Page 110 of Indigo Sky

So, I pushed off the car and hurried inside. “Hey, Donny, I actually have a question for you.”

Startled, Donny turned from his task of refilling the packets of instant coffee and tea bags near the electric kettle. He cleared his throat, his eyes on my face, then said, “Y-yeah, sure. What’s up? Sorry, I, um … I was somewhere else … in here.” He tapped his temple.

“Oh, no problem, um …” I pulled out my phone and scrolled through some pictures until I found one I had taken with Kate. I tried not to react, tried not to acknowledge the pinching in my chest, when I turned the screen toward him. “Do you know her?”

He glanced at the picture, then nodded casually. “Yeah, sure. That’s Kathleen—or, I guess, Kate. She prefers Kate now. But yeah. Why?”

“Have you ever seen Nate with her?”

His eyes lingered on the picture. He sniffled a little, like he had a stuffy nose, then seemed to reluctantly look away with a look of distaste on his face.

“What?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Her dad was just … a real asshole to my dad after … well, after his wife slept with my dad—”

“Can you blame him?” I asked, seeing red on Howard’s behalf.

“Listen, I’m not here to take sides on that. It was a long time ago, and after that, she and I …” He shook his head. “Anyway, I don’t know who Nate deals with. It’s not my job to babysit him. What is all this about?”

“Just wondering,” I muttered, pocketing my phone and glancing over my shoulder toward the parking lot.

Nate still wasn’t here.

“Is Kathleen in trouble or something?”

“Why would you think she’s in trouble?” I asked, turning back to Donny.

“She was always getting into trouble. Just like her mom,” he replied without much reaction. “But it’s been forever since I’ve even heard about her, so what the hell do I know?”

***

I left Roy’s and debated between going home for a quick shower and something to eat or going back to Nate’s with the hope that he was home from Crystal’s. I didn’t know where she lived, didn’t even know her real name to look up her address, but even if I did, I wasn’t sure I’d show up at her house. The last thing I wanted to do was make a scene at her front door, especially if her son was around.

I glanced at the time.

It was almost nine. I hadn’t eaten since dinner last night, and I hadn’t slept in well over twenty-four hours. I needed food, and more than that, I needed rest.

I can stop by Nate’s on the way home, I thought with resignation.

I didn’t want to sleep until all of this shit was taken care of, but I wasn’t any good if I was exhausted.

So, I drove to Nate’s once again, and as luck would have it, his truck was in the lot.

“Showtime,” I muttered, flexing my hands before getting out of the car.

Nate had just unlocked the door and was about to step inside when I reached the top of the stairs. He turned to face me, but before he got the chance to react or say anything, I shoved my weight against the door and pushed inside. My hands were at the collar of his shirt, my glare boring a hole through him as I shoved him against the wall of an apartment I hardly recognized.

“Rev, whoa, whoa! Dude!” The wind was knocked out of him as his back hit the wall. “What the hell, man?! Wha—"

“You didn’t tell me!” I roared as I pulled my fist back.

My hand made contact with his mouth, his tooth cutting my knuckle. Blood dripped from his split lip, and he cursed and took a swing, connecting with my cheekbone. Stinging pain ripped through my face, but I didn’t let go.

“You knew who she fucking was! We’d broken into her house, and you didn’ttell me!”

I swung again, landing a blow to his nose. His hands gave up the fight to press to his face, blood leaking between his fingers.

“Shit! I think you fuckin’ broke my nose, asshole!”

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