Serial Games (Virginia Justice Book One) (27 page)
Read Serial Games (Virginia Justice Book One) Online
Authors: K. Victoria Chase
Tags: #Virginia Justice - Book One
Sara adjusted the seatbelt, which rested too close to her neck. Did she still desire his approval? Sara snorted. No. She didn’t need it; she loved herself enough to never yearn for affection again, no matter the form. After confirming the prognosis herself, she’d put her father’s affairs in order and return to her life.
Letting out a groan did little to ease her irritation. “If I’m not there in five minutes…” She slowed the car when a familiar black mailbox came into view. She released a sigh in relief. Sara turned the steering wheel to the right and accelerated slowly past the mailbox. The faded white of their last name on the box was nearly lost in the dark background. Her father was meticulous about everything; nothing was ever out of place, or left in disrepair.
Sara pressed the accelerator to the floor. The tires struggled to grip the shifting gravel beneath the speed of their rotation. Sara gripped the steering wheel tightly, careful not to fly off the winding, narrow road that led to the cottage. The dirt from the ground created a light cloud around the vehicle when she braked right in front of the main door.
Not minding the dust, Sara hopped out of the car, slammed the door, and stopped short. Something wasn’t right. Her eyes took in the small wooden structure. The front porch light was out, despite the shadowy darkness outside. The screen door banged in a slow rhythm as a gentle wind drew it out and nudged it back into place. One gray shutter, next to the kitchen bay window, hung loosely from its nails. She inhaled; the usual scent of burnt wood was absent in the cool evening air.
Sara frowned. She slid her hands into her tight jean pockets and proceeded up the stone walkway to the bright red front door. Sara reached out to push the doorbell and then hesitated. What if this was a mistake? Her father might be using his “illness” as an excuse to control her again.
Sara closed her eyes and blew out a shaky breath. She was a grown woman. A federal law enforcement officer. No man would ever control her again. She was in charge. Her eyes flew open and she gouged the ringer.
With hands on hips, she waited. Thirty seconds later, she rang the bell again. Nothing. A low snarl escaped her lips, and she jammed her finger into the doorbell once more. A woodpecker’s knocking on a nearby tree answered. The screen door squeaked loudly as Sara pulled it open. She kept her ear to the door for a few seconds. No movement. Sara glanced around for the small porcelain cat that housed the key. She found it tucked beneath a hedge. After she removed the key from its hiding place, Sara unlocked the front door. She had to shove the door a little as it seemed to stick to the frame.
“Dad?” Sara clamped her mouth shut. She hadn’t used that term in years. “Jim?” Yes, that was more natural. “Jim? It’s Sara. Are you home? Ugh!” With one hand, she covered her nose and mouth. The putrid stench of rotten food and mold nearly knocked her back through the front door.
Sara cleared the entryway and stepped down into the living room. “What in the world?” Her eyes roamed over piles of pizza boxes, scattered papers, and…roaches. She winced at the sight of the long, dark insects that darted across the floor, on the table, and over the pizza boxes. A blanket and pillow lay spread over the nearby couch. Did her father sleep in the living room? Why not his bedroom?
The bedroom
…
Sara raced through the living room, down a small hallway that led to the master bedroom and another smaller bedroom. She caught the doorframe of the hall bathroom and looked back over her shoulder, just in case he’d passed out on the floor. Both the hallway and the bathroom were too dark to make out anything, and she felt along the nearby wall for the light switch. Once she illuminated both areas, she let out a small sigh of relief. No sign her father was in the restroom. She proceeded to the master.
The door to her father’s room stood slightly ajar. Sara rapped her knuckles on the door a couple of times. The force pushed it open. The queen-sized bed was unmade; papers were scattered across the sheets. His room was as messy as the living room: clothes hung from the open drawers of his dresser, brown moving boxes overflowed from his walk-in closet, and the smell of something stale…perhaps food. Sara ventured into the room and no sooner had she reached the foot of the bed did she see a Chinese food carton half-hidden by the comforter. She turned her gaze away before she witnessed another cockroach scurry away from the unfinished meal.
A quick check of the master bath did not uncloak her father. Sara jogged to the kitchen and the door that led to a small shed behind the house. From the door’s window, she could see the fastened lock on the shed’s door. No way her father would have secured himself inside the shed, so she turned her attention back to the living room.
A week’s worth of pizza boxes and Chinese food containers told her nothing except her normally perfectionist father had become a slob. Sara released an audible groan. The loud chime of her cell phone caused her to jump. The screen displayed an unrecognizable number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, baby doll.”
