Chapter 16: The Good Samaritan
"Hey! What are you doing back here?"
Chloe spun around. A man in grease-stained coveralls stood by the back door of the diner, holding a bag of trash. He squinted at her, his eyes dropping to the flannel shirt, then back to her face. Recognition flickered in his eyes. He had seen the broadcast.
"You're that girl," he said, taking a slow step forward, reaching for the cell phone clipped to his belt. "Hey, it's okay. You're safe now. Your dad has been looking everywhere for you."
Dad. Julian Vance wasn't her father. He was the monster who had murdered her real father to get to Lilith.
"Stay away from me," Chloe warned, backing up.
May you like
"I'm just gonna call the sheriff, sweetheart. You need a doctor."
He dialed. Chloe didn't think. Instinct, raw and violent, took over. She grabbed a heavy, discarded glass soda bottle from the top of the dumpster and swung. It shattered against the side of the mechanic's head. He crumpled to the pavement with a groan. Chloe dropped the jagged bottleneck, her hands shaking violently. She was crossing a line she could never uncross. She was becoming her mother.
