“And Gran and Gramps are in on it?”
“I don’t know,” said Nora. “Richard seemed reluctant about the whole situation.”
“That’s nice of him.”
“But Ruby basically shut him down.”
“Bummer. What were they mad about anyway?”
“They didn’t say exactly, but it sounded like Patty didn’t want us knowing about the Blind Spot.”
“So she wants to keep all that sweet, sweet immortality for herself, huh? Is that why she wants me dead?”
Nora shrugged. “I doubt it. If that was the case, she’d want me dead too. And she really, really seemed focused on you.”
“Her and Ruby,” Charlie said. “So it’s not just women I’ve dated who want to kill me.”
“Charlie, please,” Nora said. “Can you just try to be serious? Fake it if you have to.”
Charlie wiped his hand down his face and seemed to sober up. “All right. So the plan is still to get out of here, then? Do we still think Phil’s on the no-no list, or can we trust him with the car?”
This stopped Nora in her tracks.Get out of here. That thought had been so appealing just twenty-four hours ago, but now…Even with more arrows pointing to more suspects, she couldn’t help but want to stay here now that she knew what staying here would truly mean.
“Maybe we can find out Patty’s motives,” Nora said, pulling at the wrinkles in her pants. “There must be a reason she’s after you. And then maybe we can resolve all of this.”
“What, just have a cute little chitchat about her trying to murder me?” said Charlie. “And what about Phil? He wasprobably the one who cut that tree branch to fall on me, right? And who started the fire? And who pushed me over the cliff yesterday? If they’re both in on it, and the grandparents are in on it, we probably shouldn’t stick around. That’s four against two, Nor, and they’ve got creepy homeschooler vibes on their side.”
“Hear me out,” Nora tried. “What if all of that was Patty? We never saw who was in the woods that day, and she had been using the oven to cook when the fire started. Plus, it was hard to tell if you were even pushed at all or if you just slipped yesterday.”
“So we’re not leaving?”
“Let’s just…let’s just see if we can sort this out.”
Charlie scratched at what was quickly becoming a full-blown beard. “You do what you want, I guess. But as soon as we have a way out of here, I’m bouncing.”
“You can’t,” said Nora, practically pleading. “Once you leave, Death will find you. At least here you stand a chance. We just need to do something about Patty, or whoever’s trying to kill you, and then you’re safe. Then you’ll live.”
“Here?” He stood up. “Nora, I don’t think anybody lives here, really. They just kinda exist.”
“What’s the difference?”
Charlie gave Nora the first look of his she couldn’t read, then left the room.
Nora remained sitting stiffly on his bed, staring at the closed door in his wake. Jessica hopped over to her and plopped herself on one of Nora’s crisscrossed ankles, staring at her expectantly.
“They thinkI’mthe stubborn one?” Nora shook her head. “All right, I need to figure out what the hell is going on before Charlie actually gets himself killed. It must have something to do with the house in the woods, right? Why would Richard’s dad liveway out in the woods, tucked away from everyone? It doesn’t make sense. And why would it be bad for us to know about this town being a Blind Spot? Patty was so angry that Richard and Ruby had told me. Though they didn’t tell me everything, apparently. They made sure to let Patty know that. So what are they still hiding?”
The parrot just continued to stare.
“Okay. Guess you’re not the right person to be asking, huh? I mean, you’re not a person at all. You probably don’t even know you’re a bird, much less anything I’m talking about. But who the hell can I talk to about this stuff? Who would know why Charlie’s being targeted?”
Jessica cocked her head. “Charles,” she squawked.
Nora blinked at the bird. “Huh,” she said. “That’s actually not a bad idea.” She picked Jessica up off her ankle and set her onto the bunched-up bedspread, then made her way to the door. She stopped for a moment and turned to look back at the bird, who was still looking at her with blank, expressionless eyes. “How did you…?” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
And with that, Nora set off to find Charles.
20
