to place it, but I couldn’t hear him well enough to tell who it was. I could hear Gavin clearly, though. “Mr. Ackerman, I didn’t realize you were coming up.”
I rolled my eyes. I should’ve known Becca would call Corey to come with her. That was one of the things about my mother’s teaching that bothered me the most. My sister didn’t need a man to come with her to get me. She didn’t need a man for anything at all. But naturally, her first instinct was to call on one for assistance. I stepped out of the kitchen into the sunroom expecting to see Becca, but it was just Corey.
“Corey, did Becca send you?” I asked, getting my first good look at him. He looked off. Like he hadn’t been sleeping, or he wasn’t feeling well. He didn’t answer my question but just stared at me. It was unnerving. I looked out the window trying to see if maybe she was in the car, but I didn’t see anyone. “Where’s Becca, Corey?”
“Rebecca? Um, at her parents’ house, I guess.” He tilted his head from one side to the other, looking at me.
“Mr. Ackerman, are you feeling okay?” Gavin asked, sounding a little concerned.
“What? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just tired. Had a rough week is all.”
I’d always thought Corey was odd. But this behavior today was strange even for him. “Let me go put a pot of coffee on,” I said, turning back to the kitchen.
“Malcolm,” Gavin said, and the way he said it stopped me in my tracks. Something was wrong. I slowly turned back their way to find Corey in the middle of the room, gun pointed right at Gavin.
“Corey, what are you doing?” I asked. What was happening? Did Corey find out I was encouraging Becca not to marry him? But why would he come here? With a gun?
“You’re not leaving this room,” he insisted. “Just take a seat right over there.” He motioned to the wing back chair that sat under a painting of a sailboat. I moved to the chair and sat down, trying to figure out what was happening.
“Gavin, I’m not going to hurt you. You’re innocent. We talked the last time I was at the Senator’s, remember? You told me…you’re a faithful man. I haven’t been called to hurt the innocent. So, you turn around and put your hands behind your back.” What came next happened fast; Gavin moved like he was going to turn around but instead kicked out with his leg in some kind of karate move or something. Corey saw what was coming and managed to avoid the kick, but swinging his leg out, left Gavin off balance. Corey stepped into him, and lightning-quick, slammed the side of the gun into Gavin’s head. Gavin stumbled for a second and then dropped to the floor.
Corey knelt beside him and checked for a pulse. Then nodding his head, he took out a set of zip ties and fastened Gavin’s hands together. “You’re a very brave man, Gavin,” Corey said to his unconscious body. “Very brave. You tried to do what you believed was right. For that reason, I will forgive you.”
“Corey, where’s Becca?” I asked again. What if he’d hurt her to get here to me?
He whipped around to look at me. His eyes were wild and unfocused. “Why do you keep asking me about Rebecca? I haven’t seen her today. I assume she’s at home. Now, you, move here to this chair.” He motioned to the same chair I sat in earlier when my parents had their little intervention. “We can’t do the purification until the sun goes down.”
“Purification?” I asked. Oh my god. The letters. Corey was the one sending the letters. He had completely lost his mind. Of all the people I’d thought might be the one sending me the letters, Corey had never occurred to me. With the way he was raised, and the kind of man he’d turned out to be, it probably should have. He’d always been odd. But this? I never imagined this.
“Yes, I know you read my letters. You should’ve listened to me. I told you to repent. It didn’t have to come to this, but would you? No, not the perfect Malcolm Jacob Coben the third,” he hissed at me. Then he took a deep breath and seemed to pull himself together. “I’m sorry, Malcolm. I know this isn’t your fault. I shouldn’t be mad at you. The demon is too strong. I