Page 14 of Zombie

Sarah nodded.

“We are going to take an aggressive approach against the infection so things do not escalate. I will also have you take some hydrocodone to help with the pain and swelling. You will be hooked up to the IV for the next several days. If you need me to change the location of the IV, I will.” I gave myself an internal slap on the back for giving Sarah only the bare minimum for her pain. I wanted her to suffer. I wanted her to be uncomfortable after everything she had done.

Sarah looked more relaxed as the meds started to filter into her body.

“What’s next?” I asked.

Sarah raised a hand to silence me. “Before we get to the fun, we need to go over some stuff. Did Daddy explain anything to you?”

I stood in front of her with my arms crossed over my chest and shook my head.

She pursed her lips in annoyance. “Well, that makes sense since Evelyn and her mobster boyfriend slaughtered him.”

I wanted to laugh at her skewed version of events. Was she so brainwashed that she couldn’t see the monster that Anthony Ricci truly was?

“Well, the original plan was to approach you before everything happened,” she started. “But before I go into any detail, I need to make sure you won’t go telling anyone anything.”

“My blood, and my word isn’t good enough?”

She looked at me deadpan. “I’m not stupid, Dante. I know that as soon as you leave here you will tell your little friends everything I say. So instead, I am going to give you some incentive so you don’t spill the tea.” Her jaw clenched as if she were frustrated until and a cruel smile spread on her face. She got up and held the IV bag above her head as she walked over to the side of the warehouse where a briefcase lay on the floor. She made quick work with one hand, grabbing something out of the briefcase.

An ominous feeling washed over me. I knew I wouldn’t like where this was going.

“No unfortunately, Dante, it’s not enough. I could drain your blood in its entirety and that still wouldn’t be enough for a blood oath.” She took something out of the briefcase.

Jesus, this girl was definitely teetering on the line of psychosis. I schooled my expression and raised a brow. “So, what would work for you?”

Sarah walked over to the table with a manila folder in hand. She tapped the edge to her temple. “Oh, there’s nothing that’s going to work in a traditional sense, but I do have something.” She paused before putting the folder on the top of the table. “Something to incentivize you not to say anything.” She put the IV bag back on the holder before standing across from me with the metal table in between us.

I stood stoic, not letting her see that I was getting nervous and regretting my decision to come here.

Sarah slid the folder toward me before starting to pace. “Go on, Dante, open it.”

I hesitated for a second then flipped it open. Confusion took over when I saw my ex-girlfriend Cassie walking down the street pushing a stroller, and then another photo of her holding what looked to be a two-year-old girl. The wheels began to churn in my head as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.

“So.” Sarah’s voice took me out of my trance and tore my attention away from the photos. “Do you remember, oh I don’t know, about three years ago, when you started dating a girl named Cassie Rodrigo?”

I was so confused. What did Cassie have to do with Ricci? Why was she being used as an incentive? We’d broken up amicably and I had nothing but platonic thoughts and feelings for her.

“What does Cassie have to do with this? We are no longer together and clearly, she’s had a child since the breakup,” I bit out.

When Cassie and I ended, we’d made an agreement that we would stay friends and keep in touch. But when I had reached out, she never responded. In fact, I hadn’t heard from her since a week or two after the breakup. I figured that she had changed her mind and just didn’t want me in her life and I wanted to respect that. But now seeing her photos, alarm bells were starting to ring in my head.

Sarah let out a dry laugh. “Oh, you fool!”

I narrowed my eyes at her trying to figure out what I’d said that was wrong.

“Did you ever consider that maybe she got pregnant and didn’t tell you?”

I looked back down at the photos. The resemblance between the child and me was uncanny. Dirty-blonde hair, blue eyes that were shaped like mine, and a facial structure like my own. My heart sunk into my stomach. She had a baby? She had our baby?

“How do I know this child is actually mine?”

Sarah pursed her lips before moving some of the pictures to a DNA completion sheet. “Thought you may ask that and that’s why before Daddy died, we did a DNA test with his blood and her blood and it was confirmed that he is the paternal grandfather. She is the one listed as Ryann Rodrigo.”

I looked at the evidence before me and wanted to punch something, kick something, anything to get this rage out. She was telling the truth. In front of me was evidence that Ryann Rodrigo was a relative match to Anthony Ricci. Confirming that she was also related to me.

“Now I can see the gears turning in your mind. Ever wonder why you couldn’t ever get in touch with her ever again?”