Page 83 of Twisted Trust

29

LEVI

He’s dead.

My father’s corpse lies before me on a cold, hard metal trolley while the medical examiner stands over him like some harbinger of death. The chill of the morgue barely reaches me through the shroud of numbness that descended on me the moment Maeve’s chilling cries reached my ears.

It feels like time has frozen and I’m stuck in a loop watching him fall to his knees over and over again. My father, the often bristly and sometimes cold but altogether loyal man, has died at the hands of an ambush and I couldn’t protect him.

What kind of son am I?

How many times will I fail to protect those I care about?

“Mr. Gallo?”

The M.E’s soft voice drags me from my spiraling despair and I briefly glance at her.

“The autopsy will be handled within a couple of hours and I’ll ensure the bullet is given straight to your people. Is there anything else you would like me to do?”

She speaks with a gentleness that comes with years of delivering and discussing the worst kind of news, but to me, itjust sounds hollow. Everything sounds hollow. Everything feels hollow.

There’s a weight in my chest that crushes me as I stare at my father’s pale, peaceful face.

“No,” I reply stiffly. “Nothing else.”

Dragging myself away from the morgue takes what little strength I have left and by the time I reach the corridor outside, I’m strangely breathless. It’s like my lungs can’t inflate enough to get me the air I need. Clutching the wall, I lean over and pant like I’ve just sprinted the few feet from the gurney to here. As I’m struggling for air, a gentle hand lands on my shoulder.

Chip.

He’s unwavering by my side and remains silent as I wrestle with this strange breathlessness that leaves me dizzy. After a few minutes, I finally drag in a deep breath that feels like a razor’s carving down my throat.

“You good?”

I look at Chip, trying to avoid the deep sympathy in his eyes. “Yeah. Fine.”

He doesn’t believe me, but I don’t care. I just need him here.

“Your mother’s here.”

My stomach drops like a rock while cold sweat breaks out across my skin. “Where?”

Chip nods to the end of the hall and as if on cue, raised voices come from the other side of the double doors. Before I can react, they slam wide open and my mother stands there with her eyes and mouth wide open.

“Levi!”

“Mom.”

“Tell me it’s not true,” she gasps as she rushes toward me with her scarf trailing after her. “Tell me it’s not true! Where is he? I’m going to give him a piece of my mind, where is he?”

“Mom—”

She reaches me and tries to push past me into the morgue, but I catch her arm and grip tightly. “Let go of me!” she snaps, struggling with more strength than I anticipate. “I need to see him and order him to stop this!”

“Mom, he’s—” The word catches like cotton in my throat and I choke softly, then try again. “Mom, I’m so sorry. Dad is… he’sdead.”

She slaps me so hard I see stars. “Don’t you dare!” she screams right in my face, wrenching her arm free of my grip. “Don’t youdarespeak about him like that, don’t you dare! What an ungrateful wretch you are!”

The pieces of my broken heart crumble to dust underneath her words and I’m helpless to watch as she shoves fully past me and opens the door. Past her shoulder, I glimpse the M.E. looking up in surprise as she stands over the body of my father and a sympathetic grimace crosses her face.