At the Quiet Edge(91)

The ancient hulk of a couch in that strange living room became an unexpected refuge, because as soon as she reached it, Everett sat right next to her and pressed himself to her side, halfway crawling onto her lap. They were together again.

Mendelson didn’t turn on any lights, but enough of the curtains were open that she could see easily as he set his radio on a shelf and turned to face them. “Your son is extraneous,” he said flatly. “You’re the one with the information.”

Panic crawled up her spine like a scurrying animal, and Lily shook her head hard, sending sparks through her damaged brain. “That’s not true! You know I’ll cooperate if he’s here. I’ll help you find her. I’ll do anything.”

He tipped his head, studying her with that little smirk. “That’s also true. So let’s keep him for now.”

Stomach turning, she strained her ears for any distant promise of sirens approaching, but the silence around their dim nest felt like a wall. The police had no idea they were here. Why would they?

“We have all the time in the world,” he said, stretching his back a little. “No one is looking for you or me. So let’s get way down deep to the real truth. Where is my wife?”

Lily would throw anyone to this wolf if it would save her son. “Zoey set it up. Just like you said. Maybe she knows! She said someone needed help—Amber—and she couldn’t come to the shelter.”

“And if some whining bitch calls to lie about a woman’s husband, you just accept everything she says? No investigation, no trial, no defense?”

“She . . . she’s an adult. She doesn’t need my permission to leave.”

“She needs my permission,” he roared, suddenly lunging toward Lily to loom over her. “She needs my permission to take my child, doesn’t she?”

“I don’t know,” she whimpered, sliding her shoulder in front of Everett’s to shield him.

“No, you don’t know anything, but you sure as hell thought you should insert yourself into my life, didn’t you? What happened next?”

“She dropped Amber off outside the gate. It was late. After nine. I met her there, and I took her to the RV. The one I showed you.”

“Then what?”

“She stayed for a night, and then the next night I drove her to the bus stop.”

He clucked his tongue and paced away. “That’s very interesting, Lily, because I’ve been wondering something. Why did she spend the night?”

“Wh-what?” she ventured.

“You hid my wife while I was desperately trying to find her.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I hadn’t even met you.”

“True, but you knew she belonged to someone.”

Belonged. Belonged, like she was a child or an object.

“So . . . why in the world did Amber need to stay with you? Why didn’t that woman take her right to the QT to catch the bus? Would’ve been quicker, wouldn’t it?”

Everything inside her clenched with fear, her organs drawing in to protect themselves from attack. “There’s something else. If you just let Everett go . . .”

His laugh was so loud and brief it rang out like a gunshot. “You’re not a strong, independent woman in the power position here, you dumbass bitch. If you want to make a deal, here’s the deal. Here’s my deal. You tell me everything—and I mean every single thing—or in four or five days, maybe a week, the cops will find this house reeking of the five rotting bodies inside.”

She blinked rapidly, trying to count. Five bodies. Five?

He winked, recognizing her confusion. “You and your son, of course. And your new boyfriend there.” He tipped his head jauntily toward the kitchen, confirming who that arm belonged to. Who the blood belonged to. Alex. She heard the tiny sound that leaked from Everett’s throat.

“And upstairs they’ll find the body of his cousin, the murderer, a man long ago suspected of being a disturbed psychopath preying on the women in this town. And his last victim, of course.”

Air leaked from her lungs, escaping in a strange whine.

“He came back, you know. Just recently. I checked it all out. Brian Bennick. So sad. This fucking loser psychopath gets dumped by his wife, he moves back in to his dad’s house, and suddenly, there’s another missing girl in Herriman, Kansas! Isn’t that funny?”

Lily frowned, she couldn’t think, and it felt very important to think. “Amber?”

“Jesus, you’re dumb as a rock. No, not Amber. It’s that druggie slut.”

Her eyes darted over the room, trying to think. What missing girl? “Rebecca Ross?”

“That one’s on you, Lily,” he said, almost cheerfully. “That one is totally on you. You took my sweet Amber. You took my girl, and she kept me clean. Do you get that? She kept me pure and righteous.” He’d paced away from her, then back again. “You took my beautiful angel and my son, and someone had to pay for that. How the fuck was I supposed to know some junkie whore was a doctor’s daughter? Huh? How was I supposed to know that?” He threw his hands high.

“Now the town will need answers, so here they are.” He gestured so widely that Lily flinched back from the motion, afraid to be hit again. She had to stay conscious. Had to figure out some way to save her son.