Twisted World: A Broken World Novel by Kate L. Mary Page B

it.
    “No.” I shook my head and balled the paper up, crushing it in my palm.
    This couldn’t be right. This was just some crazy person who had heard a rumor and wrote it down. Or someone who was trying to push me over the edge right along with my mom.
    But what if it was true? What if Dad was alive and they had him somewhere in the CDC? Using him. Experimenting on him like he was a rat.
    “No,” I whispered again, tightening my hand on the note. “No.”
    It didn’t matter how many times I said the word, though, there was a part of me that thought Mom might not be crazy after all. That my dad was still alive and if I could just find him, I could save him.
    How, though, and who did I turn to?
    Jackson wasn’t someone I would ever consider. I trusted him, but I also knew that he put way too much faith in his father, who was the most corrupt person I’d ever met. If I told Jackson about this note, he’d insist on telling his dad, and that would be the end of my dad. Assuming he was still alive.
    Mom? No. She was already struggling, and even though it might help her a little to think that I believed her, this confirmation of her suspicions might push her over the edge completely.
    Parv? She was the Judicial Officer of New Atlanta, putting her in charge of all law enforcement. Something like this could put her in a sticky spot. Not to mention the fact that she didn’t seem to be dealing well with her own husband’s death. She put on a brave face, but since Joshua’s accident she’d been home less and less.
    Uncle Al was the obvious choice. He’d listen to what I had to say. Be objective and helpful. He was pretty high up, so he could do some snooping around, but not so high up that anyone was keeping tabs on him. Yeah, Al was the person I needed to talk to for sure.
    Of course, he was on patrol right now and most likely wouldn’t be back until morning. Charlie had stayed with him, so there was a chance he’d walk her back at some point, but more than likely she’d tag along while he patrolled the entertainment district. She liked to pretend she was interested in his work, but I suspected that she just craved the drama that came with the job.
    I’d have to talk to him tomorrow. After I got off work, but before my meeting with Dragon. It didn’t leave me much time, but it wasn’t like I had another choice. I couldn’t sit on this for too long or it was going to eat away at me like it had been eating at Mom. If I lost my mind too, we were done for.
    I hauled myself up off the floor and headed for the elevator, my legs heavy with exhaustion and the weight of the note making things worse. At this rate, I was only going to catch a couple hours of sleep, but it was rest I was going to need if I wanted to get through tomorrow. Six hours of work, then a few more hours at Dragon’s bar, assuming he didn’t change his mind between now and then. I had some serious doubts about that man’s sanity. Just thinking about tomorrow made me even more exhausted than before.
    I slammed my thumb into the up button, but nothing happened. Great. The elevator was broken. Again.
    Guess it was the stairs for me.

I t had practically killed my pride to accept that asshole’s offer, but half asleep and lying in a bed softer than the fur of a damn cat, I couldn’t bring myself to give a shit. I could have stayed here forever.
    The sound of someone knocking on the door jerked me awake and I grabbed the pillow—a fucking feather pillow of all things—and pulled it over my head. It had to be early afternoon by now, but I didn’t plan on getting my ass out of this bed until I had to be at Dragon’s. Maybe if I ignored whoever was at the door, they would get the point and go away.
    A minute went by and my body started to relax, but I was once again jerked from sleep when the asshole on the other side of the door knocked again. This time louder.
    “Shit,” I muttered, shoving myself off the mattress and practically falling out of