Page 110 of Steadfast
He must not have been expecting me to fight back, because when I dove for the bag I was able to get a grip on it.
But it wasn’t enough.
My father shoved me out of the way. Hard. I went down again, this time hitting my head on the corner of the piano. While I sat there, stunned, my father ripped the bag open and overturned it on the floor. The folder hit the floor with a slap, the words COLEBURY POLICE DEPT. stamped onto its exterior.
“Lying little shit!” The vein throbbed in his forehead as he moved closer to me.
Still moving too slowly, I cowered, pulling my arms over my head.
There was a loud knock on the front door.
“Who the fuck is that?” my father hissed.
Having no idea, I said nothing.
He nudged me with his foot. “Answer me. Who is that?”
I pushed myself up feeling dazed. “No idea.”
“Sophie!” a male voice called out. Not Jude’s. Not Nelligan’s. “Are you ready, Sophie? You said seven o’clock.”
Was that Griffin Shipley?His face swam through my terrified brain.
“Sophie, honey! It is Thursday, right?”
Thursday. Jude went to dinner at Griff’s house on Thursdays. Jude must have been there when he got my strange texts.
I opened my mouth to yell Griff’s name, but my father clapped a hand over it. “Quiet. Who is that?” he whispered. He showed me the gun just to make his point.
“My date. Griffin Shipley. From church.”
My father gave me a sneer. “I’ll get rid of him. Don’t you fucking move. We’re not done here.”
“Sophie!” Griff called again. “Is it open?” I heard the doorknob rattle.
Cursing, my father stuck the gun in the waistband of his pants. “Who’s there?” he snarled, making it to the door just as it opened.
“Hi! You must be Sophie’s dad.” Griff’s voice had an odd, theatrical tone that wasn’t helping matters. “She and I are going to miss the movie if she doesn’t get downstairs. Hey, Soph!” he yelled.
“Sophie isn’t feeling well,” my dad tried.
“Oh, no!” he said with a cringe-worthy bellow. “Lemme just say hello to her, and we can plan it for another time.”
“No, I don’t think so…”
I wobbled to my feet and lurched around the corner so that Griff could see me. “I’m right here!” I croaked.
“Hey there, honey!” Griff took a step into the house, which was really into my father’s personal space.
“Step back!” my father said in his cop voice. “Sophie, sit the fuck down.”
“I need to talk to her,” Griff said stubbornly.
“Get out of my fucking house,” my father ordered him.
“No can do!”
Dad turned so quickly I wasn’t ready. He grabbed me around the waist with one arm while his free hand closed around my throat. “Get out,” he snarled at Griff.
