Controlling the Dead by Annie Walls

Author:Annie Walls [Walls, Annie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B00G8JB1FU
Published: 2013-10-25T22:00:00+00:00

*

Two days pass. Agitation worms its way through my being beyond control. Everything annoys the hell out of me—the inaction of waiting for Mago being number one. The warehouse full of zombies is a burden to hide. I’m so thwarted by the entire situation, I might go blow the whole thing up. Mostly, Rudy is leaving for an indefinite amount of time.

With burning eyes, I jump up and head to the targets. A few hours in, Julie comes to see me.

“Mac told me you were out here, ripping up the targets.”

“Yep.” I stop, disengaging an arrow. I wonder if she’s here to say bye. I doubt she cares.

She sighs, “Listen, Kan…” She bites her lip as the wind blows her blond curls into the air. “Rudy was raised by his irresponsible mother.” I raise my eyebrows. Why is she telling me this? “His mother went in and out jail. Often, and he’d go to live with his aunt for a while. That’s how I met him. His aunt was my dad’s secretary. He’d go back and forth, switching schools. Eventually his aunt passed away and his mother left him when he was of age.”

I’m speechless. She goes on, “During all this time, my dad became his dad. Did everything a dad was supposed to do with a son. Football games, fishing, archery, and he even worked at my dad’s construction company. We took him in when he had no other place to go, so he could finish school and start college. I don’t know for sure, but I think my dad asked him to take care of me before he died of the cancer he battled for only a year.

“When you two didn’t find Jonathan, I think it hit too close to home.” She laughs, “It’s what drove me nuts about him, keeping everything locked up to deal with himself.” It would hit close to home. He wants Ariella to have her mother and father. He doesn’t want to repeat the cycle.

Anger surges through me. Protectiveness rises to the surface as everything clicks into place. This is the reason he keeps himself closed off. He has not been the same since our looting trip and it got worse when Mac’s mother showed up, triggering memories. Without thinking, I grab her by the arms. A flash of fear flicks behind her eyes. She’s lucky I’m not squeezing her neck. “What you’re telling me is, you used this against him. Manipulating him,” I say through clenched teeth. Deadly calm. My Bersa’s presence throbs more than I’ve ever been aware of it before. She flinches and her face falls as if this never occurred to her. “Why tell me this? You’re leaving. He’s leaving.” And I’ve tried my damnedest to be supportive of the decision.

Her chin lifts in a defiant gesture and I suppress the urge to slap it off her face. I deserve a pat on the back. Scratch that. A pat on the back and a cookie.

“I want to find Jonathan,” she says, trying to stand a little straighter through my grip.

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