Page 35 of The Handyman

How horrifying. A hard shiver jerked my shoulders at the nonchalance in Vanessa’s tone; I wasn’t sure which was worse— how easy she said all this shit, or that it was actually real and not some Law and Order episode.

She went on in her casual way, “They gave up looking for the baby after the girl’s family made a huge stink of denial over it. So, I dug a little deeper, and wouldn’t you know…Riley’s dad got arounda lot. I’m guessing that’s why her mom is such a bitch. I find it really hard to believe she didn’t know her husband was out getting 14-year old’s pregnant.”

“What the fuck!” Clamping my hand over my mouth as my bellowing shout rampaged through my apartment, my eyes flew to the sofa. Blood drummed in my ears, and I held my breath as the seconds ticked by arduously slowly. When no one stirred, I slowly walked across the living room to shut myself in the bedroom. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“She was 14. Not even in high school when she gave birth. I pulled up her picture and they look a lot alike. So, Riley’s mom is not her mom, but her dad is a pedophile and definitely her dad, and also, I just now received a text from Jerry. He’s got an IP address this time, which means—”

“The reply came from an unprotected computer. Yeah, okay. Send me everything you got, and I’ll figure out the rest. I can work with an IP address.” I hung up to lean heavily against the door, rolling my jaw as my mouth filled with cotton. When Vanessa said Riley’s information was probably forged, the obvious conclusion was that something illegal had happened to her.But—that her birth mother was a child having sex with a 25-plus guy. . .

“Ugh! Fuck!Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” What the fuck am I supposed to tell Riley, now?

25

Riley

Shoveling my egg-in-a-hole into my mouth, my body throbbed with the need to consume something of substance. Delilah and I were eating silently, but Hannah hadn’t woken up yet.Considering how much she drank, it’s not surprising.

She easily downed more than the both of us put together, but I wasn’t judging. I had a great time, even if I couldn’t remember most of it. At least none of us had woken up in the hospital or something.

“Riley—”

Twisting slowly, I winced as Reece’s voice pierced my brain, but if he noticed, he didn’t show while he sat down across from Delilah and next to me. His face looked haggard and drawn, with deep circles under his eyes and lips seemed to be screwed in a permanent scowl. “We need to talk. I just need you to listen and not say anything until I’m done, okay?”

Chewing my bite slowly, I ducked my head in a nod as the hairs on the back of my neck bristled in unease. I swallowed my mouthful as I set my stuffed piece of toast down. Anxiety zinged in the air just above my head.

Reece took a deep, stabilizing breath and captured my gaze to hold it as his pupils narrowed into fine points. “Your mother put a request into my Network to murder you.”

My eyes widened, goosebumps washed down my arms and across my chest as I stiffened.

Quickly, Reece raised his palm, but the world blurred for a second before he continued. “I initially received the request a few weeks ago, and I’ve been trying to find out who put it through. Last night, I received some information that, well…isn’t going to be easy to accept. Your mom replied to my offer on her home computer, so I know it’s her. This happened after you blocked her from your life, and I didn’t tell you immediately because I wanted to be sure.”

I sat and stared at him wild-eyed as I felt like throwing up.

He went on, “When I was going over your information, some stuff didn’t add up, and I dug to find out why. Your mother isn’t your biological mother. Your father cheated on her with a 14-year-old girl and got her pregnant, which resulted in you. Your mom probably knows, but at this point, it doesn’t really matter. I was fielded the request because you’re a contact in my phone, and Vanessa has been watching the Network, but no more requests about you have come up.”

I blinked hard as disbelief flooded my brain.

Reece didn’t stop talking— didn’t let me catch up. His expression hardened, his mouth twisting into a sneer as he clenched his hands into tight fists on the table, “I thought originally that, with the timing and everything, it could’ve been Brandon, but obviously he’s not capable of being anything but a professional victim and irritant. That only left your parents and your brother, or the possibility that someone not closely connected to you decided to put the request in. Vanessa dug into your medical history and found out that you’re not related to your mother. So…the only plausible explanation is that she put this request in to kill you because she realized she couldn’t lord over you anymore. She spent your whole life belittling you and degrading you because you’re a product of an illegal relationship outside her marriage. I don’t know why she agreed to keep you, but now, she contracted someone to kill you, and I was lucky I got fielded the request. You’re not in any immediate danger, but it’s gotten to the point where I had tell you, Riley.”

My ears rang shrilly as Reece went silent, and I tore my eyes off him to stare at my half-empty plate. His words ran ruts into my brain, but they were too fast to see or hear and created a white noise in the background of my dwindling scope of comprehension. “U— uh— w—” My tongue felt too big for my mouth, and I clenched my teeth hard as I struggled to breathe. “What...?”

“Your mom hired someone to kill you, Riley.”

I gasped as my throat closed sharply, and Reece’s dark rasp knocked around inside my skull. Shivers raced up and down my spine, jerking my shoulders and making my knees bounce under the table. The blood drained from my face, and my heart raced as I glanced over at him under furrowed brows. “Why?”

He pursed his lips at my croak, reaching across the table to hold my frigid fingers in his. “I don’t know why, but if I had to guess…it’s because she hates you. Maybe, she always has, but she consolidated it by being so awful to you to make herself feel better. The reason doesn’t matter, Riley…” he paused and shook his head. “…the reason never matters. It’s never going to be good enough. I’m telling you now because she wired payment, so I need to know what you want to do next.”

My cheek twitched as confusion shot down my neck to raise the fine hairs on my chest and back.

Stroking my palm with his thumb, Reece licked his lips in preparation to state something outrageous, “You have a few options. We can stage your death, which reduces the chance that your mom will try to hire someone else— someone that will actually try to kill you. You can go to the police with all the information I collected, and they can arrest her and your father. Or…”

“Or. . .?” Dread gnawed at my gut and invaded my bones, and I forced myself to wheeze a breath. “You— you kill them?”

“That’s the safest option, yes. They can’t retaliate if they’re dead.”

Reece’s confirmation sounded like it was coming through a tunnel and I took my hand from his to pick up my egg-in-a-hole. Taking a bite dazedly, my eyes not leaving the plate, I stuffed more past my teeth. Egg yolk dribbled down my fingers, and butter slathered around my lips as I jammed the entire half slice into my mouth.

Still, the sour taste didn’t go away as I chewed, my cheeks straining from the huge amount of bread and egg. Gripping my empty plate, I could finally breathe harsh, fast wheezes, and I blinked hard against the realization pounding my body.