House of V (Unraveled Series) (17 page)

“I just realized how much you
probably hate me right now,” I said, finally trying to break into the
heaviness.

“Hate is a strong word,” Mark
started, leaning against the hood of the car. “And lucky for you, I don’t typically
hold grudges. Just not in my nature, I guess.”

“That’s good. Otherwise, it would
be a rough couple of days.”

“So I hear my sister got you
arrested, huh?” he said with an awkward laugh.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,”
I said, ducking my head back into Sanchez’s squad car to grab my bag. “Does
that surprise you?”

“Not exactly.
I don’t think I can be surprised anymore after the year we’ve gone through. I
thought it was over, though, and I never thought I would see you again.”

“So is this good or bad that I’m
here? I can’t quite tell,” I said, swinging the bag over my shoulder. There was
a longing in his eyes that I couldn’t quite decipher.

“I don’t know what it is,” Mark
said, shaking his head. “I was just beginning to get a handle on everything.
We’ve spent the last year rebranding the company and getting it ready for sales
negotiations. We were trying to get away from the reputation that Holston left;
the shock only now beginning to wear off, as much as possible anyway. I don’t
think anyone really gets over the fact that the owner of the business was a
serial killer. Doesn’t bode well for business, if you know what I mean,” Mark
finished with another laugh.

“I do, and here I am, bringing it back.”
I lifted my hands in the air and let them fall to my sides. That son of a bitch
I was supposed to call my father was still ruining my life. In Norway, I could
only feel a whisper of his ghost that followed me, yet here in Appleton, it
screamed in my face. As long as I was here, it would always be there. I was
always going to be Holston Parker’s daughter and murderer.
Lucky
me.

“It’s not you,” Mark rushed as he
moved off the hood. “It’s just everything surrounding you.”

“Was that supposed to make me feel
better?” I asked.
“Because it didn’t.
At all.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re back. If
there is anyone that will be able to find Sister Josephine, it will be you. But
just for the record, I want to stay out of this as much as possible. You’re
more than welcome to stay here as long as you need to, but I can’t drag my
reputation or the company’s reputation into this. I don’t want anyone to know
that I have any level of involvement in this. Not until I at least sell the
company,” Mark said.

I nodded my head, agreeing to his
terms.
“Got it.”

“By the way, I’m sorry that your
father was who he was,” Mark replied as he moved to stand up.

“Not my father,” I corrected as I
met his gaze. The barricades I had thrown up after Mark’s last comments were
starting to fall down with his patient eyes.

“You know what I mean,” Mark added
quickly as he took a step toward me and rested his hand on my arm. I inhaled
sharply, feeling the warmth that spread though my body.

“I’m sorry that you had to find out
about your mom the way you did,” I said as Florence’s emerald eyes flashed
through my head.

“Yeah, she turned out to be quite
the woman. I think we’re both sorry for everything that’s happened. Believe me,
if I could erase that day and everything surrounding it, I would in a heartbeat.
It still blows my mind that I didn’t see anything unusual with Holston,” he
said as he finally lifted his hand off my arm.

Thank God, I could breath. I caught
Sanchez and Hobart out of the corner of my eye walking up the driveway.
“Believe me, I know. And don’t worry, I won’t be here long. A night or
two,
tops,” I said looking up at him. There was no way I
could stay here any longer than that. I walked past him and up the steps to the
front door of his own house without him.

I stopped, turning one last time to
see him still standing in the driveway. “I promise.”

***

“Making
yourself
right at home?” Delaney asked as she walked in empty-handed into Mark’s
kitchen. I was sitting on a stool in the glow of Mark’s laptop while I finished
the last bite of an apple. I had never tasted an apple so delicious in my life
before. I hadn’t gotten the courage, or stomach, to eat since the flight to
Chicago. Getting arrested and finding out that someone was trying to kill you
tended to have that effect on a person.

“Thanks for suggesting that we stay
here. It’s a bit more comfortable than having Sanchez breathe down my neck all
night,” I replied, turning back to the screen.

I wasn’t having any luck. The
search for any substantial information that would bring me closer to the
psychopath that was after me was too broad. Not that there was a shortage of
news articles or followings on Holston Parker. That was the problem; there was
a flood of information and far too little time to sift through it all. I ran my
hand through my wet hair and attempted to dry it with another shake. Taking a
shower hadn’t resolved the burning feeling that ran just below my skin. Someone
had Sister Josephine.

“I see Officer Hobart made himself
at home,” Delaney nodded to the couch where Mark and the thirty-something
officer sat in street clothes. They took turns at the bag of potato chips while
Hobart flipped through the channels. Mark convinced him to stop on ESPN before
he gave a wave from the couch and turned back to the TV.

“Yeah, he hasn’t moved from that
spot in the last twenty minutes. It took him about five minutes to check the
perimeters before he settled there. Let’s hope he checks again,” I replied.
“Otherwise, I will be making a run to Parker Enterprises to grab some
equipment.”

