Touching Melody (A Forever First Novel) (30 page)

Completely out of place is a flat screen TV
mounted between a mountain lion head and a deer head. The ceiling is low. Muted light fills the room. Beneath my feet is ugly flecked brown carpet. To the right is a bar, with dozens of bottles lined above a sink. A mirror is behind them. A pool table is directly in front of me. A card table to the left, next to a stained orange couch. The room smells musty.

From behind me I hear
clomping, like someone coming down stairs, and a door opens.

I’m guessing I’m in the basement
of a house.

“Oh, good, you’re awake.” Evan comes around and faces me. He’s carrying a laptop in his hands.
A smug smile on his face. “We’re going to make this quick.”

I feel
my eyes scrunch together. “What is going on?” I croak. My throat is dry. Fear tightens my gut and my knees are shaking.

“Here’s the thing.” He walks over to the bar, sets
a small laptop on it. Pushes some buttons and then clicks on the TV.

My aunt and uncle are sitting in the living room, watching
TV. My uncle’s arm is around my aunt. She’s patting his knee. They are wearing the clothes they had on when I left. They both laugh. Then my uncle looks toward the hallway, surprise evident on his face. Two men dressed in ski masks barge in. Uncle John tries to stand, but he’s knocked backward. And he grabs his chest. My aunt leans into him. There’s terror and tears on her face.

The men in ski masks both have guns, but I can’t
bring myself comprehend the events taking place on the screen. “What just happened? Why did he fall like that? What are those—” The questions freeze on my lips as I see my aunt suddenly slump forward. One of the men pushes my aunt to the ground. Then my uncle. The other man comes over. Adjusts them so they’re lying on their sides, my aunt and uncle facing each other. Red is swelling and leaking from both of their bodies. It looks like my uncle is trying to talk. He reaches out to my aunt.

Tears cloud my ey
es. I can’t breathe. My chest feels like someone is standing on it, crushing the life from me. And I want it. I want the release. Because this can’t be happening. Not again. “No. No. No,” I hear myself repeating.

My aunt’s lips are moving. I lean forward, desperate to know what she’s saying.

The screen goes black. I realize Evan has clicked off the screen.

“
Soooooo, uncle-and-auntie-blackmail-pants are dead,” Evan says, setting the channel changer down on the counter. “Did you like the way I had them placed exactly like your parents?” He pauses a moment, then continues, “I thought it was romantic.”

My mouth opens and closes. I want to say things, do things to Evan, but I can’t. The ties have me bound to the chair, and my heart feels as though it’s exploded.

Evan shrugs. “Maybe you don’t see it that way.” He moves so his face in directly in front of mine, and I can smell his putrid breath. “Maybe you don’t remember. Let me show you.” He clicks the TV back on, and I’m transported back in time.

To my old house.
My mom and dad are sitting at the table. Dad is holding a beer. Mom is doing a crossword puzzle. They are talking. My dad sets down his beer and stands. His hands come out in front of him and wave back and forth. I can read one word on his lips. “No.” He’s saying it over and over, just as I did a few moments ago. Then a man comes into the picture. It’s Evan’s uncle. Ryan. He’s holding a strange looking gun. Ryan shoots my dad. I see my mom scream and Ryan shoots her too. Then Kyle’s dad enters the room. He and Ryan are fighting, arguing. Kyle’s dad looks right at the camera. I flinch. If my heart was exploded before, it no longer exists. I didn’t think I could feel more pain. Hurt more. But I’m hurting so badly, my body goes numb. My mind blanks. 

I watch the rest without feeling.

My dad struggles to reach my mother. He lies down beside her. Brushes some hair off her face. Places a hand on her hip.

A sob racks my body, breaking the silence. “Why?” I whisper.

Evan kneels down, pulls my forehead to his. “Because your mom and dad were cowards, that’s why.”

I spit in his face.

He falls back. “Bitch.” Behind the bar is a napkin, and he wipes his face. Then comes back over and slaps me so hard I see spots. “The simple answer is drugs. Your mom and dad were drug dealers, as were several officers and detectives in the police department. One of the IA pricks caught wind and started an investigation. Kyle’s dad was implicated and so was mine.” Evan slaps me again. “Your parents told them about Kyle’s dad. About my dad. They made a deal with the IA assholes. They intended to sing like the squawking canaries they were. My dad, Kyle’s dad couldn’t let that happen. So your parents were killed. The investigation was closed.”

“But my aunt and uncle? They never did anything.”
I don’t believe a word he’s saying.

Evan slaps me again. This time my lip cracks and blood
erupts from it. “The stupid fuckers thought they could blackmail Kyle’s dad, my dad. Sure we allowed them to think they got away with it. But we were just biding our time. Now that you’re eighteen, you have access to a safety deposit box. Try as we might we haven’t been able to find the key. That’s where you come in. That’s why you’re still alive. Because we need that key, Pudgy Mudgy.”

I’m in shock.
“A-A key?” I have no idea about the key he’s referring to. A shuddering breath torments my body. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Evan shakes his head. “I thought you might say that.” He presses some keys on his laptop, and the scene on the TV changes
again. It’s no longer the dead bodies of my parents, but of a cot in a small room. Lying on the cot is Kyle.

“You wouldn’t,” I breathe, unable to believe
what I’m seeing.

“Trust me, I don’t want to. I actually like the kid. But my father is desperate for that key. If you don’t tell me where it is, Kyle will die.
And haven’t enough people already died?”

I stare at the screen. Kyle isn’t moving. He’s
lying on his back. His chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm. He’s alive. I’m so grateful my shoulders sag. My breath comes out in a big puff. I didn’t even realize I’d been holding it.

That
still doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know where the key is. I rack my brain, trying to remember conversations my aunt and uncle had with me over the years. Something that might have been important but I didn’t realize it at the time.

