The Bad Things (Book 5)

Chapter 2. I Need Answers

It took me thirty minutes to reach my aunt's house. Hattie lived alone, as far as I knew. She had been married once but divorced shortly after and never remarried again. Her car sat in the driveway, and nothing looked abnormal. I looked around the house and through the windows. As far as I could see, Hattie was the only one in the house.

I kicked the backdoor in, not far from where Hattie stood. The door flew open and banged against the wall. She stood near a counter in the kitchen. Her eyes widened, and she gasped. She reached for a knife, but I fired my gun at the knife block, and it flew off the counter. Hattie spun around to face me.

"Hayden, wait!" She threw one hand up as if it was going to slow me down.

I fisted her hair, arched her head back, and placed the gun under her chin. "If you tell me what I want to know, I'll let you live. If you don't, I'll kill you and figure it out anyway."

"H-how do I know you won't kill me after I tell you?" Hattie stammered.

I shrugged. "You don't. You're just going to have to take my word for it."

Tears built in her eyes. "I don't know what this about, Hayden, but we can work it out—"

"Really? Surely, you must know Iris is awake. She knows what really happened."

"I-I didn't know my brother would kill his kids. I never wanted that."

"Tell me where my real parents are? I want names, dates, and addresses. Speaking of Harold, where the hell is he?"

"I don't know where Harold is."

"You're lying," I sneered and yanked her hair harder.

"No—" Hattie cut off and screamed when I threw her across the kitchen. She slid and rolled into a cupboard and hit her head. She clutched the back of her head and cried in pain.

I kneeled over her and put the gun to her forehead. "Tell me the fucking truth," I spat.

"M-Miami, that's all I know," she said. "He knows that Iris is awake. He plans to kill both of you, but he's being smart about it. He's not going to come directly at you. I don't know what he's planning. He has a lot of men behind him. You won't beat him."

"Where are my real parents?"

"C-California. Los Angeles, California. I have some documents I can give to you and a couple of pictures."

"Great," I said and smiled. I grabbed her by the hair and pulled her off the floor. I steered her out of the kitchen and shoved her into the living room but kept the gun on her.

She walked over to a filing cabinet beside her desk and slowly handed me a file that she pulled out.

"Stay out of this. Do you hear me?" I opened the file and looked at the last name in the file. "Are you sure this is it?"

"I don't know where they live now, but the address in which they lived when you were born is in there." The confidence rang clear in her voice.

I gazed through the file but didn't look at any of the pictures. "If you come after me, you'll die with Harold."

Hattie nodded and sobbed heavily.

I spun around and headed for the door. I heard a gun cock. I grabbed a pocketknife from my jeans, spun around, and threw it before Hattie could fire the weapon. The knife entered her throat, and the gun she had fell to the floor. She wrapped her hand around the knife as she fell to her knees. She gurgled and fell face first as blood flowed down her neck. I pulled my knife from her throat.