Page 91 of Unhinged Kallie

“Remind me not to challenge you to axe throwing,” I said, and she finally turned and looked at me.

“Not funny.”

“It kinda is.”

I walked over and wrapped her up in my arms. Burying my nose in her hair, I breathed in the cinnamon scent I loved so much. She was a walking ball of chaos, but she was my serenity in the world. I’d lost my parents and then Kirby, but she was why I never gave up on life or my dreams. No matter what, my heart was forever tethered to her.

“I’m happy you’re here. I’ve missed you,” Kallie mumbled into my chest, and the vice of worry wrapped around my heart eased.

“Then what’s going on?”

Sighing, she stepped back and rubbed at her face. “Did you know that my dad never killed the man that murdered my mother?”

I shoved my hands in my pockets and thought before shaking my head. “No, I don’t think it ever came up. I don’t even remember overhearing your dad and Abel talking about it.”

Nodding, she continued, “Apparently, he’s been hunting him and found the woman who was his girlfriend then. She worked as my mom’s assistant, and she warned him.”

“Oh shit.”

“He never told me any of this. Worse than that, he says he had other priorities, and that’s why he didn’t find and kill this guy years ago. Nothing could be as important as that. Anyway, I got pissed and wanted to kill her and may have blown up. I killed the head cheerleader at school, but in all fairness, she was bullying Talon and had it coming.”

“This is a lot.”

“Right. So now the school is closed for three weeks so the detectives can search and collect evidence, and my dad is trying to ground me like I’m some child all because I want to help hunt this man down. He needs to die.” Her face darkened, and her eyes were fierce.

“So, can I speak freely?”

She walked away and pulled her knife from the wood. “Ugh, does that mean you’re going to try and talk some logic into me?”

“Maybe.”

Kallie leaned against the post and could’ve posed for any cowgirl photoshoot. She looked so sexy with the hay backdrop.

“Fine, I guess.”

“I get why your dad didn’t chase this guy down, and before you throw your knife at me, let me explain. You were six, and I was nine. If something happened to him, we would’ve been without both of them. Kallie, I’d already lost my parents in a car crash. I barely remember them, but I remember the pain of that loss. I remember my mom’s perfume and my dad’s laugh. They are whisps in the wind now, but I still miss them every time I think about them, as I know you do when you think about your mom.”

It was so rare that I thought about the life I may have had if they lived, and I always felt guilty when I thought about how I would never take back meeting Kallie. I never wanted them to die, but if they hadn’t…it left my gut twisted in knots.

“I know you think your dad is Superman, and in many ways, he is, but the reality is that he’s a man. Just like everyone else, he can bleed, and he can die. He might have found and killed this guy with no problem, but what if he didn’t? What if something happened? What if he was too emotional to handle it then? He may not feel like we do, but he feels rage and loss, and he loved your mom. You have to see that to this day.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“If I lost you…I would be a basket case. I wouldn’t be able to think straight. You being an adult is why I think he’s hunting him now. He knows you’ll be okay if something happens to him.”

“So, you’re saying instead of not trusting me, it’s cause he does trust me that he’s now hunting him?”

I shrugged. “I wouldn’t pretend to know the inner workings of your dad’s mind, but it would be my theory. Living with him for so many years, your dad shows distinct patterns in behavior and what drives him. I also understand why he doesn’t want you to help track the man down. I mean, for all his inability to love speeches, you are the most important thing in his life. If something happened to you, I’m not sure he’d survive.”

“Why do you always have to be logical?”

“It’s what I do best.” I smiled as she stepped into me and hugged me.

“There’s something else you do extremely well.” Her voice switched to devious as she rubbed herself against my body. It amazed me how she could seamlessly switch from one emotion to another.

“We better not. What if your dad comes looking for us?”

“Fine, but I need your help with something.”