Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
“You think you know,” he mutters.
“What did you say?” I punch him again.
His face is so swollen I can barely make out his features. “You think this ends with me.” He spits. “You haven’t even scratched the surface.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” He doesn’t respond. I punch him again and again and again. “Talk!”
“F-Fu—”
“Tell me!”
“Ask R-Ralph—”
I shake him, trying to get him to open his eyes, but they won’t open. “Don’t let him die.” I slap Felix’s face, trying to get him to wake up. I shake his shoulders, and his head slumps forward.
Lorenzo steps up and places his hand at his throat. “Too late.”
“Fuck.”
“Tobias?” Skye asks sleepily.
Tucked in my bed is my favorite place for her. Skye looks so small, blankets and pillows overpowering her presence in the bed. Her hair fans across my pillow, the dark locks a stark contrast to the crisp white sheets.
“Yeah,” I reply. She sits up at my voice and looks at me, wiping the sleep from her eyes. “Sorry to wake you.”
“What’s going on?”
I don’t know how to say this to her. How to tell her that Felix is dead, but there might be someone else involved. I don’t know how to tell her it could be her father.
I haven’t already gone to Reddington out of respect for Skye, but by tomorrow, I need to find out what Felix meant.
“I think there is something you need to know,” I say simply.
Now she looks more awake. “About what?”
I pace, and while I do, I see the familiar, concerned look on her face as her brows knit together.
I move to sit next to Skye on the bed.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, her voice so small and frightened, so unlike the girl I know. She looks at me, and for a moment, all I can see is the little girl in the closet, fighting back her fear. But as soon as I see it, it fades away, replaced by the amazingly strong and beautiful woman she has become. “You can talk to me, Tobias.”
“I spoke with Felix,” I say, keeping to the truth but not telling her anything that can be used against her in the future.
Her eyes widen, and I know she understands.
“Earlier, he mentioned that someone else was involved. That we only touched the tip of the iceberg.”
“What do you mean? Like another gang?”
I shake my head.
“Why do you look like that? What aren’t you saying?”
“He said we didn’t scratch the surface,” I say, my voice falling to a whisper.
“And that means what?”
I reach out and take her hand. “I don’t know, but someone else is pulling the strings.” I pause, not knowing how to say this. “He told me to ask Ralph. That’s your father’s name, right?” And also, the cop on duty that day, but I don’t mention that.
“No.” She shakes her head back and forth. “No, that makes no sense. He doesn’t know anything.” Skye is obviously distressed.
“It might not be what we think.”
Her head moves back and forth.
“He might not be involved, but—”
“He never wants to talk,” she mutters to herself.
“We need to talk to him.”
“No.”
“No? Skye, this isn’t about something dumb. Felix mentioned him by name.”
“It’s not that,” she says. “I’m just worried he won’t talk.” She looks down at her hands, and I can see a tear slip down her cheek. “And what if he does? What if he . . . ? No. He couldn’t have been involved. Could he?”
“You need to talk to him,” I tell her.
“I’m not sure what to say,” Skye confesses, her voice cracking. “I mean, I know what I should say, but I also want to make sure . . . I want him to know I love him, but—”
“I know.”
“He raised me. He adopted me. What if he’s . . . ? He’s still my dad.” She wipes a tear from her cheek. “I can’t do this.”
“I know.” I pull her in close. “But we will never feel settled until we figure out what Felix meant.”
Her head bobs up and down. “I’m scared of what my father will say.” She looks up at me for a moment, then buries her head into my chest. I put my arm around her.
“Everything will be okay.”
“And if it’s not?”
“Then we will cross that bridge. We will get through it together.”
I can feel the way she trembles. Whether from the cold or my words, I’m not sure.
“You really need to talk to your father.”
“I will,” she promises. “I know. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
51
Skye
The next morning comes before I’m ready. I don’t want to face my father. I don’t want to know the truth. I’m not ready to deal with the consequences of that truth. What if everything I know about this man is a lie?
I didn’t sleep last night; I tossed and turned the whole time, wondering what he would say. Is he a crooked cop? Did he take bribes? Did he murder my parents? Or is this a case of mistaken identity? Maybe when Felix said Ralph, he didn’t mean my father—my adoptive father.