Page 97 of The Design of Goodbye
Mr. Strom lifted him to his feet by the collar of his shirt. “Go to your room.”
He shoved Liam hard in the back, and Liam fell into the kitchen counter. He gripped the counter, swaying, head hanging low.
“GO!”
Go, Liam, go.
But Liam couldn’t get his bearings, and Mr. Strom, furious, dragged him out of the kitchen.
A door slammed.
I ran.
chapter thirty-four
I should’ve known.
I should haveknown.
How had I not noticed? I thought back to that awful bruise Liam had a few weeks ago and cried harder.
What should Ido?
Should I call my dad? Taylor?
No. I couldn’t betray Liam’s trust. I knew what I needed to do. I needed to get out of my car. I needed to walk back up Liam’s porch and ring the doorbell. I needed to make sure he was okay. And then...
I needed to tell him what I’d seen.
It took me a long time to summon enough courage to leave my car. When I finally rang the doorbell, Mr. Strom answered. He was so normal, like he could’ve been one of my dad’s employees. It didn’t make sense he could look so ordinary but beat his kid.
He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, towering over me. “You selling something?”
He wassointimidating that words stuck in my throat.
“Do you speak?”
“No.”
He laughed. “No?”
My cheeks felt hot despite the chilly air. “I meant no,” I explained, voice wavering. “I’m not selling anything.”
“Then, what’d you want?”
“Is Liam home?” His face hardened, and I added hastily, “He has something of mine.”
“He stealing from you?”
“No!” I felt sick at the thought of getting Liam into more trouble. “No, of course not.” I paused, rapidly trying to come up with a plausible excuse. “He took notes in school for me today. He wasn’t at work, and I need them.”
“Get them Monday.”
“Our test is Monday.”
“Not my problem.”
He placed a hand on the door handle. I was terrified he was going to slam the door in my face.
