Page 78 of Prodigal Son

“Agent Adkins!” Morgan snapped, and she turned back to him, old habit snapping her head around. That was his captain’s voice. “Sit down.”

She did, plopping onto the end of the sofa beside Evan, and to her great shame, tears burned her eyes.

“I said I would explain,” Morgan said, “and I intend to. Give me that chance. This is bigger than all of us. I’m not proud of the things I’ve done, but they were things I had to do.”

“Story of our lives, huh?” Devin asked.

Twenty-One

Of the nine half-siblings, Cassandra was the only one who boasted the last name Green. Cass had a theory that all of the nine women her father had impregnated had at one point or other fashioned themselves “the one”: the one who’d finally convinced Devin to settle down for good.

Cass figured that bothered Phillip the worst. He was the firstborn – the first to be abandoned. By the time Cass came along, she had eight siblings to tell her exactly what kind of louse her father was, and to fill that father gap with overwhelming brother and sister love.

So, she was Cassandra Green, because her poor mom thought Devin might stay. Had thought maybe having a daughter with his own last name would matter somehow. Cass didn’t care. She enjoyed Devin’s visits, rare and brief as they were, but she didn’t miss him, or cry over him, or portray herself as a poor abandoned kid. She tried, every day, to model herself after Raven, who didn’t give a damn that she was essentially fatherless, and whose mother hated Devin in a cold, uncaring sort of way. She filled her days with other pursuits – worthwhile ones – and she didn’t worry about the things she didn’t have.

She left school on foot, scrolling through her phone, checking up on all the Twitter and Tumblr activity she’d missed. She was an artist. An aspiring artist? She didn’t know. She favored pastels and charcoal, real paper, and she had social media accounts where she shared her work. Not to brag, but, she had a lot of followers. A lot for a nobody just doing her own thing in her bedroom with the cheap supplies she could buy on Amazon. She was pretty proud.

“Cass,” her friend Emily said, snagging her arm.

She halted and glanced up, to find they’d come to a crosswalk. “Oh. Oops.”

“You were just gonna step out into the street!” Emily said with a laugh.

“Damn.” Cass laughed and tucked her phone away. It was a cloudy, humid day, and traffic was its usual clog. She needed to pay better attention. Businesspeople crowded around them, waiting for the light, some on their phones, some scowling moodily at traffic.

Her hand twitched, wanting to reach for her own iPhone again. That had been a gift from Dad. She couldn’t post if she didn’t have a proper device, and Mum couldn’t afford the iPhone X that Devin had offered her. Cass had hated accepting it, but. She wanted to put her art out there. To…

Squeal of brakes. A van sliding into the intersection. Horns blaring.

“What–” Emily started.

A van screeched to a halt at the curb, and its side door slid open. Men in black poured out, wearing masks.

“Oh, shit,” Cass said. She knew. Somehow,she knew. She did grab her phone then.

Fumbled it. Dropped it.

Rough hands gripped her arms. She kicked, and fought, but she was grabbed.

A cloth pressed to her nose and mouth.

“Cass!” Emily shouted.

But everything went dark.

~*~

“Albert–” Raven started, and her phone rang.

She looked down and saw Cassandra’s number. She sent the call to voicemail and rounded on her brother. “I want to know what this asshole knows. Why was I targeted.”

Albie nodded, his expression sympathetic. “You know why,” he said, gently. “You’re our sister. And–”

She sliced a hand through the air. “And this can’t be about you!” she shouted.

Dogs crowded around her, most looking away, out of respect.

Her brothers sent her sympathetic looks.

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