“Yeah, I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Yes. I remember, because my first instinct was to flag it down for help, but it must have not seen him because it was driving past, I guess,” she says, and I take in a deep breath and blow it out hard through my lips.
“Are they gonna arrest me?” she whimpers and starts crying again. I stand and put my arms around her, pressing her head into my chest. “I’m sorry. I should have told you. The news said someone heard a gunshot and called the police, but Caleb was dead before the police got there, so I knew there was nothing I could have done. Mom, if there was—if the ambulance weren’t coming, I would have said something—I would have stayed!” She’s sobbing now. I hold her close to me.
“Shhh. They’re not going to arrest you, okay? I promise. But there will be a lot of questions. We have to turn this in,” I say, and she pulls away, horror on her face.
“Why?”
“I can’t explain it all to you right now, but I can promise that you’re not in trouble,” I say, even though I want to rage and tell her how sitting on this all this time left Paige drowning in pain—the not knowing, the suspicion of everyone—but on the other hand, if she had turned it in before, there’d probably be another life lost—Nicola’s. So at this point, it’s a damn good thing she didn’t.
“Hang out at home today, okay?” I say, and she nods obediently and hops off the stool and walks toward her room without another word, happy to be done with the conversation.
I sit in the stillness of the kitchen. I look across at the windows and watch the wind whip the fallen leaves into spirals on the sidewalk. I cross to the gas fireplace and turn it on, then sit in front of it, staring into the artificial embers. Finn sits in jail for something he didn’t do, and we can’t turn in the person who did do it. What have we done?
31
PAIGE
Later that morning, Cora and Nicola sit in Paige’s living room, each holding a coffee cup on their lap as the sun peeks through the sheers on the windows and bathes the room in yellow light. Paige takes a sip from her mug and stares out into the yard. After Cora explains Mia’s video, nobody speaks for a very long time.
Nicola cried and pleaded apologies in hiccuped sobs all night, and in the back of Paige’s mind, she felt so much pity for the poor thing. Nicola’s done what she needed to defend herself, to protect Avery. Paige’s logical, reasonable side knew this, but she still harbored an irrational bitterness she tried to suppress. She should have offered forgiveness to put Nicola out of her misery after everything she’d already been through, but Paige just sat numb through most of Nicola’s explanation, which only reiterated what she’d already overheard.
Nicola’s face is red, and her eyes swollen and bloodshot. She dots at her eyes with a tissue now and then, and Cora just looks down at her lap. Nobody knows what to say next. The air is heavy and charged with one question: Will Paige turn her in? What other choice is there? Finn is a son of a bitch who Cora thinks deserves a few nights in jail but obviously can’t be charged with murder. Well, sometimes she thinks that might not be so bad, if she’s honest, but no. They need to figure a way out of this mess.
Paige stands and goes to the kitchen. She pulls a bottle of vodka out of the freezer and brings it back to the living room, pouring a generous portion into her coffee. Then she holds it up asking if anyone else wants any.
“It’s—” Cora starts to say, but her words get caught and she clears her throat. “It’s eight in the morning,” she says. Nicola holds up her mug, and Paige splashes some in and then pours some in Cora’s anyway before she can protest. She then sits on the edge of her armchair, takes a chug, and looks at them.
“We have no choice but to go to the police and let them know that Lucas killed Caleb and we have the video to prove it,” she says, confidently. Nicola shrieks, and Cora sits speechless, so Paige goes on.
“He is responsible. It’s his fault his wife was pushed to find safety in someone else. It’s his fault she couldn’t tell anyone who her baby really belonged to. It’s his fault we suffered all this time because he kept her captive and she couldn’t tell the truth about what happened to Caleb. As she said a thousand times last night, she would have explained it all to the police right when it happened if doing so wouldn’t have gotten her killed. Lucas is to blame. But all of that is second to why he really needs to go away forever. What he did to Nicola is unthinkable. That alone justifies this, but if we don’t put him away and it’s discovered Nicola was involved instead...”
“Then, he’d get Avery,” Nicola says flatly, following where Paige is going.
“And that can’t happen. Over my fucking dead body will that happen,” Paige says. Cora pours another splash of vodka into her coffee and leans back in her chair, sipping it, her eyes darting between Paige and Nicola.
“The video shows him fleeing the scene, but they think if it’s an accidental hit-and-run, he could be out—”
Paige doesn’t let her finish. “We have motive. He found out Caleb was the father. And we have the audio recording that proves he was holding you against your will. We have your testimony that backs up the audio—that you were being held—and they’ll investigate and find the room in the basement, the excessive surveillance, all of it.”
“But it could go wrong,” Nicola says, still dotting at her eyes, panic in her voice. “Men like him get out all the time with a slap on the wrist for abuse. And what if they don’t believe the motive? What if it looks like an accidental hit-and-run and this blows up and he gets out and finds me? You think he wanted me dead for getting away? Imagine what will happen after I put him in jail and—” She stops talking suddenly.
“What?” Cora asks, taken aback by Nicola’s sudden blank stare and colorless face.
“That means I have to tell them about Avery. He still doesn’t know. Oh, God, he’ll know about Avery—that she’s not his. Oh, my God,” she says, placing her head in her hands.
“Yes. That’s motive!” Paige says. “So listen. Just listen. What is the alternative? You tell the truth without pointing the finger at him and get arrested yourself? At least he’ll be the one arrested and you’ll be protected.”
“We’ll get a protection order,” Cora agrees quickly.
“I’ve seen the movies. They don’t work,” Nicola says.
“Then, we all absolutely have to be on the same page and make sure we do everything we can to get him put away. This is what happened. You told him about Avery—and Caleb. Hedoesknow. Got it?” Paige says, going to Nicola’s side and lifting her head up to meet her eyes.
“Right,” Nicola agrees.
