“Come on,” she says gently. “Have a drink. You look thirsty. And I know you’ve had a stressful day.”
I take the glass from her hand and steady my nerves before bringing it to my lips as if I’m about to take a drink. I pause for a heartbeat, long enough to see her eyes light up with a certain kind of evil. Then I throw it straight into her face.
My aim is off thanks to my partially numb hands, but I get some sense of satisfaction as the red liquid stains her cream silk blouse.
Charlotte gasps, jumping back. “What the hell are you doing?” she shrieks. Her expression is just what I was hoping for, pure, unfiltered shock.
“I’m not going to let you poison me the way you poisoned them!” I exclaim. “The other women. I heard the two of you talking about it upstairs earlier.”
Charlotte wipes her chest and neck with something her accomplice hands her. Fury replaces her formerly calm composure in an instant. “You ungrateful little bitch.”
“You’re right,” I cut in, pressing forward before she can regain control. “Your hapless brother stumbling upon my cottage that day has been nothing but a headache for you. I get why you hate me.”
She gapes at me, unsure how to respond. Roger is just hovering, unsure what to do.
“Charles is a complete disaster,” I continue. “He exploits women, abuses them, and then leaves you to clean up the mess. And not just once, but over and over. How do you have time to live your own life and build your promising political career when he’s constantly shitting all over everything you try to do?”
Roger exhales sharply behind her, a sound like something finally snapping into place.
“My brother is none of your concern,” she replies coldly.
“Sure he is. You just tried to kill me to shut me up about all the shitty, illegal things he’s done to me. For a smart person, you’re kinda dumb because you keep making the same mistake over and over again. Instead of holding him accountable, you run around killing women to protect your family from his irresponsible behavior.”
Roger mutters under his breath, “He’s an idiot.”
“Is this how you plan to spend your whole life?” I ask. “Running around behind your brother, killing women, burying bodies, and writing checks in some vain effort to fix his mistakes is not sustainable. On a long enough timeline, you’re gonna get caught and spend the rest of your life behind bars.”
Roger speaks up. “She’s right, Charlotte.”
She turns on him, her eyes wide and disbelieving. “Charlie is my brother. Protecting him is my job.”
He asks one quiet question that affects her more than I would have imagined. “Would he do the same for you?”
I quickly follow up with one last point. “Until you grow a backbone and deal with the real problem, this never ends.” Holding the glass out to her I say, “You should give this to him, not me. That’s the only way you end up with the happily ever after you deserve.”
Charlotte takes the glass and shakes her head. “He’s a Brennan,” she says tightly. “His life matters more than a hundred strangers.”
“That’s the lie you tell yourself,” Roger snaps, suddenly livid. “You’re the one feeding them poison. I’m the one digging theholes and dropping their bodies in the ground. When I asked you to marry me, I was dreaming of a happily ever after. Not cleaning up after you. Are we still gonna be doing this shit when we have kids running around?”
He’s her fiancé? What sort of fucked up family is this?
Her head whips towards him. “Don’t you dare turn on me, you disloyal piece of shit. Not after everything we’ve been through together.”
“No,” he cuts in. “I would never turn on you, darling. But I’m done cleaning up after him. He’s never going to stop unless we stop him.”
The air between them practically crackles with fury. They’re not even looking at me anymore.
Charlotte throws the glass against the wall. It shatters. “You don’t get to turn on him!” she exclaims.
They move towards the stairs, still arguing. Their voices become ever more heated as they leave the basement. The door slams above me, the lock clicking into place as their fight continues.
I stand alone, my heart pounding, my wrists still sore, but I’m alive. I don’t know how much time I bought myself, but for now, I’m still breathing. I glance down at the corked bottle of poisoned wine and can only think of it as evidence. I throw a cushion over it and start looking for a way out of this windowless basement.
Chapter 27
Onyx
Ispent the day at a farm in the middle of Buttfuck Nowhere. We’re lookin’ to set up a shooting range and this land seemed perfect. Only problem is that there’s no cellphone coverage. That’s something that’s gonna have to change. I’m heading back to Cedar Falls when my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull over in case it’s something urgent. What I see chills me to the bone.
