As I reached the stairs, I caught a glimpse of the den. There, adults lounged out on the couches and smoked cigars. The air was thick with smoke, making it hard to make out exactly who was in there.
But I’d recognize my father’s booming voice anywhere, regalling the room with some fantastic tale of board rooms and intrigue. And the General’s hardy laugh, a cigar between his lips. I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes.
Until I saw Mrs. Tierney laid out on the couch, her head in the lap of some douchebag with a Rolex. Her newest boyfriend I was sure of it.
Kiera. Where’s Kiera?
My face scrunched as I peered around the first floor for her. I knew she wasn’t down here, escaping upstairs for some quiet.
Poor girl had been completely left behind after Brennan committed suicide, her mother more interested in another golden goose than being a parent. I could see Kiera’s longing for him, how desperate she was to take a ride on his bike, to hear his laugh.
I felt it too. Far more of a father to me than my dad could ever hope to be. More present too.
Most of the guests here knew better than to bring their kids — knowing it wouldn’t be long before whiskey turned to coke and coke turned to… something darker. Something even I hid from.
But Maura was happy to send Kier upstairs, letting her play with my secondhand dolls. Even though we both knew she had far outgrown dolls now at twelve.
I tried to leave her a book in her room whenever I could. The last thing I wanted was for her to come downstairs, to see what the “adults” were getting up to while she was left alone.
Wandering upstairs, I was happy to hear the obnoxiously loud Jazz music fade. The musicians were undoubtedly talented, but these parties had ruined the sound for me entirely. Far preferring the silence in my room to the drunk laughter.
“Kier, you up here?” I called down the hall for her, wondering if she’d taken a different room tonight. She was a spitfire and unpredictable in most ways. More than anything, I knew she’d give all the boys hell when she got old enough.
Never be tamed, that one.
I hope she never is.
I poked my head into each open door, giving light knocks to the closed ones until I was entering the South Wing.
It was quiet. Too quiet. Kiera usually played some playlist mix while she read.
And between the crickets outside and occasional intrusive laugh from downstairs, there was the low rumble of a man’s voice.
Something’s wrong. Very wrong.
Whether I liked to acknowledge it or not, my father’s friends were not good people. The drink offers made that very clear to me very young, something my mother had warned me about before she…
My throat tightened as I moved down the hall faster, quieting my steps as I listened closely.
At the doorway, I paused, pressing my ear to the wood.
A familiar voice, Keith’s, sounded from inside. “Shh. Don’t worry, sweetie. You’re all mine now.”
Everything in my body froze. And then there was the sound of a belt buckle, enough to jolt me out of the daze I’d been stuck in.
Without bothering with the knob, I threw my shoulder into the door and burst it open.
The world turned red, only shapes in my vision now. A tall man, his pants around his ankles.
Except for her. I saw her clearly. Quiet tears streaming down her cheeks as confusion wracked her brain.
As Keith turned around, I grabbed his shirt and threw him to the ground. The fabric around his ankle was a help, tripping him and bringing him down. I clutched the cotton of his dress shirt in my hands, using it to keep him close as I brought my other hand down on his face.
My fist went numb as the sound of splitting flesh filled my ears.
Kiera’s cries faded as my entire being went into eliminating this threat.
I wasn’t sure how many times I hit him, how many knuckles I would be breaking. Pressing my knee into his crotch, his screams went quiet after a while.
