"You lied all the time, about everything," Don said.

Kate looked at him. "Is that all you can say? Aren't you sorry you didn't listen when he tried to tell you what was happening?"

"Yes, of course I'm sorry. I thought he was making it up. He was always making things up."

"You left me in there for even longer," Jack said.

Kate felt the knots coming undone between her fingers.

"I didn't know," Don said.

"He thought you didn't love him." Kate struggled to release the gun.

"Don't," Nathan muttered. "Run." He shifted and groaned.

"Kate, get away from him, now," Jack said.

She stood up, moving backward toward the table where she'd put the phones.

"Jack put that gun down. This is stupid." Don started to get to his feet. Jack waved the gun at him and he sat again.

"I think Kate deserves the truth about what happened four years ago," Jack said.

"You raped her, not me," Don said.

"Because you told me to," Jack yelled.

Kate froze and Jack looked at her.

"My father engineered the whole thing. Chose the time and place, delayed you so you missed the bus, gave me a drink of beer to steady my nerves, provided the blindfold for your eyes and watched in case we were disturbed." Kate looked at Don's face and realized it was true.

"Your father took everything from me. I wanted to do the same to him." Don sneered at her. "He didn't give a fuck about your mother. I wanted to hurt the one person he did care about."

Kate gulped. "But my father didn't care about me. Oh God, you're a monster and you made Jack one, too."

Jack leaned back against the wall. "She's right. Good job, Dad."

"All this has been you trying to get even with your father." Kate stared at Jack and took another step toward the cell phones.

"My mother deserved better. He didn't love her, not like I did. You know, Dad, the morning Mom took off her clothes and got into my bed was the happiest day of my life."

Don jumped up, his face dark red with fury. "I don't need to listen to this shit.

You're a manipulative little fuck, Jack. You should never have been born." Kate reached back, wrapped her fingers around one of the phones and moved closer to the couch. She glanced down. She had Nathan's cell, but the screen was locked. Biting back her disappointment that she'd called no one and the police weren't already on their way, she tried to unlock it.

"Kate's father never touched Mom," Jack said. "Her affair was with me. I lied about David Evans. The photographs were faked. All she did was play tennis with him." Don took a step toward him and Jack pointed the gun at his chest. "Stop right there."

"You're lying."

Jack shook his head and smiled.

Don moved closer. "You goddamn little shit. Did she tell you it had to stop? Is that why you killed her?"

Kate looked down, pressed 911 and slid the phone behind her.

Jack laughed. "See how quick you are to believe the worst? You think I'd fuck my own mother? I never touched her and I didn't kill her."

"Lies and more lies. Is this another of your games?" Don sneered. "You've blanked it out, Jack, but you butchered her. You tore out every organ. You ripped her apart, dragged the baby out of her. You killed Steven when he saw you. I always thought you'd done it, only I never wanted to believe it." There was a long silence.

"Baby?" Jack asked, his gaze fixed on his father.

Kate swallowed hard. For once, Jack wasn't the guilty one. Nathan groaned.

His face was pale and his breathing shallow. If she got his gun, could she fire it?

"You knew she was pregnant," Don said. "You killed her, the baby, and then your own brother. Accept the truth."

"I would never have hurt her." Jack looked at Kate. "I didn't kill her." She looked straight at him. "I believe you."

"Shut up, you stupid bitch," Don hissed. "What do you know?"

"Jack didn't kill his mother, you did." Kate's heart pounded. "Steven was supposed to find Jack with her body and assume he did it. Jack can't remember anything and Steven is dead so we'll never know what went wrong. But you killed your wife and you killed Steven."

"Where is Steven then? If I killed him, where's his body?" Don asked.

Her heart was beating so hard, Kate was afraid it would leap out of her chest.

She kept her eyes on Don. "I know where he is." For a long time, the only sound was that of Nathan's labored breathing.

"Maybe you didn't mean to kill him. Maybe he saw you kill his mother and you had to kill him. If he was never found, there'd always be a suspicion he was the one who killed her. Jack was so traumatized he blocked it from his mind. I bet you didn't go and visit him in case it triggered some memory."

"Are you making all this up as you go along?" Don asked.

"Keep going," Jack said.

"I think you were livid Jack survived and not his brother, and you've made him pay for it ever since. But one son was better than none. He could still produce a grandchild. Only it suited you to let Jack be tormented by the idea he might have killed his mother. Dangerous game to play with someone like him. I'd guess that was why he stabbed you and you had him admitted to Ashlands." There was silence for a moment.

"Kate?"

She turned to face Jack. He smiled at her. "Did you really find Steven?" She nodded.

"This is a load of bullshit," Don said. "You killed your mother and brother, and you hid his body with the baby you'd ripped out of her."

"Shut up," Jack shouted. "One more word and I'll shoot you in the balls." He turned to Kate. "Why don't you believe I killed her?"

"Because you loved her more than you love yourself. It suited your father for you to think it could have been you. The longer you were in psychiatric care the better. He wouldn't have put up with you all these years if he suspected you'd killed her. I know where he hid Steven's body and I saw a baby's skull there too.

