by Derek Haas
“What?”
“How many girls have you assaulted?” Peyton asks as she opens up the freezer and pulls out the ice trays.
“I . . . I . . .” he stutters.
Peyton flings the ice trays at him so the red Jell-O streaks across his face and oozes down his cheeks.
“How many girls have you raped?” she asks, a bite in her voice.
“Oh God,” he says, wiping his eyes with the backs of his hands.
“Not even close,” Peyton answers.
“I don’t know what your daughter told you . . .”
“Wrong again,” Peyton says. “We’re not parents.”
“Then who . . . who are you?”
Peyton looks at me for the answer.
I am Columbus.
The way I live is to have something to live for.
ALSO BY DEREK HAAS
The Silver Bear
Columbus
Dark Men
The Right Hand
A Different Lie
THE WAY I DIE
Pegasus Books, Ltd.
148 W 37th Street, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2018 by Derek Haas
First Pegasus Books edition April 2018
Interior design by Maria Fernandez
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review in a newspaper, magazine, or electronic publication; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN: 978-1-68177-662-0
ISBN: 978-1-68177-717-7 (e-book)
Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company