Page 118 of Too Old for This

Finally, I sit down and stare at his face.

I have no idea who this man is. But it isn’t Burke.

CHAPTER 64

“What the hell?”

His voice is deep and gravelly. Not one I recognize.

It makes me wonder if he just happened to break into the wrong motel room at exactly the wrong time.

He looks to be in his mid- to late fifties, about a decade older than Archie. This man used to be good-looking, back in his prime, when that square jaw was still visible and his big eyes weren’t bloodshot. Now his skin has a greyish pallor to it, the kind you get from living an unhealthy life.

He pulls on the ropes, trying to get free, and then looks up. Sees me in the light. “Jesus Christ.”

“Jesus isn’t here to help you.”

“You’reher.”

“Who?”

“Lorena.”

This man is not in the wrong room.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“Burke.”

“You are thirty years too young to be Burke.”

“That’s my father,” he says.

—

For the second time tonight, my heart seizes up.

I have to sit down.

Wait, I’m already sitting down. I blink a few times, trying to get my bearings back.

Maybe I should have known, but I bet Junior here looks more like his mother than his father. Burke doesn’t have grey eyes and he’s in better shape. At least, that’s how I remember him.

Junior takes a deep breath, his chest swelling against the rope. I know that trick, and it’s not going to work. I’m better at tying knots than Norma was.

“Why are you here?” I ask.

“Why do you think I’m here?”

I wag a finger in front of his face. “Don’t answer a question with a question. I’m not putting up with that.”

He grinds his jaw, like he’s trying to contain his anger. “My dad always said you were a bitch.”

I slap him across the face. Hard enough to make it sting.

Junior shouldn’t forget which one of us is tied up.

“Let’s try this again.” I cradle my bad arm. All this mental and physical exertion is making it throb. “Why are you here?”