ducked into the kitchen.
Cassandra. Good. My grandmother, elbow-deep in flour, her gray hair pulled into a loose bun at the nape of her neck, gave me a warm smile. How was work?
Despite her little-old-lady appearance, Nonna ruled the entire family like a general directing her troops. Right now, I was the one drifting out of formation.
Work was work, I said. Not bad.
But not good, either? She narrowed her eyes.
If I didnt play this right, Id have ten job offers within the hour. Family took care of familyeven when family was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
Today was actually decent, I said, trying to sound cheerful. Someone left me a twelve-dollar tip.
And also , I added silently, a business card from the FBI .
Good, Nonna said. That is good. You had a good day.
Yeah, Nonna, I said, crossing the room to kiss her cheek, because I knew it would make her happy. It was a good day.
By the time everyone cleared out at nine, the card felt like lead in my pocket. I tried to help Nonna with the dishes, but she shooed me upstairs. In the quiet of my own room, I could feel the energy draining out of me, like air out of a slowly wilting balloon.
I sat down on my bed and then let myself fall backward. The old springs groaned with the impact, and I closed my eyes. My right hand found its way to my pocket, and I pulled out the card.
It was a joke. It had to be. That was why the pretty, country-club boy had felt off to me. That was why hed taken an interestto mock me.
But he didnt really seem the type .
I opened my eyes and looked at the card. This time, I let myself read it out loud. Special Agent Tanner Briggs. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A few hours in my pocket hadnt changed the text on the card. FBI? Seriously? Who was this guy trying to kid? Hed looked sixteen, seventeen, max.
Not like a special agent.
Just special . I couldnt push that thought down, and my eyes flitted reflexively toward the mirror on my wall. It was one of the great ironies of my life that Id inherited all of my mothers features, but none of the magic with which theyd come together on her face. Shed been beautiful. I was oddodd-looking, oddly quiet, always the odd one out.
Even after five years, I still couldnt think of my mother without thinking of the last time Id seen her, shooing me out of her dressing room, a wide smile on her face. Then I thought about coming back to the dressing room. About the bloodon the floor, on the walls, on the mirror. I hadnt been gone long. Id opened the door
Snap out of it, I told myself. I sat up and pushed my back up against the headboard, unable to quit thinking about the smell of blood and that moment of knowing it was my mothers and praying it wasnt.
What if that was what this was about? What if the card wasnt a joke? What if the FBI was looking into my mothers murder?
Its been five years , I told myself. But the case was still open. My mothers body had never been found. Based on the amount of blood, that was what the police had been looking for from the beginning.
A body.
I turned the business card over in my hands. On the back, there was a handwritten note.
Cassandra, it said, PLEASE CALL.
That was it. My name, and then the directive to call, in capital letters. No explanation. No nothing.
Below those words, someone else had scribbled a second set of instructions in small, sharp lettersbarely readable. I traced my finger over the letters and thought about the boy from the diner.
Maybe he wasnt the special agent.
So that makes him what? The messenger?
I didnt have an answer, but the words scrawled across the bottom of the card stood out to me, every bit as much as Special Agent Tanner Briggss PLEASE CALL .
If I were you, I wouldnt .
YOU
Youre good at waiting. Waiting for the right moment. Waiting for the right girl. You have her now, and still, youre waiting. Waiting for her to wake up. Waiting for her to open those eyes and see you.Waiting for her to scream .
And scream .
And scream .
And realize that no one can hear her but you .
You know how this will go, how shell be angry, then scared, then swear up and down that if you let her go, she wont tell a soul. Shell lie to you, and shell try to manipulate you, and youll have to show herthe way youve showed so many othershow that just wont do.
But not yet. Right now, shes still sleeping. Beautifulbut not as beautiful as she will be when youre done.
CHAPTER 3
I didnt realize I was holding my breath until someone picked up.
This is Briggs.
I couldnt pinpoint what was more disarmingthe fact that this Agent Briggs had apparently given me the number to his direct line or the way he answered the phone, like saying hello would have been a waste of breath.
Hello? As if he could read my mind, Special Agent Tanner Briggs spoke again. Anyone there?
This is Cassandra Hobbes, I said. Cassie.
Cassie. Something about the way Agent Briggs said my name made me think that hed known before Id said a single word that I didnt go by my full name. Im glad you called.