Page 10 of Lethal Weakness

I let it loose before I fully considered the ramifications. Just like the night I snuck into my neighbor’s home without my mask, and found little Avery staring up at me from her side of the bed…

“Are you da neighbor?” Her little voice whispered.

I nodded slowly.

“What’s your name?”

“Jack,” the admission came out before I could stop it.

“Isn’t it bedtime, Mr. Jack?”

“It is. Goodnight, Avery.”

I told her my real name as if she was holding me at gunpoint. It could have been a costly mistake.

Where is her damn mother?

But instead of her mother appearing, another party guest does.

Great, someone else’s problem.

“Hey, pretty girl. What are you doing out here alone?” The man says to her as he rounds the pool to her location. They’re so close to me, but they have no idea I’m here in the shadows.

“The water.” She motions to the pool innocently.

“I see that. Do you swim?”

She nods. “Wiff floaties.”

“That’s good. What kind of bathing suit do you have?”

A buzzing starts deep in my ears.

“Pink and sparkles like a mermaid.”

“I bet that looks really pretty on you.”

My previously lax shoulders raise rigidly with tension.

This is not my problem. Not my problem.

“My mommy got it for me.”

“Do you ever swim with no bathing suit?” He asks slyly, bending to his knees until he’s face-to-face with her.

“No, that’s silly.” She giggles, and I have to work harder to hide the sounds of my breathing.

“I think it would be a lot of fun. Do you like to have fun?”

“Yes.”

“I bet if you took your dress off and jumped in, you would look like a mermaid,” he whispers.

“Really?” She asks with so much innocence; anger twists deep in my chest.

“And, I’d be right here, ready to jump in and save you.” His fingers raise, hovering over Avery’s blonde hair, and my boot lifts from the ground involuntarily.

But Linden Scott comes bounding down the steps to the pool deck without a clue of what just transpired, and I fall back into my statuesque place in the shadows.