To Love and to Perish - By Lisa Bork Page 0,80

all out and stepped over to Brennan, unlocking the handcuffs with the single key. He massaged his wrist as he stared down at Beth, who lay sobbing on the floor, kicking her legs and pounding the floor like a spoiled child.

“I’ll call 911.” I moved to the phone mounted on the kitchen wall. As I dialed, Brennan stepped over Beth to examine Cory’s forehead.

The dispatcher said she would send the nearest patrol car as well as contact Ray.

I hung up the phone and turned around.

Now Beth stood in the middle of the kitchen, blood spattered on her chin from where she’d hit the floor.

Seeing her, Brennan reached for a paper towel from the dispenser next to the sink.

She took off, throwing open the back door and disappearing into the wind.

“Aw, shit.” Ray would never forgive me if I let her get away now. I ran after her, Brennan and Cory close on my heels.

We rounded the back corner of the house in time to see her step off the front porch and run across the grass toward her car.

I started after her, the wind buffeting and trying to push me back toward the house. Brennan and Cory passed me, closing in on her.

When they were halfway across the lawn, Beth reached her car door, flinging it open and jumping inside.

I stopped. “Cory, Cory.”

He turned to look at me over his shoulder.

I dangled Beth’s car keys in the air.

Cory put an arm out to stop Brennan as I walked toward them. “She’s not going anywhere.”

Beth got out of the car and started screaming and yelling, a whirlwind of fury in the middle of the road. Like a thwarted child, she shook her hands at the sky and stamped her feet. The wind carried her words away from us, but I could still make out the enraged sound.

I could also hear sirens.

And the roar of an oncoming semi.

“Beth, Beth.” I started running for the road again, passing Brennan and Cory. “Get out of the road, Beth. Get out of the road.”

She didn’t seem to hear me. But she saw me coming toward her. And she ran.

Right into the path of the semi.

THIRTY

ON THE NIGHT OF Isabelle’s surprise party, Ray and I got dressed in the closet together. He put on a pair of tan chinos, a light blue shirt, a multicolored blue tie, and his navy blazer. I put on a ruffled hot pink off-the-shoulder dress with a neckline that skimmed the swell of my breasts.

“Ray, can you zip me up?”

He took hold of the zipper pull, swiped my hair away, and leaned down to run his lips over the back of my bare neck, sending shivers down my spine. “Do I have to?”

I playfully swatted him away. “Yes, we’re going to be late. I don’t want to miss the look on Isabelle’s face when we all yell ‘surprise.’”

Danny waited for us in the living room, watching his beloved SpongeBob and wearing a pair of tan chinos, loafers, and a yellow dress shirt. He looked handsome—and annoyed to have to be going to this party. He’d been very quiet since he got home from visiting his dad with Ray today.

“Do I have to go?”

I thought once again of how much he and Ray were alike. “Yes. We’re all going and we’re going to have a good time.” So help me.

Danny passed the hour-long drive to Isabelle’s party by listening to his iPod.

Ray kept my Lexus at an even sixty miles per hour, five over the speed limit and six under the radar. “Are Erica and Maury coming tonight?”

Erica and I used to have Thanksgiving dinner every year with Isabelle’s family when Ray and I were separated. Their family knew us both well. “They were invited, but Erica’s taking sewing lessons at the quilt shop. She didn’t want to miss class tonight. They’re learning how to make buttonholes.”

Ray snorted.

“Don’t belittle her. She’s using her time constructively. I’m proud of her.”

“Did you pay for her lessons?”

I looked out the window and changed the subject. “Matthew called Brennan this week. Brennan asked him to when they saw each other at Beth’s funeral. Matthew said he wants to get to know him. He’s coming to Brennan’s house tomorrow.”

“Is Cory going to be there?”

“No, he thought the two of them should get acquainted first.” It would be a relief if one positive event ensued after all these deaths. Cory’s and my morning donut discussions were a lot quieter lately. We both knew we’d been the catalysts for