Prologue
Joanna
My sister’s blood trickled into a pool at my feet, its echo drowning out the hum of officers filing into my childhood home. Every crimson drop seeped in between the wooden floorboards, staining my mother’s favorite rug with death.
The bite of iron coated the back of my throat—a clogged drain, making it hard for air to reach my lungs. My mouth watered… I needed tobreathe.
“Jesus, who let her in here?”
I swallowed, fighting the urge to puke.
“Ma’am, will you follow me, please?” A heavy hand rested on my shoulder, forcing me to turn and face the blue-eyed detective. But red continued to creep into the edges of my vision.
The detective’s hold shifted to my forearms. “I’ve got you.”
He guided me away, walking with careful glances over his shoulder. When my eyes strayed behind us, his paternal voice demanded that I look only at him. His firm grasp neverfaltered, and each step I took grew lighter than the next; the detective’s voice my lifeline out of hell.
He eased me into a chair once we reached the kitchen, and soon he was pressing a glass into my trembling hands. “Drink,” he urged, nodding toward the water.
The detective watched me carefully until I lifted the glass to my lips. Only then did the corners of his mouth rise from their downwards curve, settling into a thin line.
“Cooper, has she said anything?” A lanky man entered the kitchen, tapping a pen on his notepad. He had enough dirt and oil under his nails to look like black French tips.
“I think she’s still in shock,” Cooper replied, casting me a wary look.
The grimy detective hid his mouth with his notepad and stood by Detective Cooper’s side. He leaned closer to whisper in his partner’s ear… But it was everythingbuta whisper. “I’m missing my grandbaby’s birthday party right now, Cooper. We don’t have time for your sensitive approach.”
For the first time since I shrugged the metallic blanket off my shoulders and snuck away from the back of the ambulance, a warmth rushed through my body.
The man pulled out the chair beside me, scraping the legs across the tile floor. “Miss Sullivan, I’m Detective Letterman. You’ve already met my partner, Detective Cooper. I know this is hard, but we need answers, okay?” He leaned forward in his seat, assaulting my nose with his pungent cologne. “Was your sister involved in any drugs? Any gang activity?”
I blinked hard, urging myself not to forget that thisLettermanwas here to help me.
He was doing what he needed to do to find Latoya. And Ineededhim to find—
“It’s not like she’s the first pretty girl to get mixed up in that world,” he went on, oblivious to how much he was pissing me off. “Maybe she owed someone money? Maybe she slept with the wrong gangster?”
Detective Cooper stiffened in front of us as rage-fueled heat claimed my brown cheeks. I held the glass in my hand with such tightness I thought it would shatter…
And give me something to cut this bitch with.
My sister had been keeping her distance from me for weeks because she’d been sick on and off all month. She said she didn’t want me to catch what she had.That’sthe type of person she was—the type of sister she was. Kind. Thoughtful. Selfless.
“Latoya is a good person.” My small voice sounded foreign to my ears.
My blood boiled with Letterman’s snicker. “I’m afraid ‘good’ people don’t end up like that.” He gestured faintly toward the living room, his voice dripping with cruel indifference. “It’s likely they tortured her, Miss Sullivan. This isn’t some random break-in. She must’ve done something to deserve it.”
I sprung to my feet, the chair toppling over and Detective Cooper catching the glass before it hit the floor. An abrupt headache stole my breath.
But I wanted to scream.
Officers scurried from the living room to see the commotion. Detective Cooper had stepped between us, flinging water from his hand.
He growled. “Letterman, you’re out of line.”
Letterman shrugged his shoulders, looking down at the mess I’d made. “Maybe I could’ve phrased that better, but the gangbangers are always three steps ahead of us, Cooper. The sooner we get answers—truthfulanswers—the sooner we can solve this case.” He turned to me, eyes narrowing. “I would think that’s what you wanted, Miss Sullivan.”
I was finally able to swallow the pain clogging my throat, my words thick. “You don’t know anything about my sister.”
