The only windows that opened in the house were those in her bedroom—Ralph and Lianne Lovitz preferred their air processed. The fire was just beginning to eat through the wallpaper on her bedroom wall, the awful girly stuff her mother had chosen, and she watched it go with mixed feelings. She headed for the casement windows, ready to shove them open when he stopped her.
“Wait,” he said, panting. “It could cause a backdraft and burn us to a cinder.”
“We don’t have any other choice,” she said. “The swimming pool is down below. If we can just jump out far enough, we’ll be okay. Otherwise we’ll both be dead, so we might as well go for it. Just answer me one question.”
“I’m not answering anything…”
“What did your grandfather say to me before he died.”
“You speak Japanese!” he snapped.
“I couldn’t hear him.”
“It doesn’t fucking matter.”
“What did he say?”
Exasperated, Reno ran his hand through his thick hair. “He said ‘Welcome to the family, Granddaughter,’” he snarled.
“In that case, maybe it’s worth living after all,” she said.
He moved away from her and shoved her door closed with his shoulder, cursing as it burned through the rough shirt. “That should slow it down.” He caught her hand in his, and shoved the casement windows, leaning over to look down at the pool below. He turned back, and there was an odd light in his eyes. “Did I ever tell you that I can’t live without you?” he said.
“No,” she said. “You can tell me about it when we survive.” She could barely breathe, death was eating its way toward her, and she wanted to laugh out loud with the joy of it.
He shook his head, and then grinned at her, Reno, even with the shorter black hair, the bad boy who liked to live dangerously. “Come on, Ji-chan. We don’t have all day.” He grabbed her hand, and they ran, throwing themselves through the open window with all the force they could muster.
She lost her hold on his arm as she went sailing through the cool, smoky air, and then the water went over her head, and she was choking, her feet touching the bottom of the swimming pool and then pushing up, up, until her head broke the surface.
“Reno!” she screamed.
He bobbed up beside her, and he looked as if he’d just taken his favorite ride at Disneyland.
“Right here, Ji-chan.”
“Bitch in heat?” she said. And she punched him in the jaw as hard as she could. Watching with satisfaction as he sank back down beneath the chlorinated water.
23
“We’ve been seeing a little too much of you lately, young lady,” the emergency-room doctor said. “Twice in three days is not a good thing.”
Jilly tried to summon a smile, not quite sure if it was working. Her sprained ankle felt as if it was broken, though they assured her it wasn’t; she had burns on the left side of her body, bruises just about everywhere else; and it was sheer luck she hadn’t drowned.
“Have you been depressed? Feelings of worthlessness? I can arrange for someone to talk to you.”
She stared at him for a moment. “I’m not suicidal. Someone was trying to kill me.”
He patted her hand. “Let me call the social worker.”
“I don’t need to talk to someone. I need to go home.”
“The police are wanting to talk with you, as well. You’ve been through a shock—it’s no wonder you’re disoriented.”
“I’m not disoriented!” she said. “Where’s Reno?”
“North of Las Vegas, last I heard,” he said.
Kicking him would send her off to the psych ward immediately, so she restrained herself. “The man who was brought in with me. Where is he?”