Goose bumps raced up and down my arms and my stomach knotted. I swallowed and swallowed, as the once-familiar scent of my father’s closet began to choke me. Ink. The air felt thick as ink to me. Even if, by some miracle, my father hadn’t betrayed my mother, he had betrayed me.

I stumbled out of the closet, my feet getting tangled on each other. I landed on my butt, sucking in fresh air, starting to feel swimmy. Don’t pass out, Nikki. Don’t pass out.

Oh, I had no intention of passing out.

I had every intention of figuring out how this guy was linked to my family.

DAD WOULD PROBABLY be pissed that I didn’t leave a note. But at this point I was just trying to avoid him as much as humanly possible. Besides, what was there to say? I’ve gone to get to the bottom of your lies, and hopefully find Luna along the way, all while avoiding the drug dealer who probably wants my cop friend dead. Something told me he wouldn’t be in love with that idea.

I was just glad to get out of the house before he got home.

I wanted to confront him with what I knew. I wanted to make him come clean. But what if he didn’t? What if he still clung to his story, called me crazy, refused to admit anything?

I tried to call Chris again, to tell him I was headed to Pear Magic. But he didn’t answer. Meeting, he texted as soon as I hung up. For the briefest moment, I considered waiting for him to get out of the meeting. But I guessed he wouldn’t be too excited about going back to the studio, given how it went last time we were there. It was best for me to go alone.

I grabbed a bandanna and rummaged through the kitchen drawers until I found an old apron that Dad used to wear when he was going through his weekend cookout phase. It was plain black, and still dirty from years-old food grime that had never been washed out. I put on a black T-shirt and jeans and tied the bandanna around my hair like I’d seen cooks on TV do. I tied the apron around my waist, knotting it in front, and headed out.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. It was just before one o’clock. Lunchtime. I drove to Fat Sal’s and ordered random items—a couple of heroes, a couple of wraps, some fries—enough to fill two sacks—then made a beeline to Pear Magic.