Page 4 of Wolf Cursed
We damn sure didn’t have any money to give them. Or not enough anyway. I had no idea what Dad owed them, but judging from our middle-of-the-night visit, it was probably a lot. If not, he would have paid them already.
That meant they’d have to take payment some other way.
I fought harder.
“Got a live one, boss,” said the man holding me—or trying to.
More grunts and scuffling from the living room. Something hard hit the wall, and the few pictures we had hung rattled in their frames.
“You bet the wrong house, Joe,” I heard the man say.
“Screw you, Vorack,” my dad said from where he’d slumped to the floor against the wall.
My heart broke at the defeat I heard in those three words.
“No thanks,” Vorack said. “Your daughter, on the other hand, might have better luck with such an invitation. Might even be enough to call us even.”
Horror filled me. My voice broke on my next scream.
“Don’t even think about it,” my dad warned.
“Bring her here, Frank.”
The man holding me gave me a rough shove, and the momentum sent me sprawling onto the stained carpet. I rolled onto my side and looked over at my dad slumped against the wall by the smashed front door. The dim overhead light revealed his nose was bleeding, and both eyes were already swelling.
Vorack’s other goon stood over him, brandishing the baseball bat and making sure he didn’t get up.
“If you touch my daughter,” my father started.
A heartache so deep I knew it would never heal ripped through me. My father’s threat was empty. Everyone here knew it. Hell, he didn’t even try to get up when he said the words.
“What?” Vorack taunted. “Tell me, Joe. What will you do?”
No answer.
Vorack stalked over to me and prodded me with his boot. “What’s your name, princess?”
“Get away from her,” my dad snarled.
“Happy to, Joe,” Vorack said. “But that’s up to you. Pay me, and I’ll be on my way. Otherwise, I’ll take what’s owed by other means.”
He gave me a look that made it clear he hoped for the latter.
“There’s five hundred in the freezer,” I blurted. “Take it and leave us alone.”
My dad shot me a look.
I worked four nights a week at the diner around the corner. Just like I had in every backwoods town we’d lived in. Most of my earnings went to keeping the lights on, but I’d hidden some extra cash in a bag of frozen peas since I knew it was the only place he wouldn’t find it.
It was my ticket out.
If Dad wanted to drink himself to death at a new address every three months, that was his choice. I planned to pick a spot and plant roots. Build a home. Screw whatever ghosts he was convinced were hunting us. Parting with it for Dad’s bad habits was the last thing I wanted, but if it meant getting Vorack out of here, I’d let it go.
Unfortunately, Vorack merely grinned. “That’s cute, princess. You think I’d get out of my warm bed at this hour for five hundred bucks?” He snorted and shared an amused look with his goons.
They all laughed and not in a fun way.
Then Vorack looked down at me again. “Try ten thousand, and that’s not including interest.”
