Read Online Blood Ties by Victoria Rice - Free Book Online Page A

elderly gentleman sauntered in, portly, bald, and dressed to the hilt, complete with a tip of a white handkerchief peeking out of his breast pocket. She blew me a kiss and told me to take care, then hung up.
    I rang Jules back but she didn’t answer. I started flipping through my emails – junk, delete, junk delete, delete delete. Oh look, three from John – delete, delete, delete. He was my ex-never-was-a-boyfriend from home. He’d been the captain of the track team and his dad was a deacon in my family’s church. His and my parents had tried to get us together. John, well, he’d been trying to fix us up on his own. He had done everything but ask me to marry him, without even a date.
    Jen burst in. “Okay, okay I’m here. What happened?”
    “Try knocking next time. I could have been prancing around naked.” I put my laptop down and slouched into the couch. She sat across from me and leaned forward.
    She was breathing hard. I bet she’d run all the way up from the parking lot.
    “Nothing. We just did the small talk thing, you know, where he grew up, where I grew up.” I got up and went into the kitchen. She followed me. I pulled out a couple beers and gave her one. No Canadian moose piss. I liked the good stuff, Michelob.
    She unscrewed the top. “Did he give you the look … you know that look?”
    To Jen, the look meant the slow, come hither friendly look that guys subtly gave to girls they were interested in, without appearing too interested.
    “No.” I glared at her. “How could you even think that? It would make working with him completely uncomfortable. He’s my boss and besides, they have rules about fraternization between faculty and students.”
    “My God, you are hilarious! I’d jump on him like a horny toad.”
    “I’m sure you would,” I replied dryly.
    She filled me in on the ordeal at the mechanic shop as we walked out onto the balcony. Night had fallen. Only the sound of the crickets, cicadas, and Jen’s voice disturbed the dead silence. A soft breeze, full of the fragrance of evergreens and sea floated over my skin. The moon hung suspended in a sea of stars. I was suddenly struck with a thread of loneliness. I slipped into comforting thoughts, wondering if Michel could see the same stars. If only –
     
     
    ***
     
     
    I was awakened by a loud commotion outside. It was a chorus of terrified screams. I ran to my window and peeked out. The moonlight and an occasional flash of a torch illuminated men and women running – screaming. Terrified, I pulled back from the window and ran to my door.
    Father rushed in. The faint light coming in through the window illuminated his fearful eyes. A shock went through me. He whispered, “Come quick child, you need to hide, be very quiet.” He pulled me away from the door. “Stay until your mother or I come back.” He looked hard into my face and shook me. “Promise me, Alisé. Promise me you will hide until either your mother or I come for you. Only your mother and I, do you hear me!” There was a hard note of desperation in his voice.
    My eyes filled with tears and I nodded. “Yes Papa, I promise. What is happening? Why are they screaming?”
    He covered my lips with his fingers and shook his head, then kissed my forehead and shoved me under my bed. He left quickly, closing the door behind him. I lay there huddled on the floor in the small space, crying silently, dressed only in my light night shift, shivering in the heat of the summer from the horrible sounds coming from outside.
    I heard the door to the shop kicked open. There were two pistol shots, then a low rumble of laughter. In horror, I clamped both of my hands over my mouth at the sound of my parent’s screams. They seemed to go on forever, and then were suddenly cut short.
    Heavy footsteps sounded on the wooden stairs.
    The door opened. I held my breath. I heard, and then saw a pair of leather boots enter the room and stop a few feet from where I hid. The boots turned as if to