Page 116 of Desperate Games

“I’ll get it,” I say automatically, wiping my hands on a towel and forcing my smile to stay in place.

But when I pull the heavy door open, everything inside me freezes.

On the doorstep sit two packages.

One small box with my name printed on the label. Another, even smaller, with Callie’s.

My stomach drops to the floor.

No one should’ve gotten this close.

Not past the guards. Not without alarms.

Behind me, Lucy’s voice floats from the kitchen, light and teasing. “What is it, Andy? Amazon Santa come early?”

But I can’t answer.

Because the air has gone cold, and all I can hear is the thunder of my own heartbeat.

Chapter Forty-Remy

The marble floor under my boots might as well be an arena floor, because I’m pacing like a predator waiting for blood.

I can hear the muffled drone of voices inside the judge’s chambers, lawyers arguing over motions, schedules, “the best interests of the child.”

All that sanitized language they use to talk about people’s lives like they’re case studies.

Like my daughter—my daughter—is just a number in their docket.

Julio isn’t here yet. Typical. Coward.

I almost hope he shows late, because the idea of him walking down this hall and catching sight of me?

It’s the only thing keeping me steady. That moment. The look in his eyes when he realizes I’m the wall he’s about to crash into.

Because it was him.

Had to be.

Two packages. Left on my doorstep like gifts from hell.

Addressed to my wife. And to my little girl.

Andy opened the door herself. I can still see the shock in her hazel eyes when she brought them inside.

I can still taste the bile that rose in my throat when we saw what was inside.

Dead flowers crawling with maggots. For Andy.

And for Callie? A grimy little bracelet, the kind you’d find in a gutter pawnshop.

You can’t convince me it wasn’t his message.

His sick way of saying I can get close to what’s yours. I can touch them.

And the worst part? He did. He got close enough that Andy bent down, that Callie’s name was on that fucking label.

The security guards who let it happen? They’re lucky to still be breathing.