Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Oh, I know, but she keeps up with these people. She still does investigative work from time to time, and she’s got a lot of contacts.”
“Good. So do you think it would be okay if we went to your place after dinner? Your parents’ place, I mean?”
“I don’t see why not. Unless they’re out tonight.”
“Would you mind checking?”
“Not at all.” Ava pulls her phone out of her purse.
And I realize I’m still holding her grandfather’s ring. I hand it back to her.
She takes it, and then— “Mom? Hey, are you and Dad home?”
Pause.
“Brendan and I are at dinner in Grand Junction, and he was wondering if we could stop by on our way back to town.”
Pause.
“Why not?”
Pause.
“Mom, you’re acting really strange.”
Pause.
Ava huffs. “Fine. We won’t stop by.” She ends the call.
“Is something the matter?” I ask. “We’re not stopping by tonight?”
She shoves her phone back into her purse. “Oh, we’re definitely stopping by tonight. My mom was acting so strange on the phone. Just like last night.”
“What do you mean, strange?”
“She’s good, my mom. I mean, she was a detective. She’s good at masking her emotions, but I’m also good at seeing them anyway. Maybe it’s because I’m an old soul.”
“Maybe…”
She lifts her wrist and jingles some gold bracelets at me. “My mom gave me these. They belonged to her mother. Who apparently was also an old soul. Suffice it to say, my mom is not acting like herself. And quite frankly, I can’t think of one other time in my short life when I’ve asked my parents to come to their house and they said no. Whether they’re home or not, I’m always welcome there.”
“And tonight they said you’re not welcome?”
“No, my mom would never say that. She just said tonight wasn’t a good night. My father isn’t feeling very well.”
“Maybe she thinks he’s coming down with something and she doesn’t want you to catch it.”
“That’s crap. Our house is huge. If my father has germs, he can stay far away from me. We’re definitely going over there, Brendan. Definitely.”
“All right, if you say so.” I take a bite of my tuna tartare. It’s delicious, but my appetite has gone on hiatus.
Something’s rotten.
And I don’t think it has anything to do with the future lawmakers club, or Jack Murphy, or the clinic where he wants us to get our blood tested.
I think it’s much closer to home than that.
Chapter Six
Ava
“Are you sure about this?” Brendan asks me as we begin the drive up the long winding road to my parents’ house.
“I’m very sure,” I say. “Something’s going on, and I’m done being left in the dark.”
“All right. I suppose we may as well tell your father that his mother is missing tonight too.”
“Yes, we will tell him that. And we will ask my mother about the clinic in Grand Junction where you and your dad are going to get your blood tested. We’ll do all of that. But the first thing we’re going to figure out is why my mother told us not to come over tonight, and why she wouldn’t let me stay last night either. I don’t think for a minute that it’s because my father’s not feeling good. I just saw him last night. He’s fine. He’s never been sick a day in his life except for that panic attack.”
Brendan simply nods as we continue the drive.
I wish I were home. I’d draw a card. Perhaps three cards. Hell, perhaps I’d even do the whole Celtic cross spread—which I almost never use—because right now I need guidance.
Or do I?
Already I know my mother is lying to me.
Perhaps I don’t need the cards after all.
Perhaps all I need is my own brain. My own intuition. My own emotion.
After all…the cards are simply a tool to access those parts of me.
Still, once I’m back at my place, I’ll draw some cards.
For now, I’ll rely on what’s inside me. Ava Steel. Ava Steel has always been Ava Steel. I may not have known my true genetics, but that doesn’t change who I’ve always been.
Brendan pulls up next to one of my parents’ cars and stops the engine. He turns to me. “Ready when you are.”
I clutch the door handle. “Let’s roll.”
We walk to the door, and Brendan raises his hand to knock, but I whisk it away.
“We’re going in.”
“What if the door is locked?”
“I have a key. I know all the codes.”
“All right.”
I open the door, which turns out to be unlocked anyway. No dogs greet us, so they must be outside.
“Mom?” I call.
No reply.
“Dad? Michaela?”
“Is Michaela still here?”
I nod. “She has a room on the other side of the house. She lives here.”
“Michaela?” I yell again.
But no one comes.
No Mom, no Dad, no Michaela.
“Come with me,” I say to Brendan.
“Okay.”
Brendan follows as we walk through the foyer, glancing into the living room and dining room, and then to the back of the house where the kitchen and family room are.