“Sunshine, walk backward toward me.” His tone is gentle, but it doesn’t calm me.
“No, no, I c-can’t. Not without Noah.” I can’t stop the stutter in my words.
I have to make up for everything I missed, all the time lost. I need to see him ride a bike for the first time. I need to see him graduate from high school and college. I need to witness the happy life he builds for himself.
“Trust us,” Knox implores.
Alice starts in on another verse.
“Rock a bye baby, in the sweet bed,
When his fate comes, the child will dread.
Oh, God.
My vision blurs, tears obscuring my sight.
When the night ends, the mother will cry,
And down will come Noah, down from the sky.”
“Now,” Knox commands. His demand sounds directed at me, but I discover quickly that it’s not.
A million things happen in the flash of a second. Arms wrap around my stomach and haul me backward into a solid chest. A powerful, large body bolts past me. Alice starts to let her body lean out of the open window. Her arms stretch out at her sides, and Noah is still resting on her chest. I lurch for Noah, but the steel bands caging me hold me in place. The person reaches Alice as her feet begin to leave the floor, ready to take Noah with her. His reach is just enough to snatch Noah from Alice, but he doesn’t have time to reach for her. Alice wears that same smile all the way to the grass outside, her body is cast in flashing red and blue lights.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
GRIFFIN
Officer Langston scribbles on his notepad like he did the other night. “Did you recognize the attacker? Did she say her name or anything?”
Knox and I glance at each other. “No,” we answer at the same time.
A lie, but we need to talk to Raven. Something we plan on doing as soon as everyone is gone. I thought we had already aired out all the dirty laundry, but she’s still holding back. I don’t want to make this about me because that’s not fair, but I’m tired of the secrets.
The police lights are still blazing in front of Raven’s house, where Langston is questioning Knox and me. I think I’m going to have blue and red dots permanently etched in my retinas.
“We were able to run the prints of the man from the library,” Langston states as he flips back a few pages. “Seth Beauregard. It looks like he was a patient at Mystic River Psychiatric Hospital.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but my face remains devoid of emotion.
Langston continues the interview, unaware of the colossal piece of information. “Are you familiar with anyone there? Patients or staff?”
Knox and I shake our heads in reply.
“If you think of anything else, give me a call,” Officer Langston says as he pulls out his business card and hands it to me.
“Sure thing,” Knox replies. Langston tips the rim of his hat and strolls over to a fuming Sheriff Jackson. Langston points a finger at Jackson, then pokes him in the chest a few times, pushing Jackson backward. Jackson grits his teeth and mutters something back.
Knox says exactly what I’m thinking out loud, nodding to the sheriff. “Langston got here first again.”
Positioning myself at his side, I respond, “We need to figure out what’s keeping the sheriff so occupied. Once is a coincidence. Twice is a pattern.”
The coroner strolls by, pushing a stretcher. The lump inside the black body bag gives me chills. I’ve seen many dead bodies in my life, but Alice’s dead body will haunt me for the next few decades at least.
When Alice fell, I handed Raven off to Knox, who was still holding Noah as well, and I ran to the backyard. I checked Alice for a pulse but found none. When the lights from the approaching emergency vehicles illuminated Alice’s face, my body froze as my chest tightened. I could have handled the scary-as-fuck smile, but the lights showed me why her smile was so huge and why her eyes were still open.
They were sewn that way.
