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“The point I’m trying to make, River Rayne”—she stuck out her tongue—“is friends tell each other these sorts of things. It’s like…I don’t know, a rule or something.”
“How was I supposed to know that?” I replied. “I’ve never had friends before. At least not real ones.”
“Well, now you do,” they said together.
“Do friends also tell each other when they’re being hurt?” I asked.
“Did he hurt you? I’ll fucking kill him,” River shouted. “Better yet, I’ll get Alec to do it. He can be a little scary.”
“No,” I assured them. “He’s never laid a hand on me in anger.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the bruises I’d seen on Quin. She had to know we were here for her whenever she was ready to talk.
“Nothing in particular. I just wanted you both to know that if someone ever hurt you, I’m here if you need me.”
“I’d help you bury the body,” Quin added.
“I’ll bring the shovel,” River quipped.
The three of us exploded into laughter, which only grew in volume when Quin fell off the couch. We ended up calling in an order for pizza, since River decided we needed food to soak up some of the alcohol flowing through our systems. I couldn’t have agreed more. So when the doorbell rang fifteen minutes later, I grabbed my wallet and opened the door. What I did not expect was to find Seth’s father standing in front of me, the smell of beer wafting off of him.
“You bitch,” he spat.
I tried to slam the door, but he catapulted his body through the opening before I had the chance. The girls shot to their feet, each taking an arm to pull us behind the sofa. It wasn’t much, but at least we had some space between ourselves and the crazy man who’d just forced his way into my apartment.
“You cost me my son.”
“Mr. Jacobs, I’m sure you’ll be able to get Seth back once you––”
“That’s not good enough,” he yelled. “He’s all I have left of her and you took him from me. So now, I’m going to take something from you.”
He started to move toward us. From out of nowhere, Quin produced a bottle of Fireball which she hurled in his direction, hitting him square in the shoulder.
“There’s more where that came from, asshole,” she goaded.
“You’re next, little girl,” he sneered, then refocused on me.
She took a step toward the kitchen, then another, her eyes focused on something. It took me a second to figure out what she saw and when I did, my only thoughts were of how horribly wrong it could all go. Still, at this point, it was our only option. No one was coming to our rescue. We would have to save ourselves.
“Martin.” I tried a more personal approach. “You said he’s all you have left of her. Do you mean your late wife?”
My plan of distracting him had the potential to completely backfire. However, at the mention of his wife, his shoulders slumped, so I continued on the same path.
“Can you tell me what happened to her?”
“She was sick for a long time, but our insurance didn’t cover some of the tests her doctor wanted to run.”
His eyes became unfocused as he spoke.
“Then one day she collapsed at work and was rushed to the hospital. Aneurysm. She died two days later.”
“I’m so sorry you went through such an awful thing,” I uttered.
“Me too,” River voiced.
“But, Mr. Jacobs,” I continued. “At some point you have to take responsibility for your own actions.”
