Page 78 of Bad Mother

He moved his phone flashlight over the rock hurriedly, looking for anything that stuck out or—

There.There it was. One word written near the bottom in black Sharpie. He did a quick sweep of the rock again to confirm that it was the only word written in black. Just like the number on that key Sienna had found inside the tennis ball and the name written on the coffee cup. The handwriting here looked the same, too, the word printed carefully:Renew! 4:2.

His breath was coming short now, his heart beating so rapidly he swore it was coming out of his chest. What the hell was he supposed to do with the wordrenewand the numbers next to it?

He did a quick Google search of the word. There was a medical spa he’d never heard of nor been a patient at with the wordrenewin its title, but that was about it. He opened a thesaurus site and looked up the word.Extend, prolong, reaffirm, revive.

He was at a loss.Fuck!He wanted to raise his face to the heavens and shout. What else did he have to go on?

4:2.Was that a Bible verse? He searched for it and found one option from Ephesians.Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Okay, that didn’t help. And there were too many other biblical options to wade through. No, it had to be something else. Something more logical and less time consuming.

Right?Or was thepointto keep him tied up in thousands of pages of Bible passages?

His mind reached, grabbing at possibilities.

Relax. You won’t help them if you don’t relax. Approach this as you used to approach cards. All in, but calm, controlled. It’s how you win.He took a moment to even his breathing.

The news website. It suddenly came to him. The one that had been left open on Mirabelle’s phone. But probably not by Mirabelle. He opened the news website on his own phone and scanned the frontpage.There!One of the bars at the top saidRenew Reno, and he clicked on it. There were several listed stories, mostly regarding revitalizing old buildings, cleaning up parks and other public areas, and the like. 4:2. It appeared that there were four pages on this subpage, and Gavin clicked to the last one and scrolled down to the second article.

It was a story about an old casino, the Casino Royale, being brought down by controlled demolition. The blast was scheduled for the following morning at 5:00 a.m. Gavin stood slowly, paused only a moment, and then ran for his car.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

The road that led to the old Casino Royale had been closed, construction vehicles parked here and there, large warning signs that demolition work was in progress. Gavin left his car in an empty parking lot across the way, ducked under the fencing, and jogged toward the dark structure.

Caution tape was strung between cones, blocking off the parking lot in front of the building, and Gavin could already see that the windows had been boarded up. For a moment he stood looking at the old casino. Was Sienna inside? His mother? Fear arced through him, the terror that his search was going to lead to their lifeless bodies, heads lolling on their bruised necks the same way Argus’s had.Argus.

Don’t think. Just act.

He forced his body to move, hurrying between objects he might use as cover if necessary, as he made his way around the large structure.

There was a service door at the back, halfway open, and surprised at the sight, Gavin shrank back, positioning his body behind the corner of the building before sticking his head out. He couldn’t see inside, only blackness beyond, but it was a way in.

And he knew that it’d been left open for him. Which meant he’d come to the right place.

Sienna.

Inside, a song began playing.

Doo-dah! Doo-dah!

What the hell?

He slipped through the door, turning his head—shit.A spotlight turned on, blinding him. Instinctively, he ducked, anticipating a hit of some kind as he struggled to see. His hand went to his holster, but a voice came from just beyond. “Don’t. I have a weapon, too, and I can see you.”

Gavin lowered his hand as the voice came again. “Congratulations, Gavin. I’m not surprised you made it here. Not surprised in the least. All my bets seem to be paying off. I guess I’m the big winner tonight. We’ll see.”

The spotlight moved to the side, and Gavin straightened, squinting into the gloom, the song rising merrily in the background, the mood at complete odds with the situation, adding a frightening element of unreality.

A man walked toward him, with what he could now see was a flashlight in one hand, held pointed away, and a gun in the other, trained on Gavin. “Danny?” he asked.

The man’s lips tipped, though Gavin wouldn’t call the expression a smile. As he came closer, Gavin could see that his nose was red and bruised as though someone had hit him. “Ah. You know my name, of course. My real name. Detective Walker brought you my writings. I guess you wouldn’t call them my autobiography, considering some information was... left out.” He gave an exaggerated sigh.

Gavin stared. He... recognized him.Danny.He searched his mind. “You work in my building,” Gavin said. He’d seen him before.The janitor.

Danny smiled but didn’t confirm or deny. “Anyway, I hoped she would,” he went on as though Gavin hadn’t spoken. “Bring you my writings, that is. A combo of the card design and her own desire to seeyou, I imagined, if the photos on Mirabelle’s wall and the way you two looked at each other once were any indication. Slide your gun across the floor. And your cell phone too.”

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