Page 201 of The Reluctant Hero

I clear my throat and hit accept. No matter how I prepare myself my voice comes out dispassionate.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Oh, my baby. My precious girl. We heard. How are you doing?” She asks me in a sad tone. She even sniffles.

“Great,” I say flatly.

There’s a pause and a few whispers between my parents farther away from the phone.

“So, we aren’t playing sad? That’s ok?” Mom asks with rising hope.

“It’s fine,” I can’t help chuckling.

“Yes!Ding fucking dong, the dick is dead!” She screams at full volume.

“That’s a bit much, dear,” Dad tries to interrupt, but he sounds more like he’s cheering her on.

“When’s the funeral? I’ll start packing,” Mom talks over him gleefully.

A cold chill rolls down my spine so hard I shudder and hunch my shoulders.

“How did you find out?” I ask cautiously.

“Oh, that friend of his was looking for you and told us,” Mom’s voice doesn’t change from a happy tone.

“Which friend?” My voice goes flat.

They’re calling my parents to find me. It’s a tiny step toward going for a visit. Or they’ll catch my parents during the supposed funeral. Fuck.

“Karter?” Mom asks Dad in confusion.

“Yeah, I think so,” Dad seems to notice that my tone isn’t as ecstatic as it should be.

There’s no way Jakowlski called them. He died last night, and they would have been calling me nonstop as soon as they heard Blake was dead.

“This morning?” I swallow hard.

“Yes,” Mom says belligerently. It makes my anger at the situation amp up until I’m grinding my teeth.

“Neither of you are coming here. Go on a vacation,” I demand on a low hiss.

“Excuse me? Watch your tone, Amanda Jane,” Mom snaps in a haughty tone. “I do what I want.”

I forgot that the codes Dad and I made up in case of emergency calls were not mom-approved. She doesn’t get the vacation code forget the fuck away from there. Dad will. If it hasn’t been so long that he’s forgotten.

The phone gets yanked out of my hand, leaving me holding air. My lips thin as I slowly turn to see Ace, Cade, Mikael, and Jake standing in a line behind me. Mikael is the phone thief this time.

He’s about to regret that with a vengeance.

He taps the button to put it on speaker and holds it closer to his face. A height I’d have to hop around to reach. His mouth opens to make some kind of demand.

If he thinks I’m going to save him from whatever he’s about to hear, he’s mistaken. The fucker deserves it. I cross my arms over my chest and raise a brow.

Mom’s voice screams out of the phone, stopping whatever he was about to say. It sounds like she’s already full-speed downhill with her tirade. The volume has Mikael rearing back with surprise. Everyone looks shocked at the enraged woman Mikael summoned with the tap of a button.

“- with a grenade launcher! I will walk down the streets of that cesspit of a town butt-naked with a flame thrower and a smile. His office! Any place that gave that moronic motherfucker araiseneeds to be napalmed. Andyouare going to give me an address to that building so I can get it done, young lady! Anyone with the last nameBlakeis on the chopping block!”

“Now, Suzanne,” my Dad trails off in the least helpful, comforting tone ever.

---