Page 5 of Shadow's Surrender
“I live here.”
“You can’t go inside.”
“I’m pretty sure my mom’s worried about me ’cause I’m late.”
“I’m going to say it again—you can’t go inside. Call her.”
A smile spread across Shadow’s face. Why the hell hadn’t he thought of that? Of course, he’d call his mom and explain that he was stuck outside and would be upstairs when the cops let everyone back into the building. How fucking simple.
As he took out his phone he saw a man in a dark suit walk toward him.
“What’s your name?” the man asked.
Shadow stopped tapping in the number and glanced up. “Steve Basson.”
The man glanced at the doorway to the building then back to him. “Do you got something saying that?”
“My school ID.” Shadow fished it out of his wallet and handed it to the man. “Who are you anyway?”
The man studied the card then handed it back to Shadow. “I’m Detective McCue.” He motioned to one of the police vehicles. “Can you go over there for a minute?”
“No. I have to call my mother. She’s going to be real worried why I’m not home.” He forced himself to focus on tapping in the last four digits of his mom’s phone number. Panic skittered up and down his spine, but he ignored it and held the phone to his ear.
Detective McCue reached out and gripped Shadow’s wrist. “I need to talk to you, kid.”
“About what?” Blood rushed to his temples, echoing in his ears, burning through his veins.
“Just come on over.”
“No. I have to talk to my mother.”
The chattering of the crowd subsided and Shadow looked over his shoulder and saw the paramedics wheeling a stretcher toward the ambulance. A body lay on it, covered with a white sheet.
“Take it to my office,” a medium-built man said. The medics nodded and lifted the stretcher into the ambulance.
Shadow bolted toward the vehicle, but the detective’s hands gripped his shoulders, pulling him back.
“Lemme go! I need to get to my mother.” The fear he’d been trying to ignore overwhelmed him as cold sweat poured down his face. He turned around and stared at McCue. “Who’s on that stretcher? Why do you wanna talk to me? Why didn’t my mom call me to see where I was? Why!”
The detective’s grip loosened and he fixed his gaze on Shadow. “It’s never easy, but I’m going to tell it to you straight—your mother was murdered. I’m sorry, kid. I’m so fucking sorry to have to tell you. Do you have anyone you can call?”
The sirens, the flashing lights, the cop’s voice grew dimmer, and he clutched his middle as pain clawed him from the inside out, his anguished cry catching on the breeze and carrying it away.
Ma’s dead. Murdered. Fuck! Ma …!
In that moment, Shadow vowed that no matter how long it took, he would find the bastard who did this and make him pay.
