Ricochet (75 page)

Rick's own stress over his mom communicating

itself to him? Was that it? Matt was a sensitive

soul, Rick knew that, but he was also strong inside,

and he'd been Rick's anchor these past few days.

It didn't feel right.

Rick tried to trace the source of Matt's

anxiety, but that just led him back to their trip to

the cemetery.

Rick stopped dead in his tracks. The

cemetery.

He'd been in too much of a daze to notice

Matt's body language that day, but now he realized

it had been off. There had been something, some

clue… He remembered Matt standing up, looking

like he was going to blurt out some important piece

of information, but he'd cut him off and talked

about something else, so he never had found out

how Matt knew where his mom was buried.

Earlier, he'd said he found out on the internet. Rick

wasn't very good with computers, but he supposed

it was possible Matt could have found out that

way.

Or someone had told him.

Rick turned and began sprinting back to the

house.

"Sarah says she wants to go into acting when

she grows up, like her uncles." Sean smiled fondly.

"Hmm?" Matt glanced at his watch. If he stuck

to his usual schedule then Rick wouldn't be home

for another half an hour, by which time Sean would

be long gone.

"I just hope we can afford acting classes for

her."

"Right," Matt said cautiously. He glanced out

of the dining room window, which overlooked the

driveway, hoping for some sign of his dom.

"She's a great kid. You'll like her."

"I want you to leave!" Matt blurted.

Sean looked startled. "Matt - come on! I

thought we'd moved beyond you being so

suspicious of my motives all the time."

"I don't know, but I do know this doesn't feel

right. Why are you here, Sean? Why do you only

come when Rick isn't here?"

"You know why; I told you."

"I want you to leave," Matt said more firmly,

standing up. "All this sneaking around behind

Rick's back isn't right. I should never have agreed

to it in the first place."

Sean picked up his wig and put it carefully

back on his head. "I'm sorry if I'm making you

uncomfortable, Matt," he said quietly. "I know the

effects of the chemo upset some people."

"It's not that!" Matt protested, sitting down

again, feeling guilty.

"You're right about Rick. I'll come back

another time and speak to him. It's time he knew.

You're a good kid, Matt." Sean patted his arm.

"Sarah would love to meet you."

"I'm sure she would - if she existed," a voice

behind them suddenly drawled. Rick walked into

the room, breathing heavily, sweat pouring down

his face. "Hello, Sean. How was Barbados?"

Matt glanced from Rick to Sean and back

again. The atmosphere in the room had changed in

an instant, becoming highly charged.

"Oh, it was good, son. Thanks for that. Best

vacation of my life." Sean leaned back in his chair,

the expression on his face changing, a twisted little

smile curving at the corners of his mouth.

"So you went through all the money I gave

you and what you got from Newman already?

That's fast, even by your standards."

Sean grinned. "What can I say? They have

some fantastic casinos in Barbados, son, and you

know I can never resist the blackjack tables."

"Yeah, I sure as hell know that. Story of my

whole damn childhood." Rick grunted. "So you

thought you'd come back here and find a new

mark." Rick walked over to where Matt was sitting

and put his hands protectively on his shoulders.

"It was worth a shot." Sean's twisted grin

became even more twisted, and he suddenly

looked like a very different man to the one Matt

had just been talking to.

"Rick, your father is ill. He has cancer," Matt

said uncertainly, unsure what was happening.

Rick glanced at the wig on the table, and then

at Sean's bald head, and then he burst out laughing.

Sean looked at him for a moment and then he burst

out laughing too.

Matt looked from one to the other in

confusion. "What's going on?"

"It's the old cancer trick, Matt; one of Sean's

classics," Rick said. "I'm surprised you're still

willing to shave your head for that one, Sean, at

your age. You must worry it won't grow back again

one of these days."

"You know me - if the con is right, I'll do

whatever it takes," Sean said, still chuckling.

"Yeah. Just like the old days. See, Matt,

sometimes Sean would pretend to have cancer to

get some kind sub to take pity on him and his poor

wee son. They'd fundraise for us, send us on 'once

in a lifetime' vacations, and then Sean would make

a miraculous recovery and run off with the money

they'd raised."

"What can I say? The old ones are the best."

Sean shrugged.

Matt looked up at his dom, open-mouthed.

"You mean…?"

"Yeah. Sean figured that any sub of mine

would be the kind of big-hearted sap who'd fall for

a tugging at the heartstrings kind of con," Rick

explained.

"Well, you always did like the soft ones,

Rick." Sean winked at him. "Where the hell did

you find this one?" He jerked his head at Matt.

"He's as green as the Justice Hall lawns."

"So you were playing me?" Matt said hotly,

getting to his feet. "You made all this stuff up?"

Rick pushed him back down again. "Yes, of

course he was playing you, you idiot. I warned you

about him, didn't I?"

"But he said…" Matt waved his hand at the

wig on the table. He couldn't believe anyone

would go to such lengths to con him, and he

suddenly felt small and stupid at being taken in.

"Yeah, I'm sure he said a lot of things, and I'm

sure they were all very believable too. They

always are. Don't beat yourself up about it, Matt.

Sean is good at what he does." Rick inclined his

head towards his father.

"Good? I'm the best." Sean grinned.

