Pieces of Us (Confessions of the Heart, #3)(103)

Following that unsettled sensation, he ducked into the house.

Empty.

He ducked right back out and strode over to the shed. He yanked the sliding door and pulled it open, metal track and wheels grinding their protest.

His eyes scanned the interior of the squalid shack, hatred spilling from him as he stepped inside.

Clarissa was on a stool in the corner where she always sat, texting someone on her phone. Her attention immediately snapped to him, her dark eyes flashing with something he didn’t want to read.

He ignored her the way he always did. Refusing to give into her ploys to get him back. Like she could ever come close to comparing to his Little Bird.

Kiel was in a Mustang, removing the stereo system. Just another day on the job.

“Where’s my father?” Mack grated.

Kiel edged out, and he looked at Mack from over his shoulder. A grimy smile stretched across his mouth. “Takin’ care of something he should have taken care of a long time ago.”

Unease shivered through Mack’s being.

“Yeah? And what might that be?” Mack said, voice twisting in a low threat.

He hated this prick just about as much as he hated his father.

Kiel’s expression hardened. “Don’t worry about it, boy. Get your ass over here and get to work, way you shoulda been doin’ all along. Know that delivery didn’t make it to Florida two days ago. Think your pa wasn’t gonna notice? ’bout time he taught you a lesson.”

Panic screamed across Mack’s flesh, and he was no longer playing games. He surged forward, ready to fight the answer out of him if he had to. “Where the fuck is he?”

Kiel’s eyes gleamed. “Made a little trip into town.”

Mack’s head spun, furiously trying to figure out what angle his father was gunnin’ for, which sick, twisted scheme he was playing next.

Clenching his teeth, he backed away from Kiel whose expression turned smug.

He wanted to knock it from his face.

He stared down the bastard for another beat, trying to get a read on him, before he slipped out of the shed and started for his car. That unsettled feeling blazing. None of it sitting right.

He started to jump into his car, not even sure where he was heading, but knowing he’d spend his whole fucking day hunting down his father so he could put an end to whatever the fuck he was up to.

Clarissa’s voice whispered from behind. “Wait.”

Dread prickled the hairs at the nape of his neck, and he wanted to ignore her, but there was something about the agitation in her tone that had him turning around.

Skittish, she looked over her shoulder, clearly checking to make sure her father was still inside. Then she rushed over to Mack’s side, her words coming at him in a lowered hush, “He didn’t go into town.”

That dread spiked, barbs pricking his flesh. “Where the fuck is he?”

She peered through the woods in the direction of Izzy’s house before she set her gaze back on Mack. “You don’t belong with her, Mack, not at all. But I don’t want anything bad to happen to her, either, and I’m pretty sure your daddy is up to somethin’ real bad right now.”

He knew his father was a monster, but also, a coward. A fuckin’ coward who would take his fists to his wife and his little kid, hiding behind the cover of his shitty walls, never doin’ it out in the open.

She was agitated, rubbing her fingers together nervously. “Don’t tell my daddy I told you.”

Fuck. He wasn’t taking the chance. Didn’t give a fuck if Clarissa was messing with him the way she loved to do. Wielding her manipulation.

He just had to see her, his Little Bird, make sure she was safe and okay. Unharmed. Then he was going to hunt his father down and beat the fuck out of him, once and for all. Show him where he really stood. That he no longer had any control over his life.

Izzy’s father was away on a business trip, and he knew that left Izzy and her mama alone.

He bolted through the thicket of trees, taking the trail carved out by his nightly visits to her, the earth packed down, a pathway leading to his sanctuary.

He flew across the meadow and the tall copse of trees that separated their land on the opposite side. He burst out on the expansive lawn, and the massive house came into view, the scenery picture-perfect.

In it was a disorder.

A riot of distress.

He could feel it, and fear bottled up tight across his chest.

Immediately, he knew Clarissa hadn’t been spouting her normal BS.

He streaked across the lawn, as silently as he could, attention darting everywhere, searching for anything amiss. He glanced up at their tree, her window closed tight, and he rounded the front of the house.

Quietly climbing the steps, he crossed the porch and carefully, slowly tried to turn the knob.

Locked.

Fuck.

He angled his head back, for a second thinking Izzy and her mama must have went into town, but the feeling that sucked the peace out of the air promised they were there.

That something was very, very wrong.

Heart thundering in his throat, he jumped off the porch and wound around to the far right of the house where there was a side door that led into the kitchen.

Terror clutched his spirit when he saw one of the small square windows had been busted out, a few shards of sharp glass still hanging in the frame.

The door was partially ajar and resting on the jamb.