Page 101 of Fury

Four in the afternoon.

Still nothing.

Nine at night.

Not a word.

I hadn’t eaten all day. My head swam.

I stayed glued to my sofa, my phone at my side.

I clicked a lamp on.

Ten thirty-five pm.

I closed my eyes.

The phone rang. I fumbled with it as if I’d never handled a cell phone before. “Yes? Hello?”

“Ash, it’s me.”

My chest caved. “Oh. Hey, Tania.”

“What are you doing? Come meet me at Arena!” she practically shouted over loud music and a noisy crowd. She was at a bar. Her latest boyfriend loved sports bars.

“What?”

“Come out. I need girl power, and I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m waiting for someone.”

“Oh. Oh! Good! Sorry. I’ll talk to you whenever. Call me, okay? Have fun!”

Fun. I tugged my hands through my hair, nausea swirled in my gut. Something had to be wrong. Something.

I got up and filled a tall glass with water, gulping in one long swallow. I had to wait. Just sit tight and wait. It wasn’t the first time he’d been delayed or a no show, and it wouldn’t be the last. I grabbed the last half of a chocolate bar I’d stashed in my small fridge, kicked off my shoes, and nestled into the corner of my sofa, flipping channels on the remote control.

Dumbass high school comedy. News. Beer commercial. “Mad About You” rerun. Car commercial. Toni Braxton music video. Epilator infomercial.

News it is.At least I’d catch the weather for tonight and tomorrow. Be prepared.

I bit into the last piece of chocolate. Tasteless, too sweet.

The cops had arrested a man who’d broken into several apartments in the same neighborhood. The reporter’s face morphed into a rigid frown. “In related news, the skeletal remains found earlier this month outside of DeKalb have been formally identified by investigators as those of Rose Shohito.”

I froze.

A photograph of a young Rose appeared on the screen stamped with her name in big block letters.

“At the time of her disappearance the victim was an exotic dancer and a groupie of the notorious Smoking Guns Motorcycle Club. Ms. Shohito also had a five year old son. After her disappearance, the boy’s care was taken over by the state, his name changed for his protection. The cause of Ms. Shohito’s death appears to be repeated blows to the skull...”

Rose, Rose, what did they do to you?

Maybe she’d tried to escape, to get back to her son, to Motor, and they’d caught her and…

---