Lily made a “you’re in trouble” face at the same time.
I grinned and said, “Can I go for a walk?”
“I don’t see why not—as long as you use your crutches,” the nurse said with a reluctant smile. “Your foot’s had a bit of a rest after that stunt you pulled. Digging a hole, I hear! That’s not how breaks heal, young man.”
Shifting her gimlet gaze to Lily, she said, “Keep an eye on him.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Only after the nurse was gone, and we were walking in the hallway, did Lily say, “What was that?”
“I thought I was hallucinating you. But in my defense, I was poisoned by a maniacal killer.”
When I turned left and began to head down the long and expansive hallway lit naturally by a row of windows, she said, “Where are we going?”
“To visit Alice.” I wanted to see if the cops had told her anything they hadn’t told me.
A buff man with light brown hair and golden skin was loitering outside her room, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. “Aarav, hey man.” He held out a fist for a bump. “Crazy shit, huh?”
“Hey, Adrian.” I touched my fist to his. “Cops in there?”
“Yeah. I told them to leave Alice alone, but she said it was cool.” He rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet. “I never would’ve thought it of Calvin, of all people. Burying a body in Diana’s rose garden. Cold, just cold.”
“What’re you doing here?”
A flush of color on his cheeks. “Just wanted to see Alice.”
Deciding I was too tired to beat around the bush, I said, “Adrian, satisfy my curiosity. Where did you get the money for your gym?”
I thought he’d tell me to fuck off, but he shrugged and said, “My nan died and left me her house. She lived in this poxy wooden place that was falling down around her ears—I did what I could to make sure stuff worked, but the place was a dump and she refused to even discuss moving.”
“Yet it let you afford a gym?”
“It was in goddamn Grey Lynn.”
Lily sucked in a breath at the mention of the highly sought-after inner-city suburb that housed the city’s bankers and CEOs and other wealthy residents who needed to be close to the central business district without living in the city itself. No one would’ve cared for the state of the house; developable land in the area was pure gold.
“How much did you get?”
“Two million dollars. I would give it all back if it meant my nan was still alive. She was the only one who ever gave a shit about me.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
Our eyes met, and he gave a quiet nod.
63
The hospital finally discharged me two days later.
The first thing I did was give Riki every single photo negative and video I had that would’ve allowed me to blackmail him.
I also apologized and told him I’d deleted any original digital files.
He said, “Would you do it again?”
“Yes. Someone murdered my mother.”
“You know what? You’re an asshole, but yeah, I’d have done it, too, for my mum.”
And I knew we were never ever going to discuss this again.
“Do you think it was you?” Riki asked, an odd ease to him.
Because I knew his secret. Because he didn’t have to hide it. “What?”
“The person who called the cops on Ana and Leo, do you think it was you? Since you were off your head?”
“I don’t even know. What happened?”
“Apparently, someone reported them anonymously for aiding in the abduction of a young woman. Turned out Leo’s cousin was just going on a road trip with her university buddies, and they decided to leave real late at night to avoid the traffic.”
“Well, if it was me, that probably looked very weird.”
Riki laughed, but it held a sharp edge. “What about Brett and Veda’s dog?”
“I don’t hurt animals.” It was all the answer I had, and it was the only answer I could accept.
Leaving Riki to destroy what I’d given him, I went to my father’s house to pack up my stuff. I found him sitting in his study, halfway to drunk, a photo of my mother on his desk. “Part of me kept hoping she’d crawl back.” Tears rolled down his face. “I loved her, that bitch. She’s still the most incredible woman I’ve ever known.”
I walked away without replying, shutting the door on the past.
EPILOGUE
FOUR MONTHS LATER
I sat on a large rock on a mountain in Udaipur, my mother’s ashes scattered to the winds.