Page 138 of The Good Girl

“There are no weapons here. He took everything and then used Star to make me comply.”

“Everything’s a weapon with the right intent.”

I look around the sparsely decorated room and find nothing I can use, but when I look up, I spot the oak curtain pole, which looks exactly like the one we have back home. I push the bed until it’s under the window and reach up to unhook it. I unscrew the wide ends of the pole before I grab the curtains and yank hard until the pole slips out of the grip holding it up. I step back to avoid getting hit on the head and quickly slide the fabric from the pole.

“Yes,” I hiss, seeing it is the same––which means it’s not one pole, it’s two solid pieces that screw together in the middle. I quickly unscrew the two pieces as a voice calls up the stairs.

“If you don’t come down here now, I’ll set fire to the house and watch you all burn.” I can hear the anger in his voice, but it’s laced with pain. Good. There is more where that came from.

Once I have the pieces unscrewed, I have sections of wood a little longer than a baseball bat. It might not be the best weapon, but it’s better than nothing.

I turn to Citi, who is still holding her daughter. Gathering the curtain fabric, I hurry over to her and use the material to tie the kid to her. It’s not perfect, but at least it will leave Citi with free hands.

“Take this.” I hand her half the pole before stepping in front of her.

“You stay here unless I tell you to move. If he comes for you, give him hell. He’s an old man now, Citi, and you have a daughter who needs you to fight.”

She nods rapidly. I can see how weak she is. Lack of food and exercise have taken their toll on her. But she’s not a quitter, and a mother’s love has given birth to miracles before.

“You’re being very naughty. I’ll count down from five, and if you’re not down here by the time I get to one, someone’s going to die.”

“Fine by me.” I push all my fear down and let my anger blanket it. My sister and niece need me. There is no place for fear here.

I step out into the hallways and head to the stairs.

“Four.”

I make my way down them quietly, his counting working to my advantage because I can judge how close he is.

“Three.”

I make it to the second to last step and take a deep breath, gripping the pole like a bat.

“Two.”

Hurrying down the last step, I round the corner with the pole raised above my head. I skid to a halt when I find him standing in the kitchen with the knife still sticking out of his leg. In one of his hands is a gas can, in the other is a zippo.

“I’m so disappointed in your behavior.”

“That sounds like a you problem, you selfish fuck. You kidnapped my sister. You kept her all these fucking years when we all thought she was dead!” I yell.

“I love her,” he roars at me.

“She was just a little girl, and you raped her,” I whisper.

“She was always meant to be mine. I saw the way she looked at me, the same way you did. It was supposed to be both of you. A perfect set, but you’re fucking father kept you from me.”

I feel physically sick as all the what-ifs press down on me. “Alan Ellwick was––”

“Easy to point the finger at,” he cuts me off. “A few choice words to the right people, and everyone came running with their pitchforks. He was an old adversary of mine. Always trying to one-up me, but I got the last laugh, didn’t I?”

I tighten my grip on the pole, poised and ready to strike.

“I was going to come back for you, but your father wouldn’t let you out of his sight. In the end, I got a sick sort of pleasure out of messing with him. I spent some time inside, you know, before I moved to your street. It wasn’t for anything bad––fraud is barely a crime these days––but it did enable me to meet some interesting characters. Newton Helms, now he was fun to play with. Such a simple mind to manipulate. He was the first player in my game of ‘Guess who took Citlalli.’ I visited others over the years and got them to play, too. It was fun watching the police scratch their heads.”

“Why bother with the game at all? Nobody knew you had her. You were home free.”

“Because I could. Because it messed your mother up so bad she killed herself, and I got to watch from the sidelines as your father fell apart,” he smiles gleefully.

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