Free The Darkness of Bones by Sam Millar

at you … things happen, Adrian, spontaneous things that … well, just take you, there and then.” Jack’s face reddened. “Perhaps we should have been a bit more discreet, but sometimes it doesn’t work out like that.”
    Tiny bats of anxiety began fluttering in Adrian’s stomach. “That woman. You … you’re not going to let her … you’re notgoing to let her try and take Mum’s place? Are you?”
    Shaking his head, Jack said, “Sarah doesn’t want to take the place of Mum. You’ve got to understand that. She never once implied anything like that.”
    “You have to get rid of her, Dad. I don’t trust her.”
    “You don’t know her, son. Sarah is a good person. Don’t try to judge someone, just because—”
    Adrian’s face tightened. “You mean you won’t get rid of her?”
    Jack shook his head. “No.”
    “Mum would hate you right now, bringing that woman into—”
    “Enough about Mum. Enough of the guilt trip! Understand? I’ve crucified myself enough over Mum without you hammering the nails in further.” The outburst was like a slap to Adrian’s face. He reeled back from Jack’s words.
    “What do you mean, crucifying yourself over Mum? It wasn’t your fault. It was the drunk behind the wheel. It was—”
    “There is no easy way to tell you this, son,” Jack swallowed hard, as if to dislodge something in his throat. “I’ve been torturing myself for months—deservedly so, people will say—but the time has come to face up to it.”
    A frown appeared on Adrian’s face. He had never seen his father this way before: uncertain and anxious.
    “When your … when Mum was killed … when Mum was killed and I told you that she had been killed by a drunken driver …”
    “What? What is it, Dad?”
    Jack’s face had turned page-white. “The drunken driver was me …”
    Blood was siphoning from Adrian’s brain. He could see hisfather’s mouth moving in slow motion and saw physical words form then spill from the same dirty mouth.
The … Drunken … Driver … Was … Me … Me … Me …
    “Adrian? Adrian!” His father was shaking him awake. It had all been a bad dream. He was late for school. That’s all.
    “Dad …?”
    “I’m sorry, son. I just couldn’t tell you. I—”
    “You killed Mum …”
    “It was an accident. I swerved to—”
    “You killed her! You killed Mum so that you could be with her, that woman!”
    “What? No, nothing like that. It was all a terrible accident—”
    “You killed her.”
    “It was a tragic accident, son. Trust me. I did all that I could.”
    “You lied.”
    “I’m so sorry. If only—”
    “You and Mum said to me that you would always trust me, until you had a reason not to. Remember?”
    “I know what must—”
    “
Remember?
”
    Jack nodded, defeated. “Yes …”
    Summoning all the force he could muster, Adrian pushed his father back against the wall.
    “I will never trust you again. Keep away from me! I hate you!” Within seconds, Adrian was out the front door, running into the dying light of day.
    In less than an hour, the worst storm of the decade would be upon him.

Chapter Seventeen
    “But by the barber’s razor best subdued.”
    John Milton, “Samson Agonistes”
    T HE BARBER’S SHOP’S lights went off—except the one in the back, where Joe and Jeremiah usually discussed business.
    “That’s an awful lot of money, Jeremiah.” Joe smiled and passed the small package towards Jeremiah.
    Jeremiah looked at Joe, then at the package. His hand didn’t move.
    “Here,” encouraged Joe. “Stop pretending to be bashful. I know it’s that pride of yours. I’m only glad to be able to help you and Judith with that little bit of financial trouble.”
    Reluctantly, Jeremiah’s hand took the package. “I wish there was another way.”
    “Cut the crap,” said Joe, pleasantly. “You should have come to me sooner. My bank manager wasn’t too happy, though. Such short notice. Just be careful on the way home, though,