don’t—” I didn’t know what to say? I wasn’t following what she was saying? This was crazy. This was… this was madness.
“Alice Wilde was drugged,” Bobbi hissed. “Someone made it look like she got drunk and high and drove her car straight into a fucking tree!” Blood dripped from the knife, my mom’s blood. “That someone was Celeste Chambers.”
It hit me then, what this was all about. Something that had happened three years ago, something I had nothing to do with. If I had to guess, I’d say Celeste never did that, but Ollie’s sons—his demented twins who were related to the Scotts? I’d say it was them.
But none of that mattered now.
“Why me?” My voice cracked, and I nearly broke down.
“You moved here, into this house. You took Celeste’s place, and because that bitch is nowhere to be found, someone has to pay for what she did.” Bobbi shook her head. “I had it all planned out, too. I spent so long watching you, trying to see if, maybe, she was hiding in this house. I gave you the money, I figured you’d hire the first Google search result you found. For me that was a man named Jacob Hall.” She smirked. “Did he ever tell you he was spying on you?”
I could say nothing, because right now she was having a ball. This was what she’d wanted all along. Revenge. She’d probably spent years planning it.
“I learned who you were. I became your friend, all the while feeding Brittany Pots whatever it was she wanted to hear.”
Finally, I found my voice, “You were the one who called the police about Archer’s father.”
“Looks like you’ve learned something after all,” she said. “Brittany was okay with it, because she knew she was losing him. The dance was all a show, your win staged. She knew what you were doing, because I told her. I also grabbed a few hairs off your brush when I came over. That helped my dad point his fingers at you.”
The more I found out, the more I hurt inside. “Deetra and Chelsea… I assume you killed them, too.” I watched as she nodded. “What about Archer’s mom?”
“Me,” she said. “Her nurse was very welcoming, until I pushed her down the stairs, and Brittany was all for coming back and making a scene, but she was too weak. She wanted Archer, and she knew to get Archer, she’d have to get rid of you—but you’re mine, not hers.” The hand curling around the knife’s handle tightened so hard the knuckles turned white. “I had to pick her up and take care of her.” A shrug of her shoulders. “Just another loose end tied up, I guess.”
I think I had the whole picture, and I felt myself start to lose it. My mom lay dead behind me, the girl I thought was my best friend before me, holding onto the bloodied knife that was used to slit her throat.
All of this… because I lived in this house? Because I was here and Celeste wasn’t? What kind of stupid fucking asinine reason was that? I’ll tell you—not a reason at all.
Bobbi wanted someone else to hurt as much as she did, and she succeeded.
“I’m not Celeste,” I said, feeling a single tear course down my cheek. If I let myself lose it, I’d be dead. As it was, I could feel my blood pumping faster, the adrenaline in my body start to pick up. I hardly felt my single wet sock, although my mom’s blood had spread to my other one, too.
“I know,” Bobbi said. “But you’re the next best thing. Finally, something Oliver Fitzpatrick can’t fix. When you’re dead, I’ll be the only witness. He won’t silence me from telling the world you were a crazy psychopath who killed your own mother.” She lifted the knife in front of her face, tilting the blade. “I had to defend myself.”
“Then come at me, bitch.” It probably wasn’t the best idea to taunt a knife-wielding psycho, but at the same time, I had nothing left to lose.
Bobbi smiled. “With pleasure.” And then she lunged. She lunged so hard and so fast I backed up, momentarily forgetting the fact that my mom lay there, dead. I tripped on my mom’s shoulder, falling to the floor, scooting back as Bobbi attacked.
I had my back against a cabinet, nowhere else to go. When she brought down the arm with the knife, I used both hands to stop her wrist from lowering all