cka

smell of antiseptic doing little to mask the

ered and raw from the heat an

ng in the chair

was just watching me

e said, his voice devoid of warm

y and scratching. "I have broken ribs. I h

sound sharp like a whip crack.

you I w

paid him to fa

Evans. Or maybe she had just threatened his f

idn'

n, holding her arm delicately against

pered, her lower lip

is chair in a seco

Hailie lied, her eyes tearing up on command. "She sh

wled out of that sauna on my ha

eyes was terrifying. It wasn't jus

e said, his voice

n't even

wrapped his fingers around the plastic tub

rk, violent red agai

rve comfort," h

b, pl

t.

ses who stared but dared not intervene. He didn't sign d

the Family Ceme

Chicago drizzle that felt lik

me out o

" he o

was buried. The father who died in th

l," h

the gr

the back o

nes tore through my thin hospital pa

ather for disrespecting his memory. Apol

watching. She looked like a widow g

couldn't tell the difference. "I'm sorry I loved you. I'm s

," Cale

he wet earth until my voice

ft me

rove away, leaving m

in for an hour, s

y, I s

s were

e caretaker, an old man who knew th

sked. "Should I c

oice hollow. "I ne

r w

emergency money I had stitched into my gown bef

me,"

esit

from the Reids. In the pauper's sec

papers with a

cision I had truly

sn't just buying a grave.