dark eyes stay fixed on the road when he responds. In fact, nothing in his face changes.
“Emma’s time of death was off.”
“Off?” Josiah asks, sitting forward in a rush. “Off how?”
“Off as in different to the one I gave them.” Wayne’s gaze shifts, but it’s to study Josiah, not me.
Why won’t he look at me? Is it because he feels guilty for what he’s done to me? To…Mom? Dread hollows out my stomach, and that hole keeps growing the closer we get to Bale Manor.
I wish I’d been brave enough to turn around and walk back into the police station. I could have found Detective Reed and given him my statement. I could have told them all about the horrible man Wayne Bale is…but then I might never have seen my mother again.
I know we’ve never been that close. I’d like to think there was a time we were, maybe when I was really young…but that doesn’t matter. She’s my mother. She’s family.
For all I know, Wayne killed her just like he killed Emma. If that’s the case, then it doesn’t matter what I do or don’t do—she won’t be coming back to life. In that case, there’ll be nothing stopping me from going back to the station and laying a case against Wayne.
But what if she’s still alive?
I can only hope.
“You lied?” Josiah asks. His eyes dart to me.
Why would he lie?
“I didn’t lie,” Wayne says. “I gave them the time I thought was right.”
“You thought—?” Josiah cuts off with a laugh. “What the fu—” He stops talking, face reddening as if it’s taking a physical toll for him not to swear in front of his father. “What does that even mean?”
We’re back at the mansion sooner than I thought possible. Wayne remains silent as we wait for the wrought iron gates to open for us, but he doesn’t drive through immediately. Instead, he puts the car into park, drapes his hands over the steering wheel, and lets out a long sigh.
Josiah sits back with a frown on his face, crossing his arms over his chest as he waits.
I’m staring so hard at Wayne’s reflection in the mirror that I’m surprised he doesn’t have a hole in his head.
“I don’t know when Emma drowned,” Wayne says quietly.
His eyes go to Josiah, and then touch on mine. My body stiffens, and I look away.
Josiah stays quiet.
“Diana and I had a fight. She said she was leaving. Just before that, Emma—” Wayne cuts off with a strangled sound. “Let’s get inside. This isn’t—”
“Emma what, Dad?” Josiah’s voice is steel.
“She wanted to go swimming!” Wayne’s voice booms through the interior. I jerk, my hands squeezing each other in surprise. Even Josiah stiffens as if he hadn’t expected that vehement outburst from his father. “She wanted to swim, and I was too busy. Too tired. Too whatever.” Wayne’s voice drops a little. “So when Diana and I started yelling, she obviously thought she could sneak out, and we wouldn’t notice.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t?” There’s acid dripping from Josiah’s tongue.
“No, son, I didn’t notice.” Wayne twists in his seat. “I didn’t notice when your sister got into the pool. I didn’t notice her splashing around. I didn’t notice when she started drowning.” Those cold, black eyes dart to me. “I only noticed afterward.”
“After what?” Josiah demands. He leans forward, hands on his knees.
“After I was done fucking Diana.” Wayne sneers at Josiah, and then turns that horrific expression to me. “Your mother always loved a good fuck after a fight.”
Blood sings in my ears and turns my cheeks crimson. My entire body thumps with shame, fear, nausea.
Josiah slumps back, and his hand falls limply to the seat beside him. “She’s alive? You didn’t…?”
A burst of stale laughter peels from Wayne as he tosses back his head. “I have no idea,” he says, back to somber a second later. He glares at Josiah, then me. “She left, like I said she did. I don’t know where she went. I didn’t even know if she has a fucking sister or not—she didn’t say.”
My head is caught in a Ferris wheel that keeps going up and up and up. Gravity sucks at me, and the sensation makes me want to curl up into a ball and die.
How could she leave me behind with a monster like Mr.—
Don’t you worry, she’s fast asleep
“Get out of my car,” Wayne growls. He straightens in his seat and presses a control on the console. There’s a soft ‘snick’ as our doors