Behind Every Lie(82)

Suddenly the Love you in the text made sense. I knew something had been off.

“We don’t even know a Rose!” Anger and relief danced feather-soft in my throat. Maybe this was a mistake. A silly case of mistaken identity. Maybe everything would be okay.

Sebastian threw his head back and laughed. His blue eyes glinted, wet and oily in the overhead light.

“You really don’t know? She never told you?”

I shook my head, using the movement to again slash at the tape. I felt a thread loosen and give way.

“Rose is your real mother, not Katherine. And you aren’t Eva, my dear. You’re Laura. Eva was my daughter. She died falling out of a window when she was just three.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”

“Katherine used to nanny for a woman named Rose Ashford. Her daughter, Laura, and my daughter, Eva, were the same age. They became quite the foursome. Did you fuck her, Katherine? You certainly wanted to.”

Mom’s head slid back against the armchair. Her eyes closed for so long I started to panic. But her chest was moving.

“Katherine opened the window in the room where you girls were playing. Eva, my Eva, climbed onto the window ledge. She fell out of the window and died. Rose was arrested and released, but a few weeks later she and Katherine disappeared with you. Laura.” He turned to Mom. “Why? Why did you run away with them?”

“I heard you talking to Paddy.” Tears seeped from between Mom’s eyelids. “You were going to have Rose killed. I couldn’t have another death on my conscience.”

“So you used our daughter’s birth certificate and let her become Eva.” He turned to me, shaking his head in disgust. “Like you could slot into her shoes. You.” He looked at me, really looked at me then, his eyes hard and cold on mine. “You worthless piece of shit. You were too stupid to even realize she was lying to you all along. You’re nothing like my bright Eva.”

Anger frothed up inside of me. It felt good boiling in the cauldron of my belly; better than the sadness and doubt that’d been my constant companions for years. I wasn’t going to spend my last few minutes on this earth apologizing for something that wasn’t my fault.

“You sadistic fuck,” I shouted. “I haven’t done anything wrong!”

He pressed the tip of the knife into my neck, slowly, with excruciating precision. The skin broke, a hot bead of blood rolling down to my throat. Sebastian pressed harder. I screamed as pain hit me.

The front door crashed open. A familiar shape stood in the doorway, dripping rain all over the carpet.

Sebastian jumped back, the knife in front of him. I gasped as I recognized the person.

My savior. My hero.

“Liam!”

“Eva!” His eyes darted around the room, landing on the knife in Sebastian’s hands.

Liam would save us.

But as my brain tried to adjust to the fact that Liam was here, a secret, insidious voice whispered in my ear.

How did he find me?





forty-five

kat




that night

LIGHTNING FORKED OUTSIDE THE HOUSE, bright fireworks igniting behind the man as he stumbled inside. Blond. Well-built. A boyish face. He was wearing jogging pants and a shiny Adidas shirt, and on his wrist was a silver watch.

A Rolex.

I looked again at his face. I’d seen him before.

“Liam!” Eva pulled against her restraints. “Help!”

Liam lunged for Sebastian, but Sebastian had the knife. He stabbed it at Liam so he had to jump out of the way, the sharp edge of the blade narrowly missing his belly. Sebastian pressed the knife to Eva’s neck.

“You move, and I’ll kill her.”

Liam froze and raised his hands. “Come on, man. Let’s talk about this. Just put it down.”

Without looking away, Sebastian grabbed another chair from the dining room table and set it next to Eva’s. He waved the knife toward it. “Sit down.”

Liam did not budge. “Is it a ransom you want? I’m sure we can come to some arrangement here. Nobody needs to get hurt.”

Sebastian thrust the knife toward Eva’s neck. She flinched. “I said, sit down!”

“All right, all right!” Liam complied, nostrils flaring.

Sebastian taped Liam’s wrists behind his back. I coughed wetly, stomach roiling. Vomiting out the poison earlier was likely the only reason I was still alive.

“I recognize you,” I said to Liam. “You visited Eva at the hospital after she gave birth.”

Liam’s eyes darted between mine and Eva’s. He shook his head, a sharp jerk of his chin. “I think you’re mistaking me for someone else.”

Eva’s eyebrows tightened into knots.

“No, I’m certain of it,” I insisted. “You held the hallway door open for me. I noticed your watch because it was very like the Rolex Seb used to wear.”

I looked at Seb’s wrist, but he shrugged. “I sold that years ago.”

“Sorry, I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Eva shook her head, wincing. “He couldn’t have been at the hospital, Mom. We didn’t meet until after I moved to Whidbey Island.” She bit her lip and looked at Liam. “Right?”