Like Mother Like Son Ch. 02

“No.”

“Where’s Izzy?”

“Dad took her to the store. She wanted some robot pony they keep advertising on TV.” She didn’t make any response, though he could see she was pulling food out to cook. “You were gone awhile,” he commented, eyes flicking over her disheveled appearance. Surprisingly she was again mute. She was usually easy to provoke, and her lack of response put him on edge. She probably had a headache; that would explain a lot. “Oh, and you got a package,” he mentioned offhandedly.

She paused in her chopping, raising an eyebrow. “Did you open it?”

“No, it’s still in the hall.”

She never got packages, and he had admittedly scoped it out, considering opening it then resealing it. His father had brought it from the post office, and unfortunately had been nearby or Gabriel might have done just that. Fortunately after a few hours of considering it, logic had won out curiosity.

“Bring it to me.”

Normally he would have made some smart ass comment, but he found himself curious. Would she open it in front of him? There was the chance that it was something stupid and insignificant, which would explain her lack of concern about him seeing the contents. He rose to go get it, throwing one last wayward glance at her, but she wasn’t paying attention.

The box was rectangular and at least three times longer than it was wide. It was strangely narrow, which had piqued his interest. It was heavier than it looked, but not so much as to be cumbersome. When he came back and set it on the island, she turned to him, crossing her arms on the marble, bloody knife still in hand. He watched her tap the tip on the dark counter, the sound metallic and somewhat foreboding. He set it down in front of her, pulling at his shirt unconsciously. She pushed the knife across the counter at him suddenly, the blade scraping at the marble. Gabriel eyed it warily, though his right hand had reached up automatically to finger the handle.

“It’s for you. Open it.”