said:
“I’ll take it.”
Owen smiled.
“Of course you will.”
Wyatt walked slowly.
Landon watched him.
For months Wyatt had crossed lines because he believed he deserved something.
Now he walked toward a gun without gaining anything.
Maybe people could change.
Too late for some damage.
Not too late for all choices.
Wyatt reached the box.
Picked it up.
“Let Melanie go.”
“Bring it.”
“First her.”
Owen laughed.
“You still think negotiation is about fairness.”
Wyatt took another step.
Melanie suddenly screamed:
“Don’t!”
Owen shoved the gun harder into her side.
“Quiet.”
Melanie looked at Wyatt.
“He’s going to shoot you.”
Wyatt stopped.
Owen’s eyes flickered.
Landon saw it.
Melanie knew something.
“How?”
She cried.
“He told me in the car.”
Owen struck her.
Landon surged forward.
Police shouted.
Owen aimed at Landon.
“Stop!”
Landon froze.
Melanie’s lip was bleeding.
Wyatt’s face transformed.
Owen turned toward him.
“See? This is why you lose.”
Wyatt stared.
“You love things too much.”
“You don’t love anything.”
Owen smiled.
“I loved Olivia.”
“No.”
A new voice came from behind the police line.
Nathan.
Everyone turned.
Landon’s heart dropped.
Nathan walked into view.
Olivia Mercer stood far behind him with an officer.
Owen went still.
His face changed completely.
“Nathan.”
Nathan stopped beside Landon.
“Don’t call me that like you know me.”
Owen’s eyes filled.
“You’re my son.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“You’re biologically related to me.”
“That matters.”
“To you.”
Owen’s hand shook slightly.
Melanie saw.
So did Wyatt.
Nathan continued.
“My father taught me to ride a bike.”
Owen’s jaw tightened.
“My mother stayed up when I had pneumonia.”
“That woman—”
“Don’t.”
Nathan’s voice hardened.
“You don’t get to insult them.”
Owen looked toward Olivia.
“You poisoned him.”
Olivia shouted from behind police:
“I saved him!”
Owen’s face twisted.
The distraction lasted one second.
Melanie moved.
She slammed her heel onto Owen’s foot.
His grip loosened.
Wyatt lunged.
The gun fired.
Landon’s world stopped.
Melanie screamed.
Wyatt hit Owen.
Both men crashed onto the snowy dock.
Police surged forward.
Landon ran to Melanie.
“Are you hit?”
She looked down.
No blood.
The bullet had gone wide.
Wyatt and Owen struggled near the edge.
Owen swung the gun.
Wyatt grabbed his wrist.
Nathan reached them.
Three Reed men.
One weapon.
One frozen lake.
Landon shouted:
“Wyatt, let police—”
Owen struck Wyatt across the face.
Wyatt stumbled.
Nathan tackled Owen.
The gun slid across the dock.
An officer kicked it away.
Owen tried to rise.
Six officers surrounded him.
“Hands!”
He looked at Nathan.
Then Olivia.
Then Everett’s box lying open in the snow.
Something inside him broke.
Not regret.
Defeat.
Police handcuffed him.
Wyatt sat on the dock, blood running from his nose.
Melanie stood wrapped in Landon’s coat.
For one strange moment, the four of them looked like a family after a storm.
They weren’t.
They might never be again.
Then Owen started laughing.
Landon turned.
“What?”
Owen smiled.
“You think the box matters?”
Nobody answered.
He looked directly at Landon.
“Your father’s evidence won’t save Reed Development.”
“From what?”
Owen’s smile widened.
“From what Wyatt already did.”
Wyatt’s face changed.
Landon slowly turned toward his brother.
May you like
“What did you do?”
And suddenly the affair was no longer the only confession Wyatt had left to make.
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