Read Nowhere to Run for Free Online Page B

yellow neon sign when she’d entered. She knew Hague went to Rosa’s; his only habitual place of business, and she suspected his “own table” was the establishment’s way of appeasing him, and wondered what would happen were someone already at his table should Hague arrive. An ugly scene, no doubt.
    In any case, he wasn’t going to make it there tonight, and Liv wasn’t interested in going there with Della. “Is Albert bringing Lorinda?” she asked.
    “I’m sure.” Della made a face. Their mutual dislike of Lorinda was the only thing Liv and Della totally agreed upon. “Can I get you a cup of tea?” Now she was accommodating with a capital A. “Have you had dinner? No, you’re just off work. I could make up some sandwiches. Tuna. Hague doesn’t really like meat, as you know. Or, grilled cheese?”
    “I appreciate it, but I really should get going.”
    “I’m sorry I was a bitch,” Della said suddenly. “But with Hague like that . . .” She glanced toward him where he sat with head lying back, his eyes now open and staring sightlessly toward the ceiling, “I don’t really know what I’ll say to Albert. We don’t have a lot in common except your brother.”
    Liv didn’t have a lot in common with her father, either. “I’ve got groceries in the car,” she lied.
    “Tell me more about this package. I can talk about it with Hague and it’ll be easier coming from me. I know him.”
    “He already read the note and saw the photos. There’s not a lot more to tell.” Liv glanced at her brother. “He was a toddler when our mother committed suicide.”
    “I want—”
    But what she wanted was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, a deep dong, like a ship’s tolling bell.
    “He’s here,” Della said. She lifted her chin as Liv girded her loins.
    Della walked briskly to the door and threw it open. Liv followed after her, a few paces back, and when she looked past Della she saw her father and Lorinda appear inside the open freight elevator as it bumped to a stop on their floor. Albert slid back the metal bar, stepped into the hallway in front of his wife, then looked up to see them.
    “Liv,” he said, stopping short in surprise.
    Lorinda quickly moved out of the elevator and half stood in front of him, as if she were protecting him. “Olivia?”
    “Hi,” Liv greeted them.
    “What are you doing here?” Lorinda demanded and Liv inwardly sighed.
    Lorinda Dugan hadn’t changed much in the almost twenty years since she’d married Liv’s father. Same dyed black hair that looked even more unnatural than it had then, same line between her brows, same flat mouth and lack of expression. If Albert had been in the market for a shrew, well, he’d hit the jackpot. Liv didn’t like her then, and she didn’t like her now, and the feeling was mutual. Della might be a pain, but she was good for Hague. What part Lorinda played for Liv’s father was a mystery that had no reasonable answer, but then, since the terrible night of Deborah’s death, Liv hadn’t been all that comfortable with her father either.
    “I was just visiting Hague,” Liv answered.
    Lorinda sniffed. “Yes,” she said, as if Liv merely stating the obvious were one more horrendous fault.
    “How is he?” Albert asked, his jaw tight.
    Della said, “He’s in one of his states. Come in.”
    “He was last time, too,” Lorinda answered with a sniff, her dark gaze snapping between Della and Liv.
    “Stress brings them on,” Della responded as she and Liv both stepped back, making way for Lorinda and Albert to enter the small apartment. Having them crowd into the room as well only made the place seem darker, the air denser. Liv felt anxiety crawl around under her skin and surreptitiously glanced toward the grandfather’s clock, wondering how many minutes of them she would be able to stand before she needed to bolt.
    “What’s that?” Albert asked, his gaze on the envelope in Liv’s hands.
    Liv couldn’t think of how to