He knew she could see him in her periphery. He started to sign that he was sorry, but she cut him off. She didn’t look at him as she signed out, “I can’t even deal right now. If you don’t want me around, then maybe I should go live with Grandma and Grandpa. I don’t want to be a burden.”

“We’re family. I didn’t mean that how it sounded. I love you, and you’re not a burden, and your dad was very specific in the will. He didn’t want you growing up in that house.”

“Yeah, because I’m much better off living in your crappy little apartment than in a mansion.”

“I told you I’m looking for a new place. And trust me, kid, it’s much more important who you live with than where you live. You know about our family history. That’s not the life your dad wanted for you.”

“Doesn’t seem so bad to me.”

Nic gritted his teeth. “That mansion you mentioned was actually built by my Grandpa Angelo. They called him ‘The Grand Executioner’. I didn’t really understand what that meant when I was a kid. You know, baseball players had nicknames like that, no big deal. When Grandpa Angelo died, we inherited the place. It was cool at first, much better than our place in the city, lots of room to play ball and get into trouble. There was even this big room in the basement that we used as a skating rink. Used to invite girls over and go skating.”

“Oh, yeah. Sounds rough.”

“The room was nothing but concrete with a drain in the middle of the floor. No pictures or furniture. Just the drain and a few weird-looking pulleys hanging from the ceiling. One day, Junior and I were playing hockey in there, and Ma catches us. She freaks out.”

“You weren’t supposed to be in there?”

“Pop didn’t care. He knew we played in there, so when Ma flipped, we didn’t know what to think. She forbid us from ever going into that room again. It wasn’t until a few years later that I learned that Grandpa Angelo called our skating rink ‘The Slaughter Room’. And there were lots of times when Pop used that room and had the door locked. But then the next day, he’d unlock it and tell us to have fun. I never wondered why the floor was usually wet and the room smelled like bleach after Pop was done with it.”

LJ didn’t speak. She merely looked at the floorboard and seemed to consider the implications. After a moment, she signed, “Did you ever go into the Slaughter Room again?”

Nic felt a chill despite the blistering heat beating down on the car. “Point is, kid, growing up in our family, in that house, with Tommy Jewels as a dad, well, that stains you. Makes you feel dirty on the inside, and I’m still trying to wash myself clean. Your dad knew that and didn’t want that for you. It’s that life and your Grandpa Tommy that got your mom and dad killed.”