Real Bad Things(84)
Thirty-Two
GEORGIA LEE
“Jane,” Georgia Lee eased herself off the floor, where she’d collapsed in fright. “What happened to you?”
Her face and arms and clothing were slashed as if she’d run into a field full of barbed wire and just kept going, never stopping, until she reached her destination. A variety of red lines, some light, some deep. Blood had wept in rivulets and dried on her skin. Her hair stuck to her scalp from blood and sweat, as if she’d run the whole way. Her eyes were red, wild.
“It’s not Warren. The bones. They’re not Warren’s.” Jane dropped the box on the table. The metal table legs rattled. Their plastic cups of water spilled. “I know whose bones they are, though. And I know who killed him.”
Not Warren? “What?” Georgia Lee whispered.
Jason’s eyes landed on the box. He rushed to Jane and put a hand on her arm, but she shrugged it off. What did she mean, not Warren?
Laser focused on Benjamin, she kept repeating, “It’s not Warren.”
Benjamin said nothing. John looked like he had entered a scene he didn’t belong in.
“It’s not Warren.”
“Jane.” Jason petted Jane’s arm, tried to get her to turn toward him, but she glared at Benjamin. “Maybe you should sit down.”
“No. I’m not going to sit down!” Georgia Lee had never heard Jane yell at Jason. Not once. She’d always been comforting, motherly.
“Can we get her some water or something?” Jason’s veneer of calm shattered.
The whole room fell silent. They watched Jane. Finally, she unlocked her eyes from Benjamin and noticed Jason as if for the first time since she had rushed into the room, even though she’d just yelled at him. He held her by both arms. A smile full of relief broke on her face, giving her the appearance of some disaster survivor.
“It’s not him,” she told him, soothingly this time. And then she turned to the others, joyful. The words coming out maniacal.
It’s not him!
It’s not him!
Not him? How could it be? Georgia Lee dribbled a bit of saliva out her mouth, like a fool. How long had she stood there with her mouth open?
“Then who is it?” Georgia Lee asked quietly.
Jane ignored Georgia Lee, grabbed Jason’s hand, and pulled him with her toward Benjamin. That manic smile still plastered on her face. “It’s not him!”
“Maybe we should sit down,” Jason said. He tried to remove his hand from Jane’s, but she held on tight. Georgia Lee didn’t understand what was happening. “She’s obviously under duress. We should—”
“There.” Jane pointed to the box. Between her wide-open eyes and the slashes that covered her, she looked possessed. “In there. There’s a photo of a man with a missing finger in there. He’s—”
“Let’s all just take a beat,” Jason said. The vein at his temple looked like it wanted to uncage itself from muscle and skin. Why did he keep interrupting her? What was going on? Georgia Lee felt like she’d been drugged and couldn’t keep up with the conversation.
Meanwhile, Benjamin pulled the box toward him. “What’s this?”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Jason said to Jane, his voice full of urgency and pleading, though it was obvious he was trying and barely managing to stay calm. He rubbed his thumb across Jane’s cheek, wiping a swath of blood. “You’ve clearly been through something. We should get you checked out. Make sure you’re okay.” He turned to Tom, Benjamin, John. “Could we get some help here? A paramedic? She’s lost a lot of blood. She’s—”
Georgia Lee found her voice. “Are you okay?” she asked Jane.
“No, I’m not fucking okay.” Jane wrenched herself away from Jason and avoided Georgia Lee. She planted herself in front of Benjamin. “Our mother came at me with a box cutter when I tried to get this box out of the house. There’s only one reason why.” Her eyes blazed. Georgia Lee swapped her attention between the three of them, trying to make out what was happening. Tom stood vigilant as ever, awaiting instructions. John stood in the corner, motionless. “She tried to kill me. Just like—”
“She doesn’t know what she’s saying.” Jason closed his eyes briefly, swallowed as if it took great effort, and then planted that forced smile on his face again. “She’s clearly been through something traumatic—”
“You need to go arrest her before she takes off and you can’t find her.”
“Arrest her for what?” Benjamin asked, the only one in the room who seemed to understand what was happening even as he asked the question. It’s almost like he was teasing it out of her. Getting Jane to say words he already knew.
Georgia Lee watched, her head spinning with questions about what Jane held in the box and why she’d run over here. But mostly why Jason wanted Jane to stay quiet.
Jason yelled at them, “Can one of you do something? She’s lost a lot of blood.”
“What are you waiting for?” Jane screamed. “She lives at number fifty-one Maud Estates, out by the river, in case you’re not fucking familiar with where we live. Do you want her phone number too? ’Cause I can give that to you.” No one moved. “You have to go get her before she runs away!”