Free Kill You Last by Todd Strasser Page B

the interviewer had implied—that other photographers thought Dad’s reason for wanting to see Destiny alone sounded dubious.
    The show went to a commercial, and I muted the TV.
    “That doesn’t prove anything,” I said. “All that girl said was that Dad wanted to meet her alone. We don’t even know if she’s telling the truth. Maybe she made the whole thing up just to get on TV. People do that all the time. Or maybe she didn’t understand what Dad meant.”
    I waited for Mom to say something, but once again she seemed to be gone. As if her mind was a million miles away. “Mom?”
    She turned to me and blinked. “You’re right, dear, it doesn’t prove anything.”
    I studied her tired face. “You’re not just saying that, right? I mean, to protect me?”
    “From what?”
    “From the truth,” I said, puzzled that she didn’t seem to understand.
    “The truth,” she repeated woodenly.
    Suddenly, I felt a new concern. Was this all too much for her? For years she’d been pretending that everything in our family was perfect and that we were just like every other family. Was she coming apart, just as our world was?

Chapter 19
    “MOM, ARE YOU okay?” I asked.
    Her expression changed, as if she realized I was studying her. She reached for the salad tongs and placed some greens on her plate. “Of course I am, darling. It’s just…this is…you know…a difficult time.” She picked up a slice of pizza and offered it to me. “But don’t worry, we’ll get through it. Another slice?”
    I accepted the slice even though I knew I didn’t have the appetite to take more than a few bites.
    “I was thinking that maybe we’d have a dinner party the weekend before Thanksgiving,” Mom said. “Invite the neighbors, you know?”
    It felt like time for a major reality check. Dad was being questioned by the police, and Mom was talking about a party? Did she really think the neighbors would want to come, given the awful news surrounding our family? Only if by then this whole mystery about the girls was cleared up and Dad’s innocence was proven.
    Mom was counting on that.
    So was I.
    We talked about whom we could invite. Because my parents hardly went out, they didn’t have a lot of friends in Soundview. There were some neighbors like the Sisks, and some women Mom met for book club every Thursday. For the most part, Dad’s friends were the same ones he’d had back when he worked in the city.
    After dinner I put the unfinished salad and pizza in the refrigerator, in case Dad was hungry when he got home. Back upstairs it was hard not to go online, but I really didn’t want to communicate with anyone. As I did my homework, I kept expecting a text from Roman, and I was surprised when none arrived. Had she not heard the news? Had she heard it and was trying to be sensitive? Or had she gone out? After all, it was Friday.
    Later I heard the back door open downstairs and knew Dad was home. I found him in the kitchen pouring tequila into a shot glass.
    “Hey, sweetheart.” He looked and sounded worn out.
    “Hi, Dad.” I knew I sounded glum.
    He took a sip. “Guess I don’t have to ask what’s wrong.”
    “What did the police want to know?”
    “What you’d expect,” he said. “Did I have anything to do with the missing girls? Did I know anything about why they were missing? Did I have any idea where they were? That kind of stuff. Don’t worry, I passed. Questions, lie-detector test, whole nine yards.”
    “Lie detector?” I repeated, surprised.
    He took a long sip and, despite his obvious fatigue, winked mischievously. He’d passed! He was innocent! For a split second I felt an urge to throw my arms around his neck, but the memory of what I’d seen earlier on TV stopped me. “Dad, while you were down at the police station? There was something on TV. A girl who you signed up for modeling. She said you wanted to meet her alone.”
    Dad’s eyebrows rose curiously. “No kidding? Did they say