me.”
“And I don’t?”
“You don’t even try.”
Mom flinched as if Jessie had slapped her. For a second she looked ready to cry. Her nostrils flared and the moment passed. “You’re right. I’m the worst mother that ever lived.”
“Are you listening to yourself?”
“Do I sound a little irrational? I can’t imagine why. Maybe it has something to do with the van parked in the living room of our home. Or the bullet holes and broken glass. Or the fact that we have to have a god damned escape tunnel and lug around rifles like some dysfunctional militia.”
Okay, so she finally made a good point. Didn’t change the facts. Like Mom had said to her at school—they were a part of this dark world now, like it or not. “Leaving Craig won’t change anything.”
“He’s dangerous.”
“But you love him.”
“Do I?”
Jessie couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “Are you serious?”
“Get your things, or we’ll leave them here.” Mom grabbed Jessie’s arm and tried to pull her to her feet.
Jessie yanked free and toppled backward in her chair. The back of her head smacked against the floor. Even though the floor was carpeted, she saw stars.
“Jess? Oh god.” Mom came around and tried to help Jessie up.
Jessie shook her off. “Get away from me.”
“It was an accident.”
Jessie rolled over and got to her feet. She stared at her mother, vision blurred by tears. Her face felt hot. The stale air in the room turned her stomach. It was their old life all over again, only worse. Mom shouting commands, never listening. After all they had been through, how could she go back to that?
She had nothing more to say. If she tried to talk she knew she would start crying and blubbering. Not going to happen. She pushed past Mom and strode for the door.
“Where are you going?”
Jessie stopped, tried to put together a sentence. Her constricting throat wouldn’t have let her speak anyway. She threw open the door and walked out. Kept walking even while her mother called after her. And when she heard Mom coming up behind her, she ran.
Chapter Sixteen
Lockman had fallen asleep the moment he took his seat on the plane, and woke up when the tires hit the runway at Detroit Metro Airport shortly after noon. While on assignment, sleep when you can, because you never know when you’ll get the chance. Only he wasn’t on an assignment. It felt like it, though. His heart had even taken on a faster, yet steady, rhythm. Each breath tasted different. His vision seemed twice as clear.
Instincts from years of training taking over, like a programmed machine.
He let most of the passengers file out of the plane before collecting his carry-on and exiting himself. He went straight to the rental desk and used the credentials he had made for his life with Kate and Jessie in Northern Illinois. They offered a Ford Focus. He said that would suit him fine.
Less than an hour later he was on his way downtown.
He arrived at the rundown apartment building around two-thirty. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since the bagel and coffee he bought at the airport before his flight. The short trip from O’Hare to Detroit Metro didn’t warrant an in-flight meal. Not even a bag of pretzels. Airlines had gotten cheap these days.
Car locked, he crossed the street and went inside the apartment building, took the stairs to the sixth floor. The hallway on this floor smelled like a fusion of apples and burnt dog hair. Lockman wrinkled his nose and tried not to imagine what could possibly make a stench like that. He reached apartment sixty-six where some joker had drawn a third six after the tarnished numbers on the door. He knocked. Only had to wait a couple seconds before Eliza answered the door.
“You again?” she asked, peering at him through her windowpane glasses that magnified her eyes. She stood about four foot and a few inches and her hips had to be at least half that wide. She still sported the page-boy
“And I don’t?”
“You don’t even try.”
Mom flinched as if Jessie had slapped her. For a second she looked ready to cry. Her nostrils flared and the moment passed. “You’re right. I’m the worst mother that ever lived.”
“Are you listening to yourself?”
“Do I sound a little irrational? I can’t imagine why. Maybe it has something to do with the van parked in the living room of our home. Or the bullet holes and broken glass. Or the fact that we have to have a god damned escape tunnel and lug around rifles like some dysfunctional militia.”
Okay, so she finally made a good point. Didn’t change the facts. Like Mom had said to her at school—they were a part of this dark world now, like it or not. “Leaving Craig won’t change anything.”
“He’s dangerous.”
“But you love him.”
“Do I?”
Jessie couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “Are you serious?”
“Get your things, or we’ll leave them here.” Mom grabbed Jessie’s arm and tried to pull her to her feet.
Jessie yanked free and toppled backward in her chair. The back of her head smacked against the floor. Even though the floor was carpeted, she saw stars.
“Jess? Oh god.” Mom came around and tried to help Jessie up.
Jessie shook her off. “Get away from me.”
“It was an accident.”
Jessie rolled over and got to her feet. She stared at her mother, vision blurred by tears. Her face felt hot. The stale air in the room turned her stomach. It was their old life all over again, only worse. Mom shouting commands, never listening. After all they had been through, how could she go back to that?
She had nothing more to say. If she tried to talk she knew she would start crying and blubbering. Not going to happen. She pushed past Mom and strode for the door.
“Where are you going?”
Jessie stopped, tried to put together a sentence. Her constricting throat wouldn’t have let her speak anyway. She threw open the door and walked out. Kept walking even while her mother called after her. And when she heard Mom coming up behind her, she ran.
Chapter Sixteen
Lockman had fallen asleep the moment he took his seat on the plane, and woke up when the tires hit the runway at Detroit Metro Airport shortly after noon. While on assignment, sleep when you can, because you never know when you’ll get the chance. Only he wasn’t on an assignment. It felt like it, though. His heart had even taken on a faster, yet steady, rhythm. Each breath tasted different. His vision seemed twice as clear.
Instincts from years of training taking over, like a programmed machine.
He let most of the passengers file out of the plane before collecting his carry-on and exiting himself. He went straight to the rental desk and used the credentials he had made for his life with Kate and Jessie in Northern Illinois. They offered a Ford Focus. He said that would suit him fine.
Less than an hour later he was on his way downtown.
He arrived at the rundown apartment building around two-thirty. His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since the bagel and coffee he bought at the airport before his flight. The short trip from O’Hare to Detroit Metro didn’t warrant an in-flight meal. Not even a bag of pretzels. Airlines had gotten cheap these days.
Car locked, he crossed the street and went inside the apartment building, took the stairs to the sixth floor. The hallway on this floor smelled like a fusion of apples and burnt dog hair. Lockman wrinkled his nose and tried not to imagine what could possibly make a stench like that. He reached apartment sixty-six where some joker had drawn a third six after the tarnished numbers on the door. He knocked. Only had to wait a couple seconds before Eliza answered the door.
“You again?” she asked, peering at him through her windowpane glasses that magnified her eyes. She stood about four foot and a few inches and her hips had to be at least half that wide. She still sported the page-boy
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