Criss Cross

Chapter 95

Someone shook my shoulder, and I came groggily awake into a splitting headache. I opened my eyes, and saw I was in my attic office chair, head down on the Edgerton files, an empty pint bottle of Jack Daniel’s beside me.

Bree was crouched next to me, looking concerned.

“Why didn’t you use the bed?”

I gazed at her stupidly and then remembered. “I thought I’d find something up here, and then I realized I couldn’t control this. M. Any of it. So I put my forehead on my fists, and I prayed for him. I must have fallen asleep.”

“I imagine you did, with that much whiskey in you.”

“For the first time in my life, I felt so afraid, I needed to black out.”

“Oh, baby,” she said, throwing her arms around me.

We hugged in silence for many minutes, and in the love I felt from her and gave to her, I began to come more alert.

When we broke apart, Bree kissed me and then gave me a disgusted look. “Your breath could stop a train, and you look even worse.”

“Thanks.”

“Anytime. Sampson said he sent you a Wickr message?”

I nodded and gestured to a piece of paper on the desk where I’d written it down because I’d forgotten to take a screenshot of it. But the words were indelible in my mind:

Bree read it.

As she did, my hungover mind keyed on the words now suffers, unable to control the things my imagination threw at me. Then the sins of his father.

What were my supposed sins? What had I done to M to make him come after me like this for so many years? I couldn’t...

“I think we need to get Nana Mama and Jannie out of here,” Bree said.

I looked at her dumbly.

“He said that the rest of the family would be gasping and clawing for air, Alex,” she said. “We have to get them somewhere safe.”

I didn’t reply, just read the last sentence again. Soon the rest of the family will be like him and Granny, gasping and clawing for air.

Something there bothered me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

“Alex,” Bree said again.

And then I got what was bothering me, and held up my hand, seeing all the implications of that last sentence. I cleared my throat. “I agree. I’ll call Ned, ask him if you, Jannie, and Nana Mama can use his beach house. It’ll be safe. You can work from there.”

“What about you?”

“I want to stay close to home.”

Bree gazed at me, puzzled, but said, “Okay, I’ll get them packing.”