Page 21 of Mayhem and Minnie

“They won’t take me in,” she admits, almost ashamed.

“Why the hell not?” I burst out.

She fidgets with her hands. Her eyes roam wildly around as she prepares a reply.

“I have a…record,” she stammers. “Aggravated assault. I… I tried to go to a few, but they kicked me out after they found out about the assault. They said they didn’t want any trouble.”

“You? Assault?” I ask in disbelief.

Who did this five-foot-nothing little girl assault?

She forces a smile.

“I got arrested shortly after I turned eighteen. I recently got released.”

Not many things surprise me. But Minnie just managed to shock the hell out of me.

Seeing my expression, she hurries to add, “It’s not something one says to someone they’ve just met, no?” She laughs nervously. “It’s fine if you want to leave.”

I tilt my head to the side and study her, suddenly seeing her with new eyes.

“Who was it?”

“Huh?”

“Who did you assault?”

The waitress shows up with our beverages, giving Minnie the opportunity to evade the question. She certainly doesn’t look very pleased about it.

“Everything all right?” the waitress asks with a fake smile.

“Fine,” I bark out, though my gaze is still on Minnie.

She fidgets in her seat.

The waitress mutters something, but I don’t really care about what she has to say. Not now. Not when I’ve found the most interesting thing in…forever. God, I almost forgot what it was like to feel the thrill of the chase. This time I might not be physically chasing someone, but I’m chasing information. That will have to do.

As the waitress leaves, Minnie looks left and right—no doubt thinking of how to change the subject.

Someone more delicate would let this slide. Someone with more empathy would see her distress and aim to make it better. But I’m neither. I need to know.

“Who did you assault, Minnie?” I ask again, more punctuated.

Give it to me, Minnie.

Tell me all your secrets.

“My foster father,” she whispers.

My eyes flash at her.

“He hurt you?” I continue my interrogation.

“He…tried to,” she replies uneasily.

“What did you do? How did you hurt him?”

Now we’re getting to the best part. If I can’t have my thirst for blood assuaged, then at least I can live vicariously through someone else. Who would have thought, though, that it would be through a mere slip of a girl who served time for it?

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