"But what about…?" Matt glanced at the

photo lying next to the wig, trying to figure out the

extent of Sean's deception. "You made her up too?"

"Aw." Rick picked up the photo. "This must

be Sarah. She's what?" He examined it. "My long-

lost sister?"

"Yup." Sean leaned back in his chair and

laced his fingers behind his head in a gesture that

made him look exactly like Rick.

Rick put his head on one side, looked at Matt,

and then back at the photo again. "Let me guess -

she's temple born, right?" He raised an eyebrow at

his father, who nodded and spread his arms wide.

"What can I say - I do my research."

"Yes, you do." Rick nodded genially. "I'll

give you that much; you always do."

"He researched me?" Matt asked furiously,

trying to stand up again.

Rick slammed him back down. "Oh yeah, I

bet there's nothing he doesn't know about you,

Matt. He's figured out all the best ways to tug on

your heartstrings and suck you in."

"But why? I mean, he hasn't even asked me

for any money!'

Rick glanced at his father again. "Playing a

long con?"

"Could have turned out that way." Sean

shrugged. "I was improvising, trying to get a feel

for the kid."

Rick's fingers dug into Matt's shoulders. "All

he was trying to do at this stage was get you to lie

to me," he explained. "It didn't matter what the lie

was - but once you lied, you became complicit

with him. You shared a secret - and it was one he'd

use to pull you in, twist you around, and maybe

eventually even blackmail you with."

Matt looked up at his dom, horrified.

"Blackmail probably wouldn't have worked,"

Sean said. "He was skittish, wanted to come clean

with you. I was gonna get him to give me some

money for Sarah's acting classes, but that was the

long con. If I had to bail before we got that far,

then I figured an emergency medical bill would be

my best strategy. Appeal to the kid's stupid big

heart."

"He's got more kindness in his little finger

than you've got in your whole body," Rick

growled. "If you suckered him in, it's for the same

reason you always sucker people in - they're too

good to believe someone as evil as you damn well

exists."

Sean grinned, and Matt could see that he was

enjoying the confrontation; he seemed to know

exactly how to get under his son's skin and goad a

reaction from him.

"Now, evil is a pretty strong word, son. Look,

I saw how loaded you are last time I was here, and

the kid's got money too." He waved his hand at

Matt. "You're both raking in a fortune on that TV

show. Now, as we're family, I figured I was owed

some of that money too. It's only fair. I fed you and

provided a roof over your head growing up, so you

owe me."

"Big mistake," Rick said darkly. "I think I

warned you last time you were here what I'd do to

you if you came near Matty."

"Well yeah." Sean gave a little grunt. "That's

how I knew you were sweet on him. I figured you'd

collar him sooner or later, and that would be my

chance to go after him then. No need to rush - I had

other fish to fry back then, with that nice journalist.

He paid me well, and he sure did look good on his

knees, sucking my dick."

"You slept with him?"

"Sure. That's the thing with hacks; they want a

story that bad, they'll do anything for it. I told him

it was part of my price." Sean grinned. "I don't

mind your leftovers, son. Hell, I figured that once

I'd finished screwing Matt here out of his savings,

I'd try and screw him in a different way. Just for

fun and to see if I could." He leered at Matt over

Rick's shoulder.

Rick's reaction was instant. He took a step

forward, his fist raised, and Matt knew he wanted

to ram it into his father's stupid, smiling face -

which was also precisely the reaction Sean

wanted.

Matt got to his feet quickly. "Let it go, Rick;

he's not worth it."

Sean laughed, and Rick took another step

forward.

Matt put his hand on his dom's arm. "Rick,

he's playing you. He doesn't mean any of this shit.

He just loves knowing which buttons to press to

get to you." Matt could see that Rick was shaking

from the effort of not delivering that punch. "This

is what he does to you, Rick," Matt told him

firmly. "It's how he knows he's still got a hold over

you."

"Looks like your sub's got you whipped, son,"

his father chuckled, and Rick gave a murderous

little growl and took another step forward.

"Come on! I'd never have slept with him,

Rick," Matt said impatiently, pulling on Rick's

arm. It remained tense, his fist poised to strike.

"You know that. This is all bullshit."

"You lied to him easy enough though," Sean

said. "See, son, I always told you - that's what subs

are like. They always lie to you and let you down

in the end. This one here is no different, even if

you were stupid enough to put a strip of leather

around his pretty neck."

Rick gave a shaky laugh, and Matt could see

he'd finally woken up to what his father was doing.

He lowered his fist.

"Oh Sean. Sean, Sean, Sean." Rick shook his

head ruefully. "You always knew how to get into

my head too, didn't you? You know how to slip

that icy blade between my ribs without me even

noticing it and then twist it in deep. Well, not any

more. I'm not letting you have that power over me

anymore."

"Hmmm." Sean rocked back on his heels and

shot Matt an assessing look. "Maybe the kid has

made a dom of you, after all."

"I feel sorry for you. You've never known one

moment of true love in your life, have you?"

Sean's dark eyes glinted maliciously. "Love's

over-rated, son. You'll find that out soon enough

when that sub of yours betrays you - because he

will."

"No. He won't."

"He already has." Sean glanced at Matt with a