How is that even possible?
And yet, as my mouth opens to shout thatJonesis the dirty liar, I suddenly realize with a sickening feeling that it makes so much sense.
I’d always resented Mom for being the reason for our uprooted existence. For wanting to return to her hometown of Astley, where we became known as the poor family, and I was the target of bullying growing up.
Mom had cancer. And Dad would have done anything for her. Her one wish was to go home. And he made it happen.
I close my eyes bitterly. If only I had known. My throat squeezes as I remember all the times I lashed out at her. All the times I was frustrated at how distant, how distracted she was.
Of course she was. She was fighting a losing battle.
Things could have been so different if I’d known. I wouldn’t have grown up hating her. I would have grown up taking care ofher.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
What the fuck is wrong withthem? Why couldn’t they have told me?
“Piper?” asks Jones uncertainly from the other end.
It takes a few tries before I manage to bite down on the bitterness and speak.
“Yeah,” I mumble.
“Her cancer turned terminal very recently. Just three days ago. It seems likely that she and your father made a humane decision to end their lives together. We’ve decided to close the investigation, and you can go home.”
8
Piper
Present Day
For a few minutes after I hang up, I stare in front of me, shock making my mind go blank. Then, robotically, I stand up and walk out the door.
I have no idea where I’m going. I haven’t even thought of putting on a coat. I’m outside in the freezing drizzle with nothing but a sweater to keep out the cold. It’s soaked by the time I round the corner, the tank top underneath clinging to me.
The taekwondo class is long forgotten as I walk down one street after another. I wander aimlessly, everything that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours echoing like a refrain in my head, haunting me.
Dad, dead. His eyes unseeing as I pleaded with him to look at me. Mom. Looking for Mom. Knowing even before I found her…
Quill Nelson. The boy who ruined my life and ended my parents’. I know he did it. Fucking liar. Fucking monster.
But no. It was cancer. She was dying. Dad knew… Dad knew…
No. He couldn’t have known. He wouldn’t have sounded so cheerful on the phone if he had. Maybe he could have concealed the bad news from me, but he wouldn’t have said…
What the hell was it that he said?
“Let me tell you, pumpkin, I have a feeling your old dad is about to get a major promotion. Do you know Logan Colt?”
People who are planning to die don’t get excited about promotions.
Dad didn’t know. He was aware Mom had cancer. But she hadn’t gotten around to telling him about the terminal diagnosis yet.
But why the fuck did he ask me if I knew Logan Colt?
I come to a standstill, blinking up at the massive steel building in the middle of the Astley business district.Devil Tower. This place dwarfs everything else in Astley, and its founders have more power and wealth than all the other powerful and wealthy people here put together.
I don’t know why my feet led me here today. Maybe it’s just out of habit. For that one happy year, I spent my afternoons after school meeting up with Quill here.
