Daughter of Zeus ✔

10.2

The guard handed Moretz a battered piece of tech. He stared at it, and for a moment, Ada thought he might smash it against the wall. The moment passed, and he smiled.

"I'm going to keep this for evidence, young lady. Although I'm required to by law, I will hold off on reporting this incident—give you a chance to seek Amnesty on your own. Take her away so I can enjoy dessert with my family."

"Fucker."

If her word choice wasn't saucy enough, the girl spit on the floor. Chancelin squeaked in disgust, while Phennell laughed. Ada held in a reaction. She was worried any of her responses might give away her true allegiances. The girl reminded her of herself, almost like the guards had dragged her in, and she was looking into a younger mirror. Did she want to end up as desperate, as pathetic, and as proud? Yes, she thought she might.

"We'll come back for you!" The girl's threat echoed down the hall as she was dragged away. "We'll get what we came for!"

"Let's finish our coffee, then we can take our dessert into the sitting room." Chancelin remained the staid host.

Everyone tried to pretend like what had just happened hadn't happened. It wasn't easy, but the offer of dessert helped.

Coffee and dessert were far from the way she imagined the night ending. There was supposed to be blood, screaming, begging, then silence. The sound of her vengeful dream dying out was a painful echo in her head.

"Actually, I'm not feeling too hot. I think I'm gonna head out," she said.

The family did everything they could to convince her to stay.

"No, sorry, I need to go." Ada lied herself away with a headache.

Moretz looked genuinely disappointed. Chancelin led Ada back to the sub-garage. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well."

Her accent made it sound like wail. She looked anything but sorry.

Neither of them mentioned the unknown girl and her attempt at breaking in. However, she decided to try.

"What was that girl after?"

Chancelin's face underwent a change. A shield came down, and it hardened her already stony features.

"I imagine she planned on kidnapping my husband."

Kidnapping rich Prominents. A profitable business for some.

There was a crazy period after August's death in which Ada considered taking it up, but she decided to pursue other interests.

And look where it got me.

"Surely they have kidnappings in, where was it, Indiana?"

Ada chuckled at the cute attempt at tripping her up.

"Iowa, ma'am. We have kidnappings, but I've never heard of one like that. Hell, I've never seen one first-hand."

Chancelin's smile displayed a lot of teeth and very little sweet. "Welcome to Atlanta."

Ada promised to return to the Moretz home another night, but she didn't know if she wanted to. He was nearly as perceptive as his wife, which was why Ada chose to leave rather than confront him. Left alone again, she would most assuredly kill him. Tonight was the wrong night for homicide. A full house encumbered her escape plan.

As she left, she considered whether she could still go through with the murder. Moretz wasn't the bum she'd been expecting to find. His new occupation made it harder to remember the monster he was underneath. And could she rob her brother and sister of their father? Could she force them to live her life, going on missing a part of themselves? The loss of August had ripped at her, and she hesitated to visit such pain on others.

August's face changed her mind. Yes, he was dead, but it had been his fault. He never told her, never told her what she could be capable of.

Moretz had been too busy feeling up little girls and inhaling blow to be a dependable father. For those reasons combined, she thought she still had the right type of anger to fry him. She couldn't do it alone. The only person who could help her she had pushed away. Still, she hoped he'd be willing to be an accomplice once more.

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