Comic book.
Fudge. Me.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” my dad blurts. “That’s the missing story!”
“What’s it say? Are there any more?” Naomi adds.
I tug on the thin flap of wallpaper and slowly peel it away from the wall. There’s about a half inch more of art, then the back side of the wallpaper becomes blank with patches of yellow from the old, rancid glue. With a final rip, I hop from the chair. I’m trying to skim the comic—which is only a single panel—but the way my hands are shaking, it’s like being eighteen and trying to read a pregnancy test.
“What’s it say?!” Naomi insists.
“Hold on!” I shoot back, staring down at the panel.
“Yowzie?” my dad reads over my shoulder. But I’m still staring at the book.
Before I can even read the rest, I look at the edges of the panel—from the weight of the small sheet—there’s even more art that’s stuck together underneath this one. It’s hiding other ripped-up pieces.
“Jerry glued them all together,” I blurt. “H-He— I think I’ve got a full page of—”
I look up at Naomi, whose back is to the bedroom door. But as she smiles at the news, a pale shadow appears in the open door behind her. Someone’s here.
If Ellis—
No. This isn’t Ellis.
In a blur, Serena whips around the corner, her yellow blue eyes constricted into two black slits. She’s crouched like a baseball player, thanks especially to the fact that she’s armed with a broom, which she clutches down by the neck of the bristles, already swinging away.
“Serena, don’t!” I call out.
But I see the way she’s looking at Naomi’s gun.
Plowing into the room, Serena aims at Naomi’s head and swings the broom like a Major League slugger. The problem is, she’s not one. There’s a dull thud at the impact. Naomi bends forward, grabbing the back of her head.
“Ow! That— Ow!” Naomi shouts. “You friggin’ nuts!?”
Lifting her gun, Naomi turns to face Serena. And that’s why she doesn’t see my father behind her.
Already flying, my dad grabs the hammer-size gold trophy that’s sitting on a nearby TV. But the darkness in his eyes . . . even when he killed my— I’ve never seen him like this.
“Dad?” I call out in a whisper that surprises even me.
Naomi wheels around, off balance as she follows my voice. It’s just— Just like before. There I am. The perfect distraction.
Time, once again, slows to a crawl.
My father clutches the golden man at the top of the track meet trophy and swings the heavy marble base toward the back of Naomi’s head.
I’m not a child anymore. I run forward. But that doesn’t mean I’m fast enough.
Midstep, my father turns toward me. But as our eyes lock— No. My father is long gone. The rage on this man’s face . . . I haven’t seen him since I was little. I keep forgetting. I don’t know this man at all.
Naomi never sees it coming.
When I was nine years old, my father committed the worst accident of his life. But today, as my dad swings the trophy as hard as he can—this is no accident.
Naomi turns, and the base of the trophy is inches from her right temple.
“Naomi!”
The sound is unforgettable.
Like a child’s punching bag, Naomi topples sideways, crumpling to the floor as a burst of blood sprays from her head. Her gun slides across the wood floor, under the bed.
“What’re you doing!?” I shout.
“She put us in cuffs, Cal!” my dad shoots back.
“She also let us out!”
“Not for long!”
“Hold on,” Serena says, confused. “She wasn’t attacking you?”
“Why would she—?”
“She had a gun,” Serena insists.
“And handcuffs. And a badge!” I shout back. “That’s what happens when you’re a federal agent!”
“She was about to shoot Serena!” my dad yells.
“No, she— How can you possibly think that?”
“A federal—? Oh my,” Serena whispers. “Is she breathing?”
“I think— Yeah,” I say, kneeling down near Naomi. “She’s breathing,”
“You sure she’s breathing?” Serena asks, her eyes already filled with tears.
“She’s breathing,” I repeat, turning back to Serena. “Where the hell were you, anyway?”
“Following. From the museum. I saw her force you out, so I thought she was with Ellis or that she was—I don’t know—Ellis’s partner or something. Then when I got here and saw that you were parked around back and—”
“Wait. What?”
“In back. Isn’t that her blue Malibu parked behind the house?”
“We parked up the block. Away from here,” I point out.
“Then whose rental car is that behind the—?” With her mouth gaping open, Serena cuts herself off.
I look at her, then my dad. No one says a word. And the house suddenly doesn’t seem as quiet as it was a minute ago.
“We need to get out of here,” I announce as my dad already starts running for the door.
I shove the wallpaper comic in my backpack and, still kneeling, scoop my arm behind Naomi’s neck. “What’re you doing?” my dad asks.
“What? I should leave her here?”
“The moment she’s up, she’ll arrest us!”
“I can’t leave her!” I tell him.
My dad is silent. From the look on his face, he has no such problem—and as he darts from the room, I’m once again reminded what a stranger he is to me.
“I—I didn’t know who she was. I wouldn’t do that,” Serena insists, and as she kneels down across from me, she reaches over Naomi’s unconscious body and grips my wrist. Her touch is clammy and unsure, but as she holds on, she clenches my wrist until I finally look up at her. “Please—I need to tell you this, Cal. This— I’m not like this. I’d never hurt anyone. I was just—”
“Serena, can we not—?”
“I just wanted to protect you,” she blurts, her voice stronger than ever.
I freeze at the words—the same words I say to every client every day. But for once— I know she’s talking about my dad, too, but— It’s been a long time since someone was protecting me.
“Did I say something wrong?” she asks, reading my expression.
I shake my head, staring down at her hand on my wrist.
“Cal, move!” my dad calls from the stairs.
Without another word, Serena helps me lift Naomi fireman style over my shoulder. Naomi’s heavier than she looks, and she looks pretty heavy. I hear the comic getting crushed in my backpack. “Cal, we need to go.”
Serena’s right about that. But as I burst out onto the second-floor landing, I notice that the back bedroom door on my left is now open. It was closed before. For a split second, I peer inside and spot two bodies lying on the bed, their necks bent awkwardly. Mr. and Mrs. Johnsel. Both dead.
“Oh, God,” Serena whimpers, the tears coming fast. But if Ellis is still in the house—
“Go!” I shout, shoving the hips of Naomi’s unconscious body into Serena’s back. “Hurry!”
The wooden stairs rumble and squeal as we circle down at full speed. Carrying Naomi, I’m off balance, but not by much. As for Serena, she’s the one who needs the missing handrails, looking like she’s about to pass out. She’s too nice for this.