“If they were going tohurther? What do you consider ‘the sacrifice’?”
“Sacrifice? What do you mean?” Tara looks genuinely puzzled.
“The initiation sacrifice, and Vivian?”
Tara frowns. “I don’t know what the hell they get up to on initiation night—apart from burning entire buildings down, I guess—but it didn’t have anything to do with Vivian.”
Taylor feels her face heating, embarrassed over the potential misunderstanding. Is Taylor somehow wrong about the sacrifice? Or maybe Tara just doesn’t know the truth herself. But a suspicion lingers.
“Then why did you say Vivian wouldn’t need nursing care in a few days’ time? Back in the nurses’ Facebook group?”
“Did I say that? I guess that was me just wishful thinking that Jerry would figure shit out for us soon. I know he was looking at one place, but then it fell through.”
Taylor swallows this information; some of it goes down easily, but some sticks to her insides. She’s not sure what to totally believe—orwho.“And Liam? Was he in on this, too?”
“I don’t think Liam knew anything, but you’d have to ask him.”
“Well, I’d love to, but I don’t have anyone’s contact info,” Taylor coolly replies.
“Oh yeah. Jerry wanted me to pass along his number to you, if that’s okay?” Tara scrunches her nose, as if just remembering.
“Yes, of course. Did they—did you—talk to the police?”
“Nah, I didn’t. But Jerry did. Or tried to, I think. They didn’t want to hear anything he had to say.”
“Yeah, me neither,” Taylor admits. She’d realized that about ten seconds in, when the detective immediately brought up how she’d told the paramedics that night that the cat was talking to her—implying she was not credible.
“We shouldn’t be surprised, right? These people are powerful. They’re like kings and queens, and we’re like the little pheasants to them.”
“You mean, peasants?”
“Oops, yeah. Little peasants.” She grins; she doesn’t seem to be bothered in the slightest by her less-than-perfect teeth like Taylor often is.
What would it be like to smile with abandon?Taylor wonders.
“If you’re asking me, the real villain here is Oliver,” Tara continues, kicking at the ground with the toe of her Converse. “And not just because he was a shitty boyfriend and a druggie. I mean, I know what I did with Vivian wasn’t right, that I was in on it, too. And I gotta live with it. But we were all doing Oliver’s dirty work. He was like the head king. When I found out I was pregnant, Oliver sent Peter to try to convince me to get rid of it. Peter put me up at a hotel, set me up with a doctor and everything. But then Rose stepped in. She wanted me to keep the baby. Everyonebut Rose thought I got the abortion. Jerry found out, eventually. But at first it was just me and Rose’s secret.”
Rose.The image of her body crumpled on the basement stairs flashes across Taylor’s mind. “You know Rose never made it out of the fire, right?”
Tara puffs up her cheeks and then expels the air, like she’s blowing out a candle. “I figured. I heard they’re still identifying the bodies, but since I didn’t hear from her…I thought that might be why. I’m kinda relieved, but I’m also kinda sad, which I know sounds weird.” Then she shakes her head. “That probably doesn’t make sense to you.”
“Are you going to tell Oliver that you’re still pregnant?”
“Nah—and please don’t say anything to anyone. I mean, I don’t know who you’d talk to anyway, but if you do, please don’t say anything. I don’t want trouble with the Knox. I just want to have my baby. Oliver wouldn’t care, anyway. He ditched me real quick for the next girl, or guy.”
Taylor nods. “Okay, I won’t say anything.”
“Huh.” Tara squints at her. “I actually believe you. Thanks.” She’s continuing to squint, as if trying to not tear up again. “Hey, did you ever find that note I put in your wallet?”
“The ‘go back to nursing’ note?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Yeah, I got it. You know, you’re not what I expected,” Taylor admits.
“What did you expect?”
“I don’t know. Someone more…calculating, maybe?”
