Page 13 of Bound By Blood
But some meantmore….
Caro lifted thecopper dragon with a green ball clasped in its mouth. She tucked itunder her arm and moved on to a mermaid with a green ball in herhands.
Green was hermom’s favorite color. Her dad always told her mom he thought of herwhile making these, so he put a little extra love into them. Shewould come back for the ones with the purple balls, as they werethe ones he said he made while thinking of her.
She had some athome, but she would take these with her too. Cleaning up the bloodcouldn’t be the only part of this day. That would be toodepressing, and her life had become entirely too sad lately.
As she cradled thestatues against her chest, her gaze wandered back to the swingingdoor. The hair on her nape rose as she recalled what happened backthere.
Why were herparents killed?
And then she knew,she hadn’t only come here for some of the statues and to clean thesmall pools of blood marking the floor. Whoever did this tore herparents apart, but not much blood stained the floor.
That was becausethey consumed it. Caro shivered and set the statues down beforestalking over to the cash register. She hit a button, and thedrawer popped open.
All the money wasgone, not because someone stole it, but because the police took itand the receipts to ensure nothing was stolen. She’d taken it backand had them destroy any mention of it in their reports.
No money wasmissing. The killers hadn’t come here to rob them and then beenscared off by something else.
She closed thedrawer and lifted her head to survey the store. She knew this storebetter than the back of her hand;nothingwas missing.
This wasn’t arobbery, and maybe it was some random act of violence by a group ofSavages, butwhy? What they did to her parents was soincredibly vicious she couldn’t imagine anyone doing it for shitsand giggles.
Despite herresolve not to cry, tears pooled in her eyes and slid down hercheeks. She wiped them away before they dripped off her chin andonto the ground.
She’d spent thepast two weeks in tears; when Caro left, she could go home andreturn to grieving, but she couldn’t turn in to a sobbing messwhile in this place. If she did, she’d never find any answers.
She was about todo the unthinkable and return to the back room when a knock soundedon the door. Caro jumped at the unexpected noise and spun towardthe front door as the glass rattled.
CHAPTER 11
Standing outsidewas a tall, broad figure, but she couldn’t make out any details asthe sun was at his back, silhouetting him. And call her sexist, butshe assumed by the build that it was a man out there.
It could be apoliceman, but she doubted it. She spoke with them yesterday tomake sure it was okay for her to return to the store.
They may notremember the real events, but it was still a crime scene, and shecouldn’t have them barging in here to drag her away. She was tiredof changing memories and making up stories.
They’d assured herthey’d finished processing the scene and she could return—yippeefor her.
Another knocksounded on the door, but this one was louder and more demanding.She scowled at the imposing figure; she wasnotin the moodfor dickhead tourists.
“Go away! We’reclosed!” she called to them.
“I’m looking forCharles,” a deep, gravelly, obviously irritated voice calledback.
“He’s nothere.”
“Do you know how Ican get in touch with him?”
“Do you have aladder to Heaven?”
Caro had no ideawhy she said it; the guy might be a friend of her dad’s, and shejust coldly revealed her father was dead, but she didn’t care. Fuckhim, fuck this place, fuckeverything.
There was a pausebefore the man muttered, “Shit.”
Unexpected rageshot through her. She’d told whoever this asshole was that herfather was dead, and his only response was “shit.”
She was startingto lose faith in all living things.