There
is one thing my uncle says whenever our conversation turns serious. “Remember the Titans.” His catch phrase. Then he taps his nose. He’d done it right before I left the house tonight. At the realization that might’ve been the last time I see him or my aunt alive, my heart clenches. The phrase is something I thought was just one of his weird quirks—for two reasons. He owns a Titan truck, and “Remember the Titans” is his absolute favorite movie. At least that’s what he said. Now I wonder if maybe the key is in the DVD case or if it might be in his truck.

“So. What’s it going to be? Kyle’s death or the key?”

“You promise you won’t hurt Kyle if I give you that key?”

He
makes a tsk-tsk sound with his mouth. Slaps my face again. “Of course, Pudgy Mudgy. I’ve no desire to kill my cousin. Right now he probably thinks this is all some kind of joke. But it’s going to turn ugly fast if you don’t give me what I want.”

I nod.

“Where is it?”

I clear my throat. “I don’t know exactly. But…”

Evan sighs heavily. “Why did I have a feeling you were going to say that?” He pulls a cell phone from his pocket, presses a button, and holds it to his ear. “Kill—” He gasps. Turns away. “Mother fucker.” Evan kicks me and I cry out. “I’m on my way.” He grabs my hair. “Sit tight Pudgy. I’ll be back.” He walks behind me and I hear a door slam.

When I’m sure he’s gone, I twist my wrists,
trying to get my hands free. They don’t budge. I know they’ve been zip tied.

No escape
, I keep thinking. Trying to accept that fact, I close my eyes against the hot tears that won’t stop. I keep seeing my mom and dad get shot, and my aunt and uncle. It’s almost too much to take in. For so many years I wondered what happened. In two minutes I watched the events unfold. Kyle’s dad didn’t shoot them, but he was there. I struggle to believe it, to understand.

I start screaming. If I’m going to die like the rest of my family, then I’m going to die fighting.

I hear shouting outside the door.

“Evan, you sick asshole. Come back here and fight like a man.”

This is it
, I think.

Kyle

I open the door and look into the hallway. It’s so different from the
sterile room I’ve been in. It’s old, smells like a barn. There’s a sound like the repetitive dripping of water coming from somewhere in the building. But I don’t hear people—namely, Baldy and Ponytail.

Moving as quietly as I can, I walk down the hall and turn into a giant room
, like an airplane hangar. There are airplane parts scattered all over, laying on the floor, hanging out of wooden crates, and piled in a stack.

Beyond the parts is a smell, one I’m quite familiar with. Marijuana. Pot. Ganja. The college drug, at least that’s what Evan always called it. Whatever. It was nice to light up once in a while.

I’m wondering if Evan is dealing drugs, if that’s why he’s being creepy. But I don’t have time to figure it out. I need to find Evan and kick his stupid fucking ass.

The small door is off to the left, and I run toward it. Turn the handle and burst into the cold, night air.

My skin prickles. I’m immediately freezing.

I need a phone. The street is empty. No payphone in sight. I’m about to go back in the warehouse, hoping there’s a phone, when I see headlights.

“Yes,” I whisper, jumping down the stairs and moving to the middle of the street. I wave my hands over my head, hoping they’ll see me.

The car stops several feet away. It’s black.
Kinda looks like a Beamer. At this point it could be a tractor and I’d be happy.

I run over. The driver’s side window goes down. “Hey—” I begin, and freeze. It’s Ms. Spears.
The English professor I TA for at the college. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Get i
n,” she commands.

I’m freezing my balls off. It’d be stupid not to get into her car, but after what occurred between us, I’m not sure I should.

“Don’t be an asshole.” She whips out a badge. I lean forward.

“FBI? Really? You expect me to buy that?” I can’t help the snort the leaves my throat.

A guy leans across her and holds a badge out for me to see. “This isn’t a game, son. Get in the damn car.”

Shock zings through my body. “Serious?”

Bitchy shakes her head. “Yes, you idiot.”

I climb in behind her. Buckle up.

The car jolts forward and the guy with black hair turns to face me. “My name is agent Harris. I’ve been with the FBI for fifteen years, and am agent Smythe’s partner.”

“Agent
Smythe?” I interrupt.

He points at Bitchy. She raises a hand, and waves. “
Hellooooo.”

“So, tell me, Kyle. What do you know about
your uncle and aunt?”

“Um
.” I’m not sure what to say. They’re family. I care about them. I know my aunt is constantly hanging out with her friends at the country club. My uncle is constantly gone, dealing with his restaurant. They’re busy. But they’re all I have. “My uncle owns an Italian restaurant. My aunt likes to hang out at the country club.” I stop, clamp my mouth shut. What do they want me to say?

Agent Harris nods.
“That’s true. To an extent. We believe your uncle is the leader of a mafia-style drug ring that has its tentacles in the Bellam Springs Police Department. We believe your father worked for him, and he did something to go against the family, which is why he was executed. We also believe that the girl you’ve been dating, Maddelena Martin?” He paused, as though waiting for me to confirm.

“Yes,
I know her.”

“Her father
came into information about your father and your uncle that would implicate them. But, as you know, he and her mother were killed. And the information wasn’t recovered.”

A bead of fear is forming in my gut, and is growing. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because Maddie is in trouble. We had eyes on her, but she’s gone and we aren’t sure where she is. We’ve been checking all of the known locations your uncle has used over the years, but we’ve come up empty handed.”

“She’s supposed to be staying with her aunt and uncle,” I say, trying to push down the terror building inside.

“We had a car there, but they were called away. It’s all very suspicious. We think they took your girlfriend. Any idea where Evan might have taken her?”

“This is bullshit. Evan wouldn’t do something like that. Let me call him.”

Agent Harris hands me a phone. “By all means.”