Blood Ties

ing hand. His mother was chopping vegetables for dinner, her back to him. The rhy

is voice smaller

The knife clattered to the countertop. Her face drained of color so quick

" she whispered, gripping

tween them. He hadn't brought the gun. Something told him that would be pushing too far, too fast. "I wa

as if checking for witnesses. A behavior Marco had never see

ed her hands on her apron, leaving faint

in his father's precise handwriting. Some entries had symbols next to them that meant nothing

itchen and closed the ledger. "Your f

, even for his 'business trips.'" Marco made air quotes aro

"He's handling a co

arco pressed, watchin

before she shuttered her expres

." The words hung in the air between t

he might finally tell him the truth. Instead, she straighten

Until then, put everything back exactly where you found it. And Marco," she gripped his arm wit

u're sca

so unlike her that Marco took a step back. "A little

weren't steady anymore, and when Marco glanced out the window, he noticed she had closed the blin

exactly as he'd found it. The gun was cold and heavy in his hand, more real than anything in h

d or creative accounting. Men who kept loaded guns hid

street. A dark sedan with tinted windows. As he watched, the driver's side window

watching t

olled through his contacts, wondering who he could possibly talk to about this. His thum

echoed in his mind: Don

lls, the astronomy posters, and the shelf of science trophies-everything in his room spoke of a

hatever the truth was, Marco was certain of one thing: his entire life had