“What happened to your father?” he asks.
“What?”
“I’ve read the file, but I want you to tell me. What happened to your father after your mother died?”
“She didn’t die, Sammie. She was murdered. She was taken from me.”
“I know.”
“My father was distraught, so taken by grief he couldn’t see a life without her. He killed himself and left me alone. He didn’t think about what his death would do to me. He was selfish and just left me,” I explain.
“How?”
“What does it matter?”
“It matters. How did he kill himself, Poppy?” Sammie presses.
“He hung himself. Jaxson found him hanging from the rafters in an old barn.”
“Did he leave any notes? Tell anyone what he was thinking about doing?”
“No.” I looked everywhere for a note, any sign that he did at least spare me a thought, but I never found anything. I gave up and accepted the fact I wasn’t enough for him. “He loved my mother so much that a life without her was too much for him.”
“I get that, but I don’t understand how anyone could leave you, Poppy. You are enough,” Sammie says.
I shake my head. “I need you to leave.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Fine. I’ll leave.” I pick up my bag from the counter.
“I’ll follow you wherever you go,” Sammie calls out. He doesn’t move from where he’s standing in the middle of my small living room.
“Why? Why are you doing this to me?” I throw my hands in the air.
“I don’t know what happened to your mother, Poppy, but I’m going to find out the truth for you,” he says.
“Iknow what happened to her.”
“You were lied to.”
“Why would the police lie about one of their own, Sammie?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find that out too.”
“You really expect me to believe you? Just accept that you’re not covering for your family? Why?”
“I want you to believe me because you know I wouldn’t lie to you. I want you to believe in us, Poppy. Because whatever this is, it’s not going away just because you hide from me.”
“It will,” I tell him.
“It won’t,” he insists. “You know what? Don’t believe me. Believe the man himself. I’ll call my uncle and ask him now if he had anything to do with a cop’s death in Kestral Valley.”
“Because criminals admit to their crimes, Sammie, sure.” I roll my eyes.
“Tío E does. He doesn’t lie.” Sammie takes out his phone. “Just listen,” he says. A ringtone sounds out through the speaker before the call connects.
“Sammie J, any news?” an older man’s voice answers. Emmanuel Lopez.
