The Row(88)

“I do know that. Trust me.” I kiss him softly on the lips before turning and sprinting toward the warehouse. Only when I silently pull open a broken door on the opposite end of the building do I realize Jordan is barely a step behind me.

When I frown up at him, he looks at me with grim determination. “I trust you completely, Riley, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to trust him not to hurt you.”





37

WE MAKE OUR WAY AS QUIETLY as possible through the dark warehouse. If the alcove outside was a steam room, this place is an oven. I hear scurrying around us that makes my skin crawl. Waiting for our eyes to adjust, I hear the first sign that we aren’t the only people in this decrepit building.

A sob followed by a long moan makes my heart pound in my ears. I glance at Jordan, and he squeezes my hand before we both move in the direction of the sound. It seems like it came from the opposite end of the warehouse—and maybe above us. I point up and raise my eyebrows. Jordan nods and points to an only partially rusted set of stairs to our right.

Just as we reach the top half of the steps, I see a shadow that can only be Daddy’s move to block the top of the stairs. A low growl escapes him and I see him crouch a bit like he’s preparing to pounce. My body freezes.

I whisper the only word that can stop him cold. “Daddy?”

“Riley?” Daddy jerks upright, sounding startled, and then he seems to make out Jordan standing behind me. In two movements, he’s in front of us, has grabbed both of our arms and is dragging us up the stairs behind him. Instead of heading to the left where I thought I heard the moan come from, he takes us to the right before letting us go.

One filthy window lets in the light from a nearby streetlamp and I can see sheer panic in my father’s eyes. “Wh—why are you here, honey? Why did you bring him?”

I try to slow down and think, knowing it probably won’t work to pretend we don’t know why he’s here, but I need to buy time. The silence from the other side of the stairs is chilling. What if she’s hurt? I have to help her. As long as we can stay calm until Chief Vega gets here, as long as I can get Daddy to let me see her, we may be okay.

“Where’s Mama?” I ask, fighting to mask the terror I’m feeling and keeping my voice steady. He can’t hear the adrenaline in my veins or the pace of my heart.

The tiniest flash of irritation passes through Daddy’s expression before his face is suddenly serene. “Why would your mama be here?”

It shocks me how much better he is at the game I’m striving to play.

Good lawyers are one part actor, one part confidant, and one part shark.

Daddy’s old saying floats up in my mind, and I swallow back the nausea that comes with it. He definitely has two-thirds of the combination down, I have to give him that.

“Because of the note she left this morning. It said she was coming with you today.” I tentatively step toward him. “Is she here, Daddy?”

He takes an abrupt step back and his eyes shift from side to side. He looks out of his depth. The light from the streetlamp outside suddenly shines on his face and I see deep red scratches down one cheek. His other eye is almost swollen shut.

I gasp. “What happened?” The words come out on instinct, even though it’s immediately clear what happened to Daddy’s face. Mama happened.

Daddy’s hand goes up to the scratches and he winces before his face turns hard. Sudden and ice-cold hatred flows through his eyes. “What always happens: your mother knows just how to ruin everything.”

Without giving him a chance to say another word, I bolt for the room on the opposite side and duck under the hand Daddy shoots out to stop me. The room over here is actually better lit than the first. I see Mama immediately. Her body is crumpled into a ball in the middle of the floor.

“Mama!” I stop running and skid across on my knees as I land beside her. She’s breathing still, but she can’t seem to focus on me. She’s barely conscious. One of her arms is bent at an awkward angle, and she has bruises all over her legs. My knees feel wet and I realize I’m kneeling in a small puddle of her blood. Her injuries look like those that were on his victims’ bodies. My throat feels like it’s closing off. He’s trying to do the same thing to Mama.

I hear grunts and crashes from Jordan and Daddy, who are fighting by the stairs. I search around frantically for something to stop my father. I see a bloody knife sitting a few feet away on the ground. Grabbing it, I run to the doorway and stick the shaking hand with the knife out toward Daddy. He has Jordan in a chokehold.

“Let him go!” I scream as I watch a drop of blood roll down the side of Jordan’s cheek from a nasty cut near his eye.

They both freeze and Daddy looks straight at me before laughing softly. “You don’t want to hurt me, Riley.”

“No,” I say, trying to get a better grip on my knife as tears run down my face. “But y-you have to stop this.”

Daddy’s eyes fill with genuine remorse as he meets my gaze. “Things are going to be better, Riley, I promise, but there are some things I have to clean up first.” And then with one immense shove, he pushes Jordan at just the right angle. Jordan’s panicked eyes meet mine for half a heartbeat … and then he disappears, tumbling with horrific thuds and crunches back down the rusty metal stairs.

And then all I hear is silence.