Her father.
“Jim, where are you? I’m at the cottage…”
Her father hacked up what sounded like a lung before he answered. “Not safe there anymore.”
Sara’s brows came together in confusion. “Not safe? What are you talking—”
“Listen, baby doll, meet me at Joe’s Cafe on the corner of—”
“I remember where it’s at.” Sara gritted her teeth. She hated when he called her baby doll. It reminded her too much of what she had been growing up — a doll. Plus, she didn’t appreciate the secrecy and the inconvenience of driving out to his abandoned house. If it wasn’t safe, then what was she doing here?
“Good, good. I’ll be there in half an hour.”
The line went dead. Sara resisted the urge to scream. It would take her thirty minutes just to get out of the woods, and then another ten before she made it to the cafe. What if her father chose not to wait until she arrived? She wouldn’t agree to another meeting…at least not today. With the heavy traffic on Interstate 95, it took her a couple of hours to drive down, and she’d already put in a full day’s work at the DC office. Her muscles ached and her eyelids were heavy. She just wanted to find a hotel, take a long hot shower, and crawl into bed. Doug would expect her fresh for work tomorrow.
Forty minutes later, Sara pulled open the door to Joe’s Cafe. She scanned the patrons for her father. Her mouth dropped in surprise at the man she found. She almost didn’t recognize the man who sired her. He sat in a darkened corner and nervously shook. His normally smooth blonde hair was thinned and disheveled. Several days’ growth of a beard mixed with red and gray covered an otherwise pale visage. Even though he remained seated, he’d lost a significant amount of weight from the lean and athletic form he possessed in his prime.
Sara moved slowly forward. Jim raised his head and their green eyes met. He cracked a genuine smile. Sara’s heart resisted the urge to warm. She still hadn’t forgiven him for what he’d done…would never forgive him.
He struggled to stand and Sara questioned whether he had indeed told her the truth about being ill. She waved a hand in a downward motion, urged him to stay seated. She took the seat across from him.
“Sara, honey.” His voice cracked.
She steeled herself against the rush of tears she saw in his eyes, the color returning to his pallor cheeks. Were they tears of joy? Tears of happiness at seeing her? Perhaps he was thrilled at the thought he could manipulate her one last time.
“You mind telling me what’s going on, Jim?” Her father frowned at the use of his given name. “Your place is a mess.” Sara’s jaw hardened at the rush of memories. “I remember a time when you were keen that my own room be spotless…and how you punished me when it wasn’t.”
He held up a skeletal hand for her to stop. Sara saw dry skin and overgrown nails. Her eyes narrowed on him as he struggled to take a sip of coffee. His hands trembled, most likely by the weight of the mug.
“I’m not that man anymore. I’ve changed.”
Sara snorted.
“It’s true. Facing mortality makes you think differently about things…about life.” The skin of his neck stretched as he turned his head to gaze out a nearby window. A wistful look came to his eyes.
“How much time are we talking about?”
Jim chuckled. “Not much, but I’m sure it’s too much for you.”
“So…”
“It’s like I said on the phone. A few weeks, maybe a month at the most.”
“Cancer?” Sara asked softly. The news she could be rid of her father in less than a month didn’t produce the elation she had once dreamed about as a teenager. A world where her father didn’t exist…she’d already created it.
Jim nodded. “Prostate. Really aggressive, the docs say. Nothing they can do but make my life comfortable. But I can’t have that either.”
“If you cleaned up a little, maybe hire a maid or something.” Sara leaned forward, her elbows on the table. “You don’t have to live in filth. There are assisted-living facilities—”
He cut her off with an emphatic shake of his head. “That won’t work. I have to keep moving now.”
“Keep moving?”
“Or they’ll find me.”
“What?” Sara leaned back, startled. Had the cancer made her father go mad? “Who do you think is looking for you?”
“The men who are trying to kill me.”
Marked by the Mob: Virginia Justice Book Two (June 2014)
K. Victoria Chase loves to read, but enjoys daydreaming about romance instead. She received degrees in Criminal Justice and Diplomacy and worked as a federal law enforcement officer for several years before deciding to write a complete novel. Today, K. Victoria Chase is an Amazon bestselling author of clean, interracial contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and Christian romance.
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The Santiago Brothers
Richards Family Short Stories
Richards Family Romance
Title 2 (Summer 2014)
Virginia Justice
Serial Games (May 2014)
Marked by the Mob (June 2014)
Killer Shoot (July 2014)
Untitled Series