The house was packed with chattering guests, but to Zack, the world had gone deathly silent, so silent he could hear the guard's voice like a gunshot in the stillness.
"Mr. Pierce!" The guard's calls were urgent, desperate.
Zack's face went ashen in an instant, his eyes bloodshot. His legs moved before his mind could catch up, and he staggered out of the courtyard like a man gut-punched by grief.
Margaret chased after him, her voice shrill. "Turn around this instant!"
He turned mechanically, his mind flashing back to that morning, the maid whispering frantically into his mother's ear. The realization hit him like a sledgehammer.
"The morgue...they need me to identify..." His voice was hollow, barely audible.
"It's my birthday today! You can go tomorrow! That damn girl, can't even die
