“Soldiers don’t ask questions,” I grit out.
“You’re right. They don’t. Theycanrepeat them, though.”
I shake my head. “We don’t talk. We never talk.”
“Soldiers, as you should know, Quill,” drawls Dad, “do what they’re told. Or rather, whatTragentells them. And Tragen had been telling them an awful lot.”
“Why?” I growl, cringing at the sound of the name of the man who had, right until the very end, been a far better father than my own. Though the bar is certainly set very low.
“Tragen was acting on my orders. Which isn’t unusual, since I’m one of his higher-ups. Whatisunusual, though, is that he started acting practicallyonlyon my orders.”
“Why?” I ask again.
“Money,” says Dad simply. “So long as I was lining his pockets, he was perfectly happy to go along, giving me all the information I needed, without having any clue as to why. That’s what led me to realizing, first, that the reason Logan was so worked up was that little Aurora Moretti, his stepdaughter, wasn’t dead. It wasn’t till later that I figured out her identity. Just a few weeks ago, in fact. Aurora Moretti was none other than Piper Day, the ugly chick my son was banging all throughout senior year of high school.”
I see white at his cruel words. The gun is still in my hands, and if it were anyone else speaking those words, they’d already be dead. But I don’t shoot. I can’t.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
“Here I’d been so focused on breaking the two of you up. And breathing in relief when she moved across the country. When really, I should have been doing the opposite. Trapping her in Astley. The minute I heard she was back, I gave Dane and Liam the contract to kill her parents.”
I’m so shocked by that last revelation that I don’t even try to work through the rest of what he’s just said. “They… they shot her parents? Dane and Liam?”
“Yep. Her dad was so excited to have found that stupid paper with Piper’s name on my desk. I intercepted a letter of Logan’s about discreetly paying off her college debt. I had stupidly written her name on top and left the letter lying on my desk. So I guess William Day was bound to find it. You can just imagine how excited that made the idiot. Of course, although he knew she was adopted, he had no clue Logan was her stepfather. I had to make up some stupid story on the spot, about how Logan wanted to sponsor promising alumni from Astley High, or some bullshit like that. Then, to really make sure that sucker shut up, I promised him a promotion. Little did he know, he was alreadydead.”
I stare at Dad, still stuck on the earlier piece of information. “Dane… and Liam? They killed Piper’s parents?”
“Fucking hell, boy,” thunders Dad. “Are you a complete idiot? They’re soldiers. They did a job. Big fucking deal. After he found that paper, William Day became a risk. He and Laura probably would have bit the dust anyway, though, because I needed a way to make sure Piper stuck around for a while. Long enough to get her to Coltello. He wants to kill her himself. He learned how important that was from watching Devil fuck up this past year with Angel. Don’t trust the important shit to the subcontractors.” Dad puffs up his chest. “But I’m the guy bringing Coltello the prize. When she’s dead, the Moretti claim will be too. Only Devil will stand in the way, and I’m bringing Coltello their best soldier. Not bad, eh?”
He speaks the words distractedly, but my heart clings to that hope. “You’re bringing me to Coltello,” I repeat.
“Don’t get any big ideas,” he says, side-eying me. “You won’t be able to do a thing to save her. She’ll be dead the minute Coltello gets to her.”
My hands squeeze around my knees. I feel like I’m going to pass out.How much time do we have?
“Where is Coltello?” I ask urgently. “Where are you bringing me?”
“Well, I’m not bringing you to whereheis, that’s for sure.” Dad clicks his tongue in annoyance, “since he makes sure no one knows his whereabouts. Not even those most loyal to him. He’s very careful about that, because it’s his only protection. He wouldn’t stand a chance if he faced off against Devil head-on. He’s not strong enough for the moment. Still, if he hadn’t taken so goddamn long to move his ass last time, when his crew brought her to that cave, the bloodbath wouldn’t have happened. Aurora Moretti would be dead, and I’d be his righthand man bynow. Now, I have to start the fucking process all over again. Find the girl, kidnap her, bring her to some designated place that it will probably take him two fucking days to get to or whatever… fucking repetitive bullshit.”
He swears, but I allow myself a little glimmer of hope.
Two days.
Maybe we’ll get to Piper before Coltello does. Maybe there’s still something I can do to save her. I sit up a little straighter in my seat.
“Where are we going?” I ask cautiously. “Back to Astley?”
“Fuck no.” Dad lets out a colorless laugh. “Idaho. We’re going to fucking Idaho. Can you fucking believe it? What the fuck is there even to do in fuckingIdaho?”
“I’ve heard it’s scenic,” I mutter.
My lips twist into the tiniest of smirks as I repeat the word Logan had used to describe our road trip to Oregon. Somehow, I’m feeling a little less desperate. My weakness may have prevented me from killing Dad, but it’s a good thing after all. He’s bringing me to where Piper is. Now, I just need to focus on making sure we get there before Coltello somehow.
I tense with resolve, but startle when Josh suddenly speaks.
“Uhm… Mr. Nelson?”
I was so focused on what Dad was saying that I hadn’t noticed him sitting up. He’s staring at Dad in a somewhat unfocused way.
