Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. She shouldn’t have let her daughter out of her sight. She’s a horrible parent. My boys never wandered into a bison enclosure at Zoo America,” Chelsea pointed out.
“She was giving CPR to someone’s grandfather,” Hudson shouted. “He survived, and her daughter was fine!”
Chelsea shrugged. “She’s a mother first. It’s her duty to never take her eyes off her children. I was just pointing out what we all know. She’s a bad mother and deserves public humiliation.”
“So you combined the mountain lion mauling and the Zoo America situation into a death sentence,” Riley said, spotting Chelsea’s cell phone half-buried in the thick carpet.
“Who died and made you judge and jury over mothers?” Hudson said with a humorless little laugh.
“Obviously, I’m a better mother. Look at my boys,” Chelsea said, pointing at her photo shrine. “They’re perfect. They never needed braces. They were both varsity starters in their sports. They both took attractive young ladies to prom. They had the perfect upbringing, and they’re perfect young men.”
Hudson used his gun hand to flip the page. He cleared his throat again. “I’m so glad you brought that up. As the perfect mother, you must be aware that your son Henry was arrested twice this year for underage drinking, public intoxication, and urinating on a police officer.”
“That’s absurd,” Chelsea scoffed.
“Your son Elvin has been seeing a therapist with virtually no online security. Twice a week, he goes to an office off-campus and tells Dr. Najimura just how horrible you are.”
“You take that back! Neither of my perfect little boys needs therapy! I gave them everything. I am the perfect mother.”
“You gave them a suitcase full of neuroses and a complete and total inability to problem-solve,” Hudson said triumphantly. “Ergo, you are a horrible mother, and you deserve the public humiliation of everyone knowing it.”
Riley started to inch her way toward Chelsea’s cell phone. If she could call 911, they might be able to survive this.
“I amnota horrible mother! I am the best mother in the history of motherhood! IinventedElf on the Shelf and gluten-free bake sales! I color-coordinated the entire family’s Easter outfits every year for the past two decades. I made sure the boys never had a teacher who didn’t like them or a grade below a B. When Elvin’s soccer team lost the tournament in fifth grade, I sued the soccer organization for poor refereeing and bankrupted the organization!”
“It’s like she doesn’t even hear what she’s saying,” Hudson said to Riley.
“I know,” Riley sighed, stretching her foot toward the phone’s screen.
“And that’s why she has to die.”
“Hang on,” Riley said. Her shoulder blades were starting to scream from holding her hands up for so long. “Just because she’s a horrible person doesn’t give anyone the right to kill her.”
“If I don’t kill her, she’s just going to keep doing harm. Sooner or later, she’s going to hurt someone badly enough that they’ll hurt themselves.”
She felt a nudge from her spirit guides. There was something important there, but it was hard to focus with a gun in her face.
“I’m stopping this horrible woman from ruining more lives,” Hudson said. “I’mthe hero.”
Riley chanced a peek down at the floor and pressed her big toe to the Emergency Call button on the screen.
“The hero? Please! You’re the bad guy, dummy,” Chelsea scoffed. “If anyone’s the hero in this scenario, it’s me. I’m the one who’s been wronged and bravely continues to hold my head high.”
“You can’t tell me you think she’s a good person,” Hudson said to Riley.
“Oh, I’m definitely not saying that.”
“Thenwhyare you trying to ruin everything?” he demanded. This time Gabe’s shoulder blades flexed.
“I’m not trying to ruin anything. I’m just trying to do the right thing,” Riley insisted. “So why take the victim’s electronics?” She needed to buy some time. Enough time for a 911 call to go through, the call to be traced, and Nick to get his sexy ass over here.
“Don’t call them victims!”
“Sorry. How about terrible people?” she offered.
“I didn’t want any obvious ties between the terrible people. One look at any of their browser histories, and any idiot could see they spent the majority of their time insulting people online. So I covered my tracks by covering theirs.”
“Smart,” Riley said.
