Page 60 of Deviant

His body immediately tenses at the sound of my voice calling him ‘Dad.’ It’s like the word has lost all its meaning to him, and if he had it his way, he’d never hear it come out of my mouth again.

“What?” he replies with that same arctic tone I’ve come to detest, not bothering to turn around to look at me.

“Never mind. Have a good day,” I mumble defeatedly.

Even though he hears the sadness in my voice, he doesn’t stick around to comfort me in any way, preferring to leave me to wallow in my guilt alone.

I rise from my seat and take my half-finished cereal bowl to the sink, watching my father approach the cruiser with Bobby at the wheel. Bobby waves at me from inside the car, but my father quickly blocks his view, preventing him from seeing me wave back. A few seconds later, they drive off into town while I remain stuck in this house with only my guilt-ridden memories to keep me company.

And boy, do they love to torment me.

Usually, I try to block them out, knowing that if I let them in, I won’t be able to fake that everything is peachy in my world.But ever since I found Nora’s little scribble on the margin of that ledger, I can’t seem to keep them at bay.

And now that the floodgates to my memories have been opened, the past keeps flushing in.

Especially the one memory that ended up costing me the two people I loved most in this world.

“Are you lost, Rowen?” Bobby teases when he sees me walking into the station. “I thought your dad was only coming tonight for the graveyard shift.”

“He is,” I quickly explain. “He just left his thermos here yesterday, and I need it if he wants to have a home-cooked meal tonight.”

“Good thinking. I’ve seen your dad live off of black coffee and little else more nights than I can count.” Bobby laughs.

“My point exactly. Coffee hardly constitutes a meal.” I force a smile. “Someone needs to look after him since he can’t be bothered with it.”

Bobby’s eyes soften at me before placing his hand on my shoulder.

“I hope that my little Brittany will be just as devoted to her old man as you are to yours when she grows up to be your age. Hank sure got lucky in the daughter department.” I continue to smile nervously, uncomfortable about lying to him when he’s all full of compliments today. “Well, I’ll leave you to it,” he says, tilting his head toward my father’s office. “Give me a shout if you need anything.”

“Will do,” I reply with a cheerful high-pitched squeak.

Tone it down, Roe. Or you’ll get caught for sure.

I wait for Bobby to return to his desk and make sure he’s occupied himself with something else before I head to my father’s office. Though I see my father’s thermos sitting pretty on his desk, I don’t go inside to grab it.

My father forgetting his thermos is nothing new. It’s the reason why I have three others at home whenever he forgets them at work. But that’s not why I’m here—Nora is.

I steal one last glance behind me to ensure that no one is paying attention to me before I slip down the narrow corridor leading to the evidence room.

My heart jackhammers in my chest as I grab the keychain I stole from my father and locate the key labeled ‘evidence room’. After working graveyard shifts all week, I found it surprisingly easy to steal his keys since he slept soundly throughout the entire endeavor. He’ll be out like a light until dinner time, so I’ll have plenty of time to do what I need to and slip his keychain back into his pocket without him being none the wiser.

Of course, if my father were to wake up and catch me in the act, I’d think he might have found it in his heart to forgive me for going through his stuff.

However, if he knew that my intention was to go into the evidence room to steal drugs, I doubt he’d be as forgiving.

But desperate times call for desperate measures.

I have to stop Nora before she does something she will regret.

At first, I thought about getting her drunk to the point of passing out, but then I quickly remembered why that wouldn’t work. Not only would Nora read right through my intention and realize what my end game was, but she could also drink me under the table. I’d pass out long before she ever would.

So, since alcohol was out, I had to come up with a more creative way to keep her from her objective. Some Rohypnol should do the trick of knocking her out and preventing her from going anywhere tonight.

Roofing my best friend definitely falls on the gray side of morality. If I had more time, I might have been able to thinkof another solution. Unfortunately for me, time is something I don’t have—hence the Rohypnol.

I use the key to open the door and step into the evidence room. My eyes and hands sweep across the various shelves inside, encountering items I would never have imagined being stored in plastic bags. Bloody clothes, guns, knives, and other weapons line the shelves, casting a sinister aura over the entire room.

But I don’t want a weapon.

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