Chapters (95)
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Eighty-Six
- Eighty-Seven
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by David Swinson
- Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.
I stand up, walk to the sofa, and pull Younger up to a sitting position again. He already has reddish bruising on the left side of his puffy face and a dried-up trickle of blood under his nostril. I tap him lightly with my hand on the uninjured side of his face but don’t get a reaction. I tear the duct tape off his mouth so he can breathe better.
His eyes pop open, moving from side to side and up and down like a newborn getting his first look at the new environment. He lets out a gasp.
“Breathe,” I tell him. “Calm down and breathe or I’m gonna put you out again. Understand?”
“What the fu—” he tries to say, but before he can I put the duct tape over his mouth again.
“You’ll be all right,” I tell him.
I want nothing more than to show Younger who I am so he knows I’m the one he ran away from at the record store. I want to, but I won’t.
He turns to look at his older brother. Older gives him a look and a slight shake of his head, like Just fucking shut up or something.
“I cleaned your pockets out. Looks like you had a good night.”
Blank stares.
“Let’s get down to business, then.”
I slide the coffee table so it’s near the chair. I grab my backpack, but before I sit back down, I slide the right side of my suit jacket back so that it reveals my holstered Glock. I tuck it behind the gun to hold it back. I want to make sure they see that.
They do.
“I know you don’t care about Grandma, so I’m not going to even go there,” I lie, because I never would dream of hurting her. “I did forget something, though.”
I stand back up.
“You two scoot away from each other, give some space between.”
They reluctantly obey.
I walk to the other side of the sofa and grab the orange bucket, minus the toilet seat, that I brought down from Grandma’s room. I set it on the sofa cushion between them. After that I pick up a coffee mug that I found and set it on the coffee table.
More “Hmmph, hmmph” from both of them.
“Yeah, it stinks. Try not to move around or it’ll topple. What direction I don’t know.”
Younger’s cheeks expand outward, like he’s gonna gag.
“Don’t think about it. You don’t wanna drown in your own vomit. Just deep breaths through your nose, hold a couple seconds, and release. That’ll relax you.”
Odd, but the kid listens. It’s funny-looking.