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Chapter One
“Miss Reilly, we wanted to inform you that in two days your brother Torin will be let out on parole. And we have some reason to believe that after he leaves San Augustin’s maximum-security prison, he may try to contact you.”
I felt numb, like I must not have heard the parole officer correctly.
My fiancé Andrew stiffened beside me. “Why would he try to contact Laoise?” he asked. “They weren’t close.”
The parole officer’s name was Vick, and he was a tough-looking man in his 50s with a set mouth and buzzed haircut. He slid a sideways glance over at me. “We don’t know that he will,” he said. “But it’s a reasonable guess, and better safe than sorry. She’s the only family he’s ever mentioned in prison.”
Yes, I would be, I thought.
I felt Andrew take my hand in his.
Andrew was a therapist in our northern California town. He was a friendly man and his encouraging firmness usually got results. He was around 6 feet tall. Lean, outdoorsy, with neat honey blonde hair and a kind face with green eyes that crinkled up when he smiled. Everyone but his mother called him Drew.
“I’d almost forgotten you have a brother, Laoise,” he said.
I nodded along, which was stupid because I hadn’t forgotten.
As if I ever could.
“I haven’t seen him since I was 16 years old,” I added, feeling like I needed to say something. My lips felt strangely frozen, like they couldn’t move properly.
“And you never visited him in prison, right?” Drew asked.
“He told me not to,” I replied.
Vick cocked his head, looking at me, considering me. Was he thinking it was strange that I had never visited my brother?
“Why?” Drew pressed gently.
“He didn’t say,” I replied, looking down at my hands, and twirling my engagement ring around my finger. It was a light peacock blue sapphire ring, unique and vintage. At first I hadn’t like it, thinking it was too big and gaudy, but it was totally me. Drew had done a phenomenal job picking it out and had been very generous.
Vick waited patiently.
“Torin didn’t say,” I repeated myself. “He just told me not to visit him. So I didn’t.”
I still felt Vick’s eyes on me. “You didn’t ask him why?”
I forced myself to meet the parole officer’s eyes. “No. He just said not to.”
Vick’s face looked confused. He clearly didn’t understand. I remembered belatedly that probably other sisters didn’t unquestionably obey their brothers and I tried to look normal, even though I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.
I remembered the last day of Torin’s trial vividly, the memories flashing back like sharp shards of glass. My brother had looked down at me before they dragged him away, his hands cuffed in front of him.
“Do not come visit me, Lele,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “I’ll come find you when I’m out.”
So I hadn’t. Because I had always done what my brother said.
Vick the parole officer hesitated as he looked at me.
“What are you not telling us?” Drew asked, his voice authoritative. “If Laoise is in danger, I need to know.”
“I’m not in danger,” I said sharply. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Your brother is a violent murderer,” Drew replied, raising his eyebrows. “I need to know why he might come looking for you.”
I said nothing.
