“For what?”
“Shit. Fuck!” Mum curses as she swerves the car around.
I look up through the rain-soaked windshield as she claxons for a long second.
“Move!” She shrieks and I watch in horror as she tries to swivel past a dog in the middle of the streets.
When she turns the car around the dirt side, the first thing I see is a man.
It’s funny how such moments happen in a slow-motion even though it’s a mere fraction of a second.
The man has his hands apart, his eyes are closed and his head is tipped back as the rain beats down on him.
He looks so… at peace.
Mum hits the brakes, but the car doesn’t stop. I don’t get a chance to scream as something thuds against the car and we topple over.
* * *
I’m thrust back to the present, gasping for air. I’m on my knees on the concrete floor, clutching my head between shaky hands.
“Astrid?” A hand clutches my arm.
I look up slowly. Dad looks down at me with a furrowed expression.
“Are you okay? What happened?” He pulls me to my feet and I hold onto his arm with all my might as if he’s my safety line.
“D-Dad,” I cry, tears streaming down my cheeks. “Please tell me the other person who died during the accident isn’t James King. Please.”
His lips thin in a line and it’s all the answer I need before the world goes black.
My mother killed Levi’s father.
48
Levi
There’s no warning when everything comes crashing down.
* * *
Astrid doesn’t show up in the locker room. Either she’s playing hard to get or something is wrong.
I sure as fuck hoped for the first option.
I call and she doesn’t pick up. I ask Daniel about her whereabouts and he says she met her father and must’ve gone home with him.
She answers none of my texts or calls.
My mood blackens when she doesn’t show up for school the next day or the next.
She’s been ghosting me for three whole fucking days.
If this is payback about those two weeks from hell, then I’ll take it. But Astrid isn’t as black-hearted as me. Sure, she’s a complete nut job when she wants to be, but she’s not vindictive.
Unless… something really wrong is going on.
After practice, I’m in the car when my phone beeps with a text from Uncle’s security company.