REAPER'S KISS(26)

I threw him a few bills and he nodded to me as he stuck them into his pocket.

“What do you have for me?” I asked.

“A rough night,” Jeff said.

“What the f*ck does that mean?”

“I pulled those reports you wanted. Record of your incident. Funny how nobody was ever brought in for questioning on it. Looks like they cared for about three seconds.”

“That’s how you guys tend to treat us wild outlaws.”

Jeff laughed. “Yeah, right. Okay, so that same night, there was a little list of bullshit crime. All around the outside of Bishop. Break ins. Windows smashed in. Little shit. But there was one big one. Here you go.”

Jeff took out a piece of paper and unfolded it.

Shit, it wasn’t a police report. I didn’t need that. It was the f*cking headline of the local paper.

GROCERY STORE OWNER GUNNED DOWN

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

“I remember that one,” Jeff said. “I was just on the force when it went down. The roof to that store was leaking and she was there mopping up the mess. Never understood why her husband wasn’t there though. I thought set up but I had no pull in the case. So she was there mopping and someone came in and just…”

I shook my head.

It was f*cking Ava’s mother. A picture of her, black and white, and I could see the resemblance. Shit, Ava’s father was in the paper. Even Ava’s name was mentioned twice.

“Here’s the thing,” Jeff said, “there’s something on the police report.”

“What?” I asked.

“You know it went unsolved, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Okay. The police had no idea what to think or do. It was straight up murder. They went after you guys but the footprints never made sense to them. The floor was wet, right? Whatever she had in the bucket left a little streak on the floor. Shit, Jace, this was before the crazy forensics we have now. But they came up with one thing that made sense.”

“Which is what?”

“There were two men there that night,” Jeff said. “The police tried to keep that hidden. Because it got even deeper.”

“How so, Jeff?”

Jeff rubbed his nose. “You asked for reports. I gave them.”

“Are you f*cking kidding me?” I growled.

I reached into the car and grabbed him. I pulled him through the driver’s window and threw him to the ground. One kick to the stomach and he was waving his hands, giving up.

“Fine! Fine!” he yelled.

“What else do you know?”

“The notes were lost,” Jeff said. “Or destroyed on purpose. Whatever. The case was let go because one of the guys… f*ck.”

“What?”

“One of the footprints matched a body that was found a month later. Way up in the mountains though.”

I felt my heart sink. I felt like I could throw up right there on the spot.

Instead, I backed up and took another bill out of my pocket. I dropped it down to Jeff and climbed on my motorcycle.

“Call me anytime!” he yelled over my thundering motor.

I peeled away, kicking rock and dust into Jeff’s face as I sped away.

Shit was starting to fall in place, and not in the way I had hoped it would.

Yeah, Ava was f*cking right. We were f*cking connected.

The guys that attacked me all those years ago were the same guys that killed her mother. On the same f*cking night.

But why?





chapter twenty-one


(ava)



THEN



Dad held me on his lap. He was hugging me, smiling as he told me a story of when I was little girl and I would make him dress up to be part of my tea parties. His eyes glistened like he was going to cry but he didn’t.

I was twenty years old and too old to be sitting on his lap.

But he insisted.

“I want to talk to you,” he said to me.

“I’m going to stand up first,” I said. “You’re sweaty.”

I stood and looked at him. He looked ready to pass out.

“Is it your heart?” I asked.

He patted his pocket. “I have my magic pills. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I want to talk to you about me going away.”

“What?”

“Listen to me. Sometimes things happen in life. It’s hard to explain. Okay? But if I ever have to disappear for a little while I need you to just stay calm. Do not call the police, okay? My job…” Dad looked away for a second. “Ava, sometimes things go bad and I have to hide.”

“At the store?”

“Yes. Sometimes with Uncle Frank, we have to take rides. Meetings. Stuff like that. But I can’t give information about it. It’s almost like spying. It’s actually kind of fun.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

There was a knock at the door. “I have to go now. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Okay? You’re in charge of the store. Remember, Ava, no police.” Dad stood up and waved a finger at me. “Trust that I’ll be okay.”

“Are you okay?” I asked, my heart pounding.

“I’ll be okay,” he said. “I just don’t want you to worry. You’re safe right now.”