The Row(90)

I stop trying to understand him. Reason and logic don’t apply here.

“But Daddy, I love them. Why would I go with you willingly if you kill Mama and Jordan?” I lean forward, trying to find some way to convince him to back down.

“Well, you don’t have to.” He’s calm and thoughtful, like we’re debating a chess move instead of him murdering everyone I care about. “It just depends on how much pain you want them to go through before they die. For example…” He picks up the small but deadly sharp knife I had earlier, steps next to Mama, and I scream as he plunges the blade halfway into the right side of her stomach.

“Stop! Please stop!” I yell out. Mama closes her eyes and all fluttering stops. The knife simply hangs there, half in and half out. Blood spills across the clean side of her shirt and down the front.

“That blade isn’t hitting any crucial organs right now, but an inch to the left or right and it will be.” Daddy looks at me the same way he used to when he taught me a particularly fascinating chess move.

I watch Mama and can’t seem to catch my breath. I’m panting and I just want it all to stop. Daddy notices my distress and pulls out the blade with a sigh, turning to set the knife back on the table. I see the tiniest movement on the stairs and realize Chief Vega is here. He crouches on the top step with his gun raised, but at his current angle, Daddy is too far to the right for the chief to even see my father, let alone get a good shot.

“I know it’s hard at first, but you’ll get used to it.” Daddy waves his hand at me like I’m upset that he had to prune my favorite rosebush or something. “Stacia was scared at first, too, but she changed her mind. It’s all about pressure points—you find the right ones and people will do anything you want.”

Daddy turns back to face me, and I put my eyes on him and only him. I know what I need to do. I need to lure my father closer to me so that Chief Vega can shoot him while Mama still has a chance to survive.

But he’s my father …

“I’m nothing like Stacia. Daddy, please don’t do that again,” I whisper so softly that Daddy steps toward me, his eyes filling with confusion and regret.

“I’m sorry, Riley,” he states simply as he moves a little closer.

“I know you are.” I look up into his eyes and sob freely as I say one final thing. It’s the thing I most need him to hear as I see Chief Vega line up his gun for a shot.

“I love you, Daddy.”

I hear two loud blasts and Daddy crashes down next to me. The shots are through his chest, and he doesn’t try to move. His eyes land on me as he takes his last breath, then he says the one thing I want to remember him saying for the rest of my life.

“I’m sorry, sweetie.”

Then he is still as he stares at me with open, lifeless eyes, and I can’t seem to look away. Vega scrambles back to the stairs, calling out orders. I hear many sets of pounding footsteps coming up. Vega checks Mama’s pulse and yells for paramedics in a tone that tells me nothing about how she is. He moves over to me and cuts the ropes that bind me to the pipe. The paramedics rush up and go to Mama first.

“Are they going to be okay?” I whisper so softly that Chief Vega doesn’t hear me, my eyes still on Daddy. Then I tear them away and look up at the chief.

“Chief Vega, are Jordan and my mom going to be okay?” I try to grab his arm but I can’t get a grip. I’m shaking all over.

“Jordan is going to be fine.” We both watch the paramedics lift Mama on a stretcher and carry her out of sight. “I don’t know about your mom, but you gave her the best chance you could.”

I feel the slightest bit of relief at hearing that Jordan will be okay, but I don’t trust myself to really feel it until I see him for myself. Once I start talking, it’s difficult to stop. “I’m so sorry he got hurt. I understand if you don’t want me to ever see him again, as long as I know he’s all right. Maybe we’ll even move away if—when Mama is better. They just both have to be okay.”

Vega looks from Daddy’s lifeless form and back to me, then gently takes my arm and places it around his shoulders. He helps me to my feet and a small smile plays at his mouth as he links my arm through his and steadies me on my way to the stairs. “Did you know that Jordan was trying to crawl back up the stairs when I got here? He only made it about six steps up because he was trying to move silently with what looked to be a broken foot.”

I see the gentleness in his eyes that I always find in Jordan’s.

“You’ve been really good for him. He had shut down after his mom passed—he didn’t want to be a part of anything anymore. You changed that.” Chief Vega’s eyes are damp. “My boy sure does care about you. If we get down these stairs and he finds out I’ve encouraged the idea of you moving to another state, I will never hear the end of it.”

He waits until I glance up at him again. “And what you did up there for your father … was one of the bravest and kindest things I’ve ever seen, Riley.”

“Thank you.” As I murmur the words, the tiniest bit of warmth flows from my hand on his arm and up to my heart.

“I knew anyone who could make Jordan smile again like you have these last few weeks had to be impressive.” He helps me slowly and shakily to the bottom of the stairs and leads me off to one side. “Now I’m certain that even that was an underestimation of you.”