The Portal ~ Large Print by Christopher Allan Poe Page B

direction. Then she saw the bullet hole in his forehead. She clamped her hand over her mouth. Slowly, his face was dragged from view.
    “If we don’t find Daddy,” Cody said. “Mister Vincent said you’ll die.”
    Stromsky really had been right outside the entire time. Waiting, just as Cody had said. She couldn’t hide from the truth anymore. Cody had warned her because he knew what would happen if they’d climbed through that window. The same way that he’d known to wait for her in the basement. The same way he’d known Jay-Jay’s name last night.
    All day, she’d silenced the voice in her head that told her Cody was somehow connected to everything. The storm in the warehouse. Maybe even Jarod’s transformation. Did that mean…No. Never. Genetics or not, they weren’t the same person. Her baby was not destined to become that monster. As Vivian reached the staircase, she was certain they’d be dead if she hadn’t listened to him.
    ‘ If we don’t find Daddy, Mister Vincent said you’ll die. ’
    “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you,” she whispered, and then started up the steps. “Now let’s go get your father.”
    She prayed that Jarod was in human form.



CHAPTER 20
    V ivian stood in complete darkness on the last step of the basement’s staircase. Through the walls, a churning dishwasher masked all other sounds. She cracked open the door. Light from the estate’s central courtyard striped the deserted kitchen. She moved to the counter and set Cody down.
    Where could she hide him when dealing with Jarod? Obviously not in the basement. Or under the kitchen sink with the chemicals. Every closet seemed inadequate.
    “You have to be fucking kidding me.” Jarod walked into the connected hallway. She grabbed Cody, ducked, and held her finger over her lips to tell him to be quiet.
    “The police picked her up with almost fifty thousand in cash,” someone else answered. She peeked around the countertop. David Rankin stood in the doorway. If he’d already escaped the interrogation room and made it here, the police wouldn’t be far behind. “She was busted trying to buy guns from an undercover.”
    “If you were doing your job, none of this would be happening,” Jarod said. Though he was out of view, his voice sounded human. “You should’ve found her last year. Now she magically escapes from a goddamn police precinct.”
    “It was beyond my control. I had the police chief send most of his staff home. How could I know that she’d steal some idiot local’s gun and escape?”
    “Please give me one more excuse. It’ll be your last.”
    “Sir,” a third voice echoed down from what sounded like the upstairs balcony. “Your son isn’t in his room.”
    Where could they hide? The estate would be crawling with security soon. Jarod grabbed Rankin and slammed him against the front door. As they argued, Vivian carried Cody down the hallway.
    They’d already searched his room. It might buy some time to go there. She ran to the rear of the house, up the back staircase, and into the third door on the left. Leaving the lights off, she tiptoed through a mess of toys.
    “I want you hide under here.” She set him down next to his bed. He crawled backwards until only his head poked out. “No matter what happens, stay hidden until I come back.”
    As she kissed his forehead, she expected him to resist, but he slinked underneath. Did that mean she was making the correct choice? How much did he actually know with his sixth sense? Not enough, probably, or he would’ve warned her that Jarod was going to show up at the cabin last night. Wouldn’t he have?
    The hardwood floor squeaked behind her. Was somebody there? She didn’t dare look. The bedroom light clicked on. Giant stuffed animals and plastic robots overpopulated the bright yellow room.
    “I told you what would happen if you ever left me,” Jarod said. His footsteps moved closer.
    “We need to talk.” With the gun tucked into the front of her