Read Online In the Blood by Sara Hantz - Free Book Online
Authors: Sara Hantz
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Teen & Young Adult, teen, entangled publishing, Violence, Social & Family Issues, Physical & Emotional Abuse, ember, Sara Hantz
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might not be eighteen, but I’m the one holding this family together. If they knew the state Mom’s in most of the time, they wouldn’t bother.
“What is it?” Mom asks.
“We’ve had an off the record chat with your husband’s lawyer. Your husband has implied that he might be willing to change his plea if Jed will visit him.”
My stomach plummets to the floor, and I swallow hard. What the fuck’s he playing at?
“No,” I snap. “He’s going to be found guilty anyway. I won’t be blackmailed into going to see him.”
I can’t believe Dad would resort to tactics like that. I’m not his puppet. Just because I went to court doesn’t mean he can force me to talk to him. How could I, knowing all those things he’s done?
“It’s more complicated than that,” Spalding replies.
Yeah, why doesn’t that surprise me? Everything Dad did was complicated. Like whenever we went on holiday the car had to be packed in a certain way. If it wasn’t just so, he’d empty the car and start again. And as for his CD collection, it was catalogued alphabetically, chronologically, and by genre. I just accepted it as normal. And, for him, it was. I understand, because that’s how I am with my stuff, too. But that’s beside the point.
“How?” I ask.
“He’s implied that he’ll tell us where some other bodies are hidden if you do see him.”
Other children? He killed other children and now he’s bargaining with me. What a fucking asswipe.
“Mom?” I plead, glancing across at her deadpan face.
I can’t think straight, my head’s a mass of whirring thoughts. Just once, Mom, help me. Please.
“I don’t know. It’s up to you,” she finally says, with a small shrug.
How can she leave me to decide something like this? Surely she must have an opinion. Suddenly, it’s like all the fight has gone out of me. What an idiot I am, thinking that she’ll step up to the plate when something difficult happens. That sort of thing only happens in movies. And we’re sure as hell not in one of those.
“How long do I have to decide?” I ask Spalding.
“We’d like to go this afternoon, if you’re willing. It’s your decision, but we strongly urge you to agree. If there are other children buried out there, we want to find them. For their families.”
Chapter Nineteen
The police leave, and Mom disappears back upstairs without even talking any more about it.
I check to make sure Amy’s still okay and head to the garage. My bolt hole. It’s where I go to clear my head and work on the classic car left to me by my grandfather in his will. My most treasured possession, a 1960, dark red metallic Buick.
Leaning against the car, I draw in some deep breaths. It feels like there’s this huge weight on my shoulders, and the pressure bearing down on me is intense. Of course, in my head, I know I have to go and see him. Those other families deserve to find out about their children.
But… BUT… My heart tells me different. To ask me to sit across from that man. My dad. The monster. Who’s worse than an animal. To ask me to do that, I just don’t know whether I physically can. It was okay when I was just thinking about speaking to him to find out why he did it, but now that it’s actually got to happen… That’s a whole new ball game.
I pull my cell from my pocket and text Summer. The one person in this world I can talk to. And yet all the time I debate with myself about putting some distance between us. To save her the embarrassment of being associated with me.
Meet me in the garage.
In less than a minute, I hear her light footsteps as she runs up the path and into the side door leading to the garage. My breath catches in the back of my throat as she comes into view.
“Hey,” she says, the bright smile on her face freezing as she catches sight of me. “What’s wrong?”
My heart leaps when I see the concern on her face. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for things to be different, to see if there’s any
“What is it?” Mom asks.
“We’ve had an off the record chat with your husband’s lawyer. Your husband has implied that he might be willing to change his plea if Jed will visit him.”
My stomach plummets to the floor, and I swallow hard. What the fuck’s he playing at?
“No,” I snap. “He’s going to be found guilty anyway. I won’t be blackmailed into going to see him.”
I can’t believe Dad would resort to tactics like that. I’m not his puppet. Just because I went to court doesn’t mean he can force me to talk to him. How could I, knowing all those things he’s done?
“It’s more complicated than that,” Spalding replies.
Yeah, why doesn’t that surprise me? Everything Dad did was complicated. Like whenever we went on holiday the car had to be packed in a certain way. If it wasn’t just so, he’d empty the car and start again. And as for his CD collection, it was catalogued alphabetically, chronologically, and by genre. I just accepted it as normal. And, for him, it was. I understand, because that’s how I am with my stuff, too. But that’s beside the point.
“How?” I ask.
“He’s implied that he’ll tell us where some other bodies are hidden if you do see him.”
Other children? He killed other children and now he’s bargaining with me. What a fucking asswipe.
“Mom?” I plead, glancing across at her deadpan face.
I can’t think straight, my head’s a mass of whirring thoughts. Just once, Mom, help me. Please.
“I don’t know. It’s up to you,” she finally says, with a small shrug.
How can she leave me to decide something like this? Surely she must have an opinion. Suddenly, it’s like all the fight has gone out of me. What an idiot I am, thinking that she’ll step up to the plate when something difficult happens. That sort of thing only happens in movies. And we’re sure as hell not in one of those.
“How long do I have to decide?” I ask Spalding.
“We’d like to go this afternoon, if you’re willing. It’s your decision, but we strongly urge you to agree. If there are other children buried out there, we want to find them. For their families.”
Chapter Nineteen
The police leave, and Mom disappears back upstairs without even talking any more about it.
I check to make sure Amy’s still okay and head to the garage. My bolt hole. It’s where I go to clear my head and work on the classic car left to me by my grandfather in his will. My most treasured possession, a 1960, dark red metallic Buick.
Leaning against the car, I draw in some deep breaths. It feels like there’s this huge weight on my shoulders, and the pressure bearing down on me is intense. Of course, in my head, I know I have to go and see him. Those other families deserve to find out about their children.
But… BUT… My heart tells me different. To ask me to sit across from that man. My dad. The monster. Who’s worse than an animal. To ask me to do that, I just don’t know whether I physically can. It was okay when I was just thinking about speaking to him to find out why he did it, but now that it’s actually got to happen… That’s a whole new ball game.
I pull my cell from my pocket and text Summer. The one person in this world I can talk to. And yet all the time I debate with myself about putting some distance between us. To save her the embarrassment of being associated with me.
Meet me in the garage.
In less than a minute, I hear her light footsteps as she runs up the path and into the side door leading to the garage. My breath catches in the back of my throat as she comes into view.
“Hey,” she says, the bright smile on her face freezing as she catches sight of me. “What’s wrong?”
My heart leaps when I see the concern on her face. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for things to be different, to see if there’s any
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