CHAPTER TEN
WHENIOPENEDthe front door, I caught my mom mid-step by the sofa, a bowl of popcorn in one hand and the“My Other Life is a Romance Novel”water bottle I got her for Christmas in her other. She was dressed in old scrubs—her version of pajamas. Settling in for the night?
Yeah, no. “Time for that walk, Mom!”
Her gaze slid over to the show paused on the screen. She’d clearly had other plans. But she put down the bowl and bottle. “Okaaay.”
My strategy was to get her away from the house while I considered what Dane had said and whether or not I was going to trust him. Did I even have a choice?
“It’s cold,” I told her. “Grab a sweater.” I pulled on my old ASU sweatshirt. “How about we drive to Saguaro Park? It’s nicer there.” And if I decided not to trust him, the park gave me the option of driving away with her—far, far away—without having to come home first.
“Maybe just a turn around the block,” she said. “It’s late, and I’m tired.”
Translation: she wanted to finish her show.
“Ireallyneed to talk to you,” I told her. “I’ve been going through…some things.” I pulled out the big guns. “And there’s this boy, who I really liked, but he didn’t treat me right.” Those last five words were the most potent entrapping spell in my human arsenal. It felt bad to do Brayden like that, but he was dead, and I had to protect my mom.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry!” She hobbled over and slipped on her nurse’s clogs.
Gotcha. “So let’s get you moving,” I said, “and I’ll tell you all about it.”
My car’s gas light was on, but six blocks, a left at the high school, and we were there. Saguaro City Park had a big, covered playground nestled on a bed of woodchips, a splash pad that ran the eight months of Arizona summer, and tennis courts, lights blaring against the dark sky. The wide sidewalks were mostly clear, with only a dog walker here and there. And me and my mom, shuffling along.
She took my arm in hers. “This is nice.”
With a quick glance over my shoulder—no one tailing us—I gave her my best fake smile. “We should do it more often. Sorry I’ve been so out of it.”
“Oh, hun, I knew something was going on, but you wouldn’t talk to me.”
A guy in sweats by the tennis courts straightened from his duffle bag as we passed, watching us.
My mom was still young, for an old person. And she looked good. No gray in her black hair. Her only wrinkles were those backward worry pinches between her eyebrows. She had curves, and when she wasn’t wearing her scrubs, men looked at her. When she wore heels and a good bra, they hit on her. Called her my sister.
Was the tennis guy a gun-toting killer, like the one who’d iced Brayden? Or just here to work on his serve and momentarily distracted by the hot ladies strolling by?
I felt in my pocket for the glove. Still there.
My mom squeezed my arm. “You said something about a boy? What’s his name? Where did you meet him?”
How long would it take Dane to finish up with local law enforcement and then come find me?
“No idea,” I muttered, taking a path away from the bright lights of the tennis courts.
“You don’t know his name? Or where you met him?”
We headed toward the playground. “Oh. Um, online. Brayden plays video games like me.”
Playedvideo games. Never would again.
Up ahead, the pirate ship jungle gym cast funny shadows, its underbelly almost completely dark. If I were gaming, I’d think something evil was hiding in there. Shadow trolls or stone goblins ready to ax me the moment I got close.
My pulse kicked up again, but I couldn’t exactly arm myself.
Don’t experiment,Dane had said.Reallymade me want to experiment.
Like, what if Danewasa bad guy and I was actually waiting around for him to show up and kill me? Dumb way to die. If I could figure out the hand-blaster thing, then at least I could defend myself and my mom against him.
“So you and he have the same interests?”