“We can’t let you out of our
sights,
Evie
,” James said, walking in behind Delaney
with a wheeled suitcase dragging behind him.
“According to
Sanchez.
As your lawyer
and
brother-in-law, I advise against it.”

“Yeah, I know. Follow his rules,” I
mumbled as I scrolled through the pages on the screen. “It’s just a suggestion,
right?” I threw James a cocky smile before he shook his head and set the
suitcase down.

“Find anything interesting?”
Delaney asked, leaning her elbows on the island. I couldn’t help noticing the small
bulge that rested just underneath the counter. She caught my eyes and followed
them down to her own belly. She placed her hand on it and gave it a soft pat.
“I know. It’s weird, right? The baby has the hiccups right now. Do you want to
feel it?”

“No, thanks,” I said, moving my
eyes away. Being married and having children was all just a bit too domestic
for me. I couldn’t imagine bringing a child into this world -
my
world - as
Evie
Parker. There was no way that would ever happen.
Ever.

“I’ll let you girls - sisters -
talk,” James said, already half-way into the living room. He plopped down onto
the couch and stuck his hand in the bag Hobart held out.

“I can’t believe they are just
going to sit there when?” I started, shaking my head in disbelief.

“I found something,” Delaney
interrupted as she leaned in so close I could smell the hint of men’s cologne -
James’s cologne - on her shirt. The smell was sweet, yet masculine, and I
instantly thought of Ryan.

I desperately wanted to call him,
but had no way of contacting him without the police sniffing behind my back. I
couldn’t risk it. I couldn’t put Ryan’s freedom on the line. I struggled to
pull my mind back to Delaney’s words when all I could think about was Ryan
standing in
our
kitchen.

“Did you hear me?” Delaney asked.
“I found something.”

“Found something?” I whispered.

“Yeah, go to this website,” Delaney
said as she pointed to her glowing cell phone screen. “It’s from a friend back
in college. Kandy has all sorts of connections with random people, one of which
is a hacker guy. He’s the one that got me information about Holston a year
ago.”

“Kandy is quite the name.
Sounds like she has a personality to match.”

“Don’t ask.”

“It’s all coming back to me now,” I
said as I typed in the address into the browser. “I remember now that you were
digging up information. Was she the one that talked you into the whole online
stripping thing?”

“Please, don’t even go there,”
Delaney replied. “You want to talk about everything that happened that day?
Everything that you did to me?”

“Okay, okay. I concede,” I said as
the website populated. We definitely didn’t need to have the conversation right
now and quite possibly ever. I guess I could admit what I did was a little
extreme.

We both watched as the screen displayed
red, soaking streaks down the left and right sides of the page.
The Vigilante League
was sprawled across
the top in red, dripping lettering as if it had been splashed with blood. I
looked at Delaney, her eyes wide as she took in the screen.

“What the hell is this?” Delaney
whispered.

“I don’t know, but we’re going to
find out.”

“It looks like it’s a club for all
the crazy fanatics of vigilantes,” Delaney said as I scrolled down through the
page to take in some of the headlines and pictures.

“It looks like it’s concentrated on
fictional characters or something,” I said as more images displayed on the
bottom.

“There’s Dexter,” Delaney
whispered, pointing to a picture of a man with angel wings bathed in blood.
“It’s a TV show about a serial killer. James was really into it, but he stopped
watching it after everything that happened with Holston. Too close to home I
think.”

“I know the feeling.”

“What does this have to do with
Holston?”

“Well, I’m going to take a wild
guess that there are some crazies out there who think what he did was
justifiable. Fans of Holston Parker,” I said as I typed in
Holston Parker
in the website’s search box.

“This is sick,” Delaney said as she
leaned closer toward the screen. Her belly brushed up against my arm before she
moved back a step. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” I said, pointing
to the screen. “Look, a posting about the year anniversary.” I scrolled down as
the images populated while I read on. Holston’s black eyes stared back at me
and his fedora rested light on his head. My throat tightened as I studied his
face. It was the face I hadn’t seen for more than a year other than in my
nightmares. It was a face that I wanted to permanently erase from my memory. I
wondered if there was any sort of therapy or magic treatment for that because,
if there was, I would be the first one in line. I think Delaney would be second
in line right after me.

“He’s dead,” Delaney reminded me.
“You killed him. Don’t forget that.”

“I know, it’s just
- ”

“I know.” Delaney rested her hand
on my shoulder. “I can’t believe that bastard was actually my biological
father. It makes me sick every time I think about it. I try not to.”

“I don’t know what’s worse, living
with him and actually thinking he is your father for twenty-some years or
finding out that he actually is your father despite thinking that someone else
has been your father your whole life,” I said. Either way, it was awful.

“It’s a toss-up,” Delaney replied.
“But it doesn’t matter. The only father we have ever had or will have is
Michael Jones.”

