“Yeahhh.” He draws the word out and tries to move back, but I’m literally crowding him.
I don’t even care that this means my mom lied to me again. Because I know what to do now.
My grandfather didn’t die before I was born.
And Malcolm is going to help me find him.
When I tell him my plan, Malcolm laughs.
“Yeah, right.” When I don’t laugh back, his brows draw together. “Do you have a death wish? Look at my face. This is what will happen if we’re caught. What, you think the bounty hunter’ll take it easier on you ’cause you’re a girl? He’ll do whatever he has to in order find your mom and get his hundred grand.”
“A hundred thousand dollars?” My knees go a little weak. “That’s how much Mrs. Abbott is paying for my mom?”
Malcolm side-eyes me. “She’s been waiting for decades to find her son’s killer.”
My spine snaps tight. “Stop calling her that. You were right there. You heard my grandfather. He doesn’t think she did it, and he knew her better than any of those other people.”
“It’s called denial.”
“No, it’s called doubt, as in what I have about you. If you weren’t so obsessed with claiming your reward money, you’d be questioning this too.” For the first time since finding him in the trunk, I turn my back on Malcolm. I’m not afraid of him anymore, and I feel like it has to be an insult to show him that. I bite both my lips, trying to distract myself from the ache in my chest. I face him again. “What Iwantis to talk to my mom, to hear the truth from her, but I can’t do that. You just confirmed that the only other person who thinks she’s innocent is still alive. And all that research you did trying to find my mom? You know where he is, don’t you?”
Malcolm stares at me and swears under his breath. “He lives in a retirement facility outside Philadelphia, aheavily surveilledretirement facility. Plus the staff would have been given instructions to call the investigator if anybody so much as gets near him. And, in turn, the call would go out to people like our steel-toed-boot-wearing friend. Wanna guess what happens if you show up? And if I’m with you? I’m betting I bypass the trunk entirely. So, no. Go ahead and pick up your weapon and ask me again.”
I was holding the makeshift knife again, but as a reflex, not as a means of intimidation. Despite his confidence, his eyes are darting slightly, like when we hid under the bed. He’s not incredulous; he’s terrified. “Think about—”
“Oh, I have. See, there’s not much else to do when you’re tied up in a trunk for days on end. I know exactly what I’m going to do. The way I see it, your mom is going to come back for you as soon as she thinks it’s safe. As long as I stick by you, I’ll be right there when she does, ready to make that call, get my money, move my gran into the best place possible, and forget that any of you ever existed. That’smyplan.Yourplan…” His eyebrows climb nearly all the way to his hairline. “Anyplan where I voluntarily go near people like that bounty hunter can go to hell.”
“But that’s just it,” I say. “It’s never going to be safe.I’llnever be safe with her if she’s the one people are hunting. She knows that. That’s why she left, and it’s why she’s not coming back.” My voice goes hollow as the truth of my words pierce through me. For days, I’ve been tormenting myself with scenarios where she was hurt, attacked, desperate to get to me but couldn’t. The truth is somehow worse.
She was never going to call me.
She was never coming back for me.
As long as she’s wanted in the death of Derek Abbott, she has to run, even from me.
“Then screw it.” Malcolm spits the words out. “I’m sorry about your life and all, but I didn’t do this. You can do whatever you want, Katelyn Reed, or Jablonski, or whoever you are, but I’m not dying for a hundred grand. I’m out.”
I catch his wrist just as he starts to turn away, panicked at losing this last chance, this only chance, of finding my mom. Because I have to find her, now that I’m certain she’s not going to find me. I drive steel into my voice and lock my fingers tight. “It’s too late for that.”
He snaps his eyes from my hand to my face, and in a low, calm voice, says, “Let go, or I’ll make you.” His expression alone would have had me recoiling if my mom’s life weren’t on the line. I tighten my grip. I don’t know why his fear relieves me of mine, but it does.
I drop the knife on the ground and then wipe my clammy hand on my pants. “Your name is Malcolm Pike. You’re a sophomore at Penn State, you love your grandmother, you drive a navy Honda Accord, and judging from all the ticket stubs in your car, you really like some band named Laughing Gravy.” I watch my fingers curling around the ripped denim of my jeans, instead of watching him. “The only other thing I know about you is that you effectively ended my life with a single keystroke. Maybe you’re innocent, or maybe you’re just a really good liar and you knew exactly what was going to happen to my mom and me. Either way, it’s all the same.” I force my hand still and look at him. When Malcolm’s expression doesn’t even flicker, I push home.
“The guy who hurt you and tied you up, what’s gonna happen when he opens your trunk and finds you gone?” Malcolm’s arm jerks in my hand. “Will he forget it and let you go back to your life? Will you be able to talk your way out of it once he kicks down your door? Will he believe it’s a coincidence that I escaped at the exact same time as you?” I let my eyes drift over his injured side. “Or will he have to crack a few more ribs until you explain that I took you hostage? Here.” I kick the knife toward him. “You can use this to sell your story. He might even split the money with you if you manage to find my mom again.”
I feel the pressure building up behind my eyes. I hate the way I’m putting every ounce of strength into holding his wrist. I hate that I’m afraid it won’t be enough, that he’ll fling me off and leave me utterly alone. But I need him, and if being scared and angry is the way to keep him, then so be it.
“Right now, we’re running from the same person. And if you want me to even consider that my mom was involved in Derek’s death, then I need you to take me to my grandfather. You need me to get to my mom and your reward money. You said it yourself that I’m the only reason you found her this time. If that’s true, you need me just as much as I need you. You can’t say you didn’t do this. If it helps you sleep better, you can say you didn’tmeanto do this, but you’re still responsible. You’re involved. And you don’t get to run away from it. You can be a coward after I get to talk to my grandfather.”
He whispers one derisive word under his breath, never taking his eyes off me.
But he stops trying to walk away.
Okay.
I know what I need to do. Find my grandfather and find out why he’s so convinced that Mom is innocent.
I have Malcolm, who not only knows exactly where my grandfather is but also knows how to get past a security setup.
