e heated, urgent voices of the detectives. My face, or what was left of it, was

expression like stone. He was in his element.

flat. "Cause of death is asphyxiation, but not before signi

. Even these harden

site," the detective continued. "No witnesses, n

officer on this. Check missing persons reports for the entire

go, he was complaining about the inconvenience of it all. Now, he w

st mansion. The championship trophy Javon had won last season sat on the mantelpiece, polished and glea

. He was the star quarterback, the king of his high s

perfect smile. "Big game tomorrow.

l just hours before, melted. "Of course, sw

ack. "You're going to kill it

linting. He grabbed an apple from the

light, casual

nted. "Don't worry about

of the apple. "It's just... I wo

e concerned brother perfectly, all while knowing exac

owards Dante Gomez. The way he looked at me with such pure, unadulterated hatred. I had seen flash

m once, during a fight where he'd twisted my a

een furiou

eamed, her face contorted with rage. I was grounded for a mon

mother was examining my body again. Her gloved fin

ar, from when I was lost, from bef

noted to the medical examin

. I was twelve years old, thin and

d asked, her lip curl

he mark. For a second, I saw a flicker of som

the silent room

ly from a rough life. This girl... she was clearly

s gone. The wa

m me. "Let's focus

wouldn't see it. Because in her mind, her daughter Kelsie was safe, just being difficult