here, leaving Leonor with us. I’m getting the car keys from my bag now.”
“Don’t.” His eyes widened, the knife-wielding hand tensing.
“It’s just car keys,” she said, very slowly taking her key chain out of her bag. They weren’t even the keys to the car—Tatum had those—but it didn’t really matter. “Here.”
She tossed them, intentionally throwing them just a bit to the side. Glover moved his entire head to watch as the keys arced in the air, then clattered on the floor. He then whipped his head to look at Tatum and the gun, taking a step back.
“Don’t move,” he barked.
He hadn’t been able to watch Tatum when he’d followed the keys.
“You can take them,” Zoe said. “Drive away. Just leave Leonor behind.” Had Tatum seen the way Glover’s head moved? Did he understand what she was doing?
He did. She could almost feel it. Their minds thinking along the same lines, processing the moment together.
“I want you to thank me first,” Glover said slyly. He was buying time. Maybe thinking of her offer. Maybe making plans of his own.
And maybe he really wanted her to thank him. It was possible he was intent on getting that from her before he died. He’d always been obsessed with her. And Glover’s fantasies were what always propelled him. Perhaps this was one of them.
“Thank you,” she said. “You’re right. I owe everything I have to you. Now look: I’m moving aside.” She took a step to the right.
He moved threateningly. “Don’t—”
“What happened to you wasn’t fair,” she said. “You were a good neighbor. You were my friend. I was ungrateful.”
“A bitch,” he spat.
“I shouldn’t have blamed you. The police already had a suspect, right? And because of me, you had to leave your home behind.” Another step. And another. Glover’s head moved, following her.
“If I hadn’t done that, a lot of people wouldn’t have gotten hurt, right?” Another step. Slow. Soft. Eyes constantly on him. “You didn’t want to hurt Catherine. You had to.”
“It was Finch! It was all Finch’s idea.”
“Right!” She talked faster, higher. Tried to sound panicky. A woman trying to accommodate him. “And I’m sure you tried to talk him out of it. But what choice did you have? Because of me, you didn’t have health insurance. And those pictures could get you the medical treatment you deserved, right?”
Tatum shifted, moving slowly toward the wall. Glover didn’t notice. In fact, she was almost sure he couldn’t notice. Tatum was out of Glover’s line of sight.
“You can still make this work,” Zoe said. She didn’t try to sound convincing. Glover wasn’t interested in being convinced. He wanted to see her afraid. This was about him winning. “The car keys are right there on the floor. I won’t stop you. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Tatum crept along the wall, making sure not to make a sound.
“Do you think I’m stupid enough to think you’ll just let me walk out?” Glover asked.
“I don’t care if you run!” she said, her voice cracking. “I’ll fix this. Just don’t hurt her! Tell me how to fix this!”
He smiled then. A victorious smile. “Sorry, Zoe. You can’t fix this.”
His hand tightened around the knife handle, about to slit Leonor’s throat. Tatum lunged, crossing the space between them in two fast steps, and grabbed Glover’s wrist. Glover’s head whipped in surprise, and he let out a scream as Tatum twisted his arm, forcing him to drop the knife.
It all happened in a flash. Glover’s movements were sluggish, confused. Zoe dashed forward and grabbed Leonor, who stumbled away, almost falling.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” Zoe told her repeatedly as the woman whimpered. She helped her sit down and turned to watch as Tatum cuffed Glover’s hands behind his body.
Glover was crying.
It was strange to watch. This man who had frightened her so much, who had hounded her for years, beaten so easily. Tatum wasn’t even sweating. The entire thing had taken three seconds, maybe four. And Glover’s face seemed so pathetic.
Maybe this was the moment to say something victorious of her own. “I hope the cancer kills you slowly,” or “You shouldn’t have killed those girls.”
Instead she said, “I’ll call O’Donnell. It’s over.”
CHAPTER 79
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Zoe’s phone rang while she jogged down Birchdale Avenue. It was her first jog since she’d returned to Dale City, and she had to admit to herself that she missed Lakefront Trail back in Chicago. There were some nice forest tracks in Dale City but none as expansive and beautiful as