You didn't know about the baby. Jack, please let me get help for Nathan." Jack stared at his father. Kate slid down to the floor with her back to Jack. This time she freed the gun and slipped it in the front of her jeans. She knew Jack couldn't see, but thought Don might have. She didn't care.

Jack pointed the gun at his father. "Is she right?"

"I can't believe you're even listening to her."

"Come over here, Kate," Jack said.

She didn't move.

He sighed. "Come over here or I'll put another bullet in Nathan." Her knees shook as she walked to him, hoping the gun stayed in place. Jack spun her around by her shoulder and pulled her back against his chest.

"Remember Charlie? This time put your hand on mine." Kate rested her trembling fingers on top of Jack's. She looked at Don. His face had lost all color.

"I'm going to shoot you anyway so how about you tell the truth?" Jack said.

"You won't get away with it. You're throwing everything away. I thought you wanted my money. I thought that was the whole point."

Jack laughed. "I don't give a fuck about your money. This was never about money. This was about truth. Tell me."

Don stared at him for a moment and then sighed. "Elizabeth told Steven she was leaving and taking you, leaving him with me. She told him she was pregnant and he told me. She tried to pretend it wasn't true, so I had a look inside her and we know what I found."

Kate swallowed a cry of horror.

"You and Steven were supposed to be out playing. You came back and I hid.

Steven thought you'd killed her. He picked up the knife and stabbed you. When he saw the blood on my clothes, he realized he'd stabbed the wrong person. He wouldn't shut up, so I made him. I took his body and the baby and bits of your mother down to the boathouse and hid them with my bloody clothes. I planned to call the police and let them find you with your mom, but you came running down to the lake and ran out onto the ice. It broke and you went through. I saved your life. I wish I hadn't bothered."

Kate felt Jack tense behind her.

"Jack, think what you're doing," Don said. "You kill me and you'll go to jail. No money, no Kate. We can sort this mess out. We can say Nathan tried to kill you, and you shot him in self defense."

Don stepped closer and Kate closed her eyes. A loud noise echoed in her head as the gun jumped against her hand. Her eyes flew open and she lurched away from Jack. Don staggered backward. A small red mark on his chest spread over his white shirt. Don looked down and then fell in a crumpled heap. Kate slid farther away from Jack, took out Nathan's gun and holding it with both hands pointed it at Jack. The barrel shook and Jack laughed.

"Jack, why shoot him?" Nathan gasped, struggling to sit up. "Could have told police."

"For Kate. For our mother. For a million reasons."

"Oh, God. Jack, please let me call an ambulance," she begged.

"Too late, for Dad and I have plans for Nathan."

Kate's mind flew in all directions. "You could do the right thing for once."

"It's more fun not to."

"But it doesn't get you what you want," she said.

"Come here."

"Don't, Kate," Nathan gasped. "Stay clear."

As Jack moved, Kate circled around. But instead of continuing toward her, Jack kicked Nathan in his side. He groaned.

"Please, Jack, don't hurt him."

Jack pointed the gun toward Nathan's head. "What are you going to do to stop me? Shoot me?"

"Yes."

Jack smiled. "I don't think so. You know, everything would have been all right if you hadn't wanted to leave me. It wasn't all because of my father."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Kate wanted to pull the trigger. He deserved to die. The longer she delayed, the less chance for Nathan, but she still hesitated. "You want back what you had and it can't happen."

"What do I want back?" he asked.

"You want your mom. You want to be loved, to be happy like you were when she was alive. She loved you more than anyone else in the world, and you want to feel like that again."

"And how do you know that?" His eyes glittered.

"Because...I want to be loved like that, too," she whispered.

"I loved you like that."

Kate shook her head. "No, you didn't, Jack." His gaze moved to Nathan and now Kate didn't hesitate. She pulled hard on the trigger. The gun bucked in her hand and she dropped it.

Jack staggered back to the wall and grabbed his chest. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Kate...his gun," Nathan grunted.

Jack slid to the ground. As Kate reached for the gun and tossed it away, Jack caught hold of her wrist, dragged her closer.

"I didn't think you'd have the guts to do that," he gasped. "Thought I'd be playing...few more games in a hospital...as reward for killing my father." He groaned. "You'll get everything, Kate...you and my baby...all his money." A flicker of a smile crossed his lips. "I win."

Kate pulled off the wedding ring. "No."

Jack let go of her wrist and grabbed the ring from her hand. "Cheap trash," he panted.

Kate pulled a pillow from the couch and pressed it against the wound in Jack's chest.

"You missed my heart. Just."

"Then I win, Jack."

He frowned. "Remember...you killed your baby's father." He had difficulty speaking now, slurring his words. "When...you going to tell him? First birthday? Eighteenth?" He coughed and bubbles of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"You'll never be the father, so it doesn't matter." She pulled away from him and slid across the floor to Nathan.

"Phone police," Nathan muttered.

"I did." She retrieved the phone from the couch and put it to her ear. "Hello?"