Spark of Hope (MacKenny Brothers #3) - Kathleen Kelly Page 0,15

the same password that you did as a kid?”

I chuckle. “Nah, that password only lets them in so far. It’s my way of letting my family believe I’m not into anything nefarious. From time to time, I let them break into my computer. It makes them think I’m doing okay, you know?”

“Yeah, I used to lie to Lola and tell her that her mom was taking good care of me. I didn’t want her to worry.”

The kid is looking at a scar on his arm.

“Did she do that to you?”

“Nah, it was one of her many boyfriends, better known as the guys she was using for her next fix.” Logan holds up his arm. “This was from one that slapped her around, so I got in between them, and he picked up a knife and stabbed me. It went all the way through. I pulled it out and stitched it myself.”

“You didn’t go to a hospital?”

He shakes his head. “Mom didn’t have insurance, and a knife wound would’ve attracted police attention, so I had to do it myself.”

Lola’s let this kid down. From everything I can gather from the internet when he lived with his dad, he was almost a straight-A student, but the moment he moved in with Yvette Cartland, that all changed. Logan has spent more time away from school than attending. If he continues to live with the Cartlands, he’ll either end up dead, a junkie, or worse.

“Did Lola know?”

I glance at him, and he shakes his head. “I kept it from her. Besides, what was she going to do? She lives in another town, and it’s convenient for her to have me live with Mom.”

“You mean Yvette?”

“Yeah.” I give him a sideways glance, and his lips turn down. “So, you believe me?”

“Yep. I did a deeper background check on Lola. One of the others looked into her last time.” I put on my Yoda voice. “Not as good as me, me thinks, hmm...”

Logan laughs. “Worst impression ever.”

“What? Come on, that was pretty damn good.”

In the distance, the guys’ bikes are parked in front of Ben Cartland’s house, so I pull over.

“Wanna take a walk with me?”

“They’ll see us.”

“Maybe, but if we keep to the shadows, they might not.” I grin. “You up for it?”

Logan nods, and we get out of the car. Quickly, we walk down the sidewalk, and when we get to his uncle’s house, we crouch down and creep up to a window. Peering in, there’s a couch and a television but no people.

Logan looks in too.

“Where is everyone?” I whisper.

“I can’t see anyone either.”

“Well, maybe you should both stand up?”

Turning around quickly, we both come face to face with Cutter.

“You scared the crap out of me,” I hiss.

“What the fuck are you two doing here?” Cutter pulls out a switchblade and begins playing with it. “You know your brothers won’t be pleased.”

“I can take care of myself.”

Cutter shakes his head and chuckles. “And junior here? You think he can take care of himself, too?”

I stare at Logan and realize Cutter is right. If anything had happened to the kid, it’d be my damn fault.

Logan straightens his shoulders and scans Cutter up and down, no fear in his face or stance. “I’m not a child.”

Logan walks past Cutter and deliberately bumps his shoulder into him as he passes. Cutter scowls at me and then watches Logan walk away.

“You better leave before I tell Kyle you were here.”

“You’re not going to tell him?”

“I’m not a rat. Besides, no harm, no foul. But you better hurry.”

I slap him on the shoulder as I jog back to my van. A sullen Logan is sitting inside with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Cheer up, Logan. Cutter isn’t going to rat us out. So, they’ll never know we were here.”

“We didn’t find anything, though.”

I start the van. “No, we didn’t, but it looked to me like no one was home.”

“What makes you say that?”

“No noise.” I grin at the kid and wink. “Unless, of course, they killed them.”

“Not funny.” Logan frowns.

“Not for them.”

Cutter

I wait until the van disappears into the early morning darkness before I walk back around and enter the house. Ben is sitting in a chair, and Sean is playing five-finger filet on his own hand. He nicks a finger and holds it to his mouth, sucking the blood away, then he stares up at me.

“Hold Ben’s hand still.”

It’s an old game he plays. Sean nicks his finger on purpose, so the person he’s going to do