Scared To Death (Live to Tell #2)(92)
The little girl raises her head just in time to see the door close, sealing them in.
She screams.
“Oh, shut up. This is nothing compared to what I have waiting for you. Let’s go.”
“Mom, drink this.”
Someone presses a glass into her hand. Marin raises it to her lips, sips. Water. Cold. Wet. Good. So simple.
“Here, I’ll take it so you don’t spill it.”
“Caroline.” She smiles as her daughter takes the glass away, leaning back against the chair cushion and closing her eyes, exhausted. “Thank you.”
“No, Mom, it’s me, Annie. Caroline is gone, remember? We’re trying to figure out where she is.”
Marin’s eyes open again.
“Gone?” she echoes, confused.
There’s Annie.
There are several men she doesn’t recognize, men in uniform.
Police.
She grabs the arm of the nearest man. “Something happened to Caroline?”
“We don’t know where she is, Mrs. Quinn.”
“She takes off sometimes,” she hears Annie say. “Like, a lot.”
“Caroline! You’re here because Caroline—”
“No, Mrs. Quinn, we’re here because we’re looking for Brett and Elsa Cavalon’s daughter, remember?”
Daughter?
No.
Son. Her son is missing.
“Jeremy. You’re looking for Jeremy.”
“No. Not him.”
She remembers, and grief wells up inside her.
“Where is Renata Cavalon, Mrs. Quinn?”
“Who…?”
Why won’t they leave her alone? Why won’t they let her mourn her own child?
“Dead…oh God.”
“Did you say ‘dead’?
“Yes…dead…all my fault.”
“Are you saying you killed Renata Cavalon?”
“No! No! Jeremy. My son. Jeremy is dead.”
Caroline spots him right where he said he’d be, next to the Dunkin’ Donuts kiosk.
He doesn’t see her yet, though. He’s on his cell phone.
She walks over to him.
Still, he doesn’t notice her. Should she say his name, or touch his shoulder? Or should she just let him finish his conversation?
He looks upset, she realizes.
“I know you are,” he’s saying into the phone, “but I had no choice. No…no, I didn’t invite her, it was her idea…”
Clearly, he’s talking about Caroline.
Oh my God. Why am I here?
“Yes, because I thought I should tell her…No, I couldn’t do it that way…No, I need to tell her in person…”
Tell her what?
That he has a girlfriend? Is that who he’s talking to?
Don’t worry, you jerk. You don’t have to tell me anything, in person or otherwise. I’m out of here.
She turns to walk away.
“Caroline!”
Too late.
Jake is hurrying toward her, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “Hey, you made it.”
Tell him. Tell him right now that you know he doesn’t want you here. Tell him you’re going back home.
Caroline opens her mouth.
He smiles at her. That smile…
“Yeah,” she hears herself say. “I made it.”
“Great. Come on. I’m going to take you over to the place where I’m staying, down in Nottingshire.”
Unbelievable.
He’s with her.
It’s not as if La La thinks anything romantic is going to happen between the two of them. She’s his sister, for God’s sake.
She doesn’t know that yet, of course. But Jeremy’s going to tell her. He promised.
“Bring her back here and we’ll tell her together,” La La instructed him.
He didn’t think that was such a good idea.
“Who helped you find her in the first place?” she reminded him. “I’m the one who kept an eye out for her the other day, and followed her to Starbucks and told you where she was so you could meet her, remember?”
What Jeremy doesn’t know, of course, was that La La had also been the one who planted that rat in Caroline’s bag just before he arrived.
As she sat there, drinking coffee and watching the two of them getting to know each other, she found herself feeling more and more jealous.
Just like now.
But she’ll do something about it. They should be here soon.
Then Caroline can join Renny, already entombed in the soundproof basement studio Daddy built all those years ago, where no one will ever hear their screams.
So nice that it came in handy for something, La La thinks. She tries the studio door one more time to be sure it’s locked, then goes back up to the first floor to wait for Jeremy.
“You’re sure you don’t know where your sister might be?” one of the cops asks Annie, who’s sitting beside Marin, stroking her hand.
“No. Her bedroom door was closed when I got up. I thought she was in there.”
Marin raises the water glass to her lips, taking another sip. The medication is still in her system, but she’s coming out of it now. At least she can focus on what’s going on.