“I’ll take your word on that,” I
said as I continued to scroll down further. My
finger stopped
as I saw the picture of a woman with the same blue eyes as me appear
on
the screen.
Cropped brown hair, a black leather jacket, an
expressionless face.
Me. It was a picture of me. God, did I really look
like that big of a bitch? “Where the hell did they get this picture?”

The caption read, “Daughter,
Evie
Parker,
Murders
Own Father.
One Kick-Ass Bitch.”

All I could see was red. Rage
flushed through my body and threatened to take over when I felt a gentle
squeeze on my shoulder.

“Sick bastards,” Delaney said,
trying to comfort me. “Ignore it, keep scrolling.”

I forced my hand to move the screen
down and the picture disappeared as more text took its place. The author was
celebrating the “work” that Holston had done over the course of his lifetime
and heralded him as a national hero that deserved accolades.

“Are you reading this?” I whispered
as I pointed to the last paragraph. It read
,
America’s justice system is flawed and
corrupt as citizens spend billions of dollars to keep criminals alive in
prisons. If only more people existed like Holston Parker, the world would be a
better place. A safer place where we could let our children run in our own
yards and parks without any fear.
Where our women could go
out for a jog without any fear of being raped or taken.
A world without terror and evil.
Thank you Holston Parker
for your service. We commend you for your dedication. Vigilante League: HP
Chapter will meet at the pub on June 19 at nine p.m. to prepare for the June 20
celebration. HP, RIP.

“Holston Parker, rest in peace. Are
you kidding me?” I looked down to see the author of the article. He called
himself the White Knight and a picture of a white mask accompanied his byline
that read,
Crusader, lover of all things
deliciously good that fight evil.

“The Pub?”
Delaney whispered. “That asshole better not
be
resting
in peace. I hope he’s rotting in hell.”

“Atlas Pub. What time is it?” I
asked, hitting the X on the screen and closing the laptop with a quiet thud. I
was ready to meet the White Knight. If it was me who he wanted, then I would
give him everything he wanted and more. I moved to stand up when I felt the push
on my shoulder.

“No way.
You’re not going,” Delaney said.
“Too dangerous.
We’re
calling Sanchez.”

I grabbed her arm a little harder
than I anticipated and her eyes widened in a flash of fear before they settled.

“Don’t do this. You’ve got to
follow the agreement if you ever want to get back to
him
,” she warned, shaking my hand off her arm.

I let my hand fall to my side and
felt the weight of her words. She was right about getting back to
Ryan,
however Sanchez was going to drag me down. I would be
able to slide in and out of the pub without being noticed. That wasn’t the case
for Sanchez. People knew who he was; he wouldn’t be able to wear a disguise and
blend into the crowd as easily as I could.

“Fine, we’ll call him, but he’s not
coming with,” I said.

“Who’s not going where?” Mark
appeared behind Delaney as he placed his hands on Delaney’s shoulders.

“I’m headed out to Atlas Pub, and I
need someone to go with me,” I said. “And that someone is not Sanchez.”

“There is no Atlas Pub anymore.
It’s called
Bazil’s
now and is under new ownership,”
Mark replied.

“I’ll go,” Delaney offered.

“No,” James and I answered at the
same time. James appeared beside Mark and soon Hobart followed. Hobart was
dressed in a pair of jeans and t-shirt.

I studied his vanishing dark brown
hair and his receding hair line that moved back to the middle of his head. I
could tell Hobart was the type of man to hold on to everything, not just his
wisps of hair - even though he shouldn’t.

“What’s going on?” Hobart asked.
His hand stopped digging in the chip bag as he finished chewing the last bit in
his mouth.

Sweet watchdog,
Sanchez.

“I have a small lead, nothing
major, but something worth investigating. And it’s not worth pulling them in
for questioning, yet. Delaney, show Hobart the link while I am getting ready,”
I said, scanning the faces all staring at me. I reluctantly added, “And I need
someone to go with me.”

“Well, let’s call Sanchez to get
this cleared,” Hobart said as he slid his hand inside his pocket to retrieve
his phone.

“Tell him the event is more
important tomorrow night,” I added. “He’ll get it when he sees the website. And
tell him to trust me. Delaney and James are staying here. And Hobart, I think
you should stay back as well. Make sure nothing happens here. I’ll bring Mark
with me,” I said, already moving to the suitcase James dragged in just minutes
earlier. “Delaney, what did you bring me?”

“Just a shirt,
leggings and a dress.
I didn’t have anything else that would fit you,”
Delaney replied as she knelt down next to me to dig through the bag. I grabbed
the shirt and leggings and held them up with a frown. It wasn’t exactly what I
was looking for, but it would be good enough for tonight.

“Mark, you have a hat?” I asked as
I made my way through the living room.

“What makes you think I’m going
with you? I told you that I didn’t want to be involved at all. There is no way
- ”
Mark sputtered.

“Deal,” Hobart said into the phone.
He pulled the phone from his ear. “As long as you send the website to him and
you bring Mark with you. I’m going to need your cellphone number, Mark. I’ll
send it to Sanchez. He’s also sending Officer
Dotti
with you.”