Mr. Parker must have hit her.
The thought brings me no pleasure. It’s as ugly as everything else in this haunted house. I take a step toward the table. “Hello, Corinne.”
She says nothing.
I feel Archie and Bill moving at my back and I draw strength from our numbers. Their guns. I’m determined not to screw this up. To act like the scared, intimidated girl I once was.
I draw a deep breath. “I need to know where Mr. Parker is. I know he’s been here. Where is he going? Where did he take Eli and the others?”
She says nothing.
A drop of sweat drips from my hairline, down the back of my neck. I press a palm to the gun on my thigh. I was praying I wouldn’t have to threaten her but we’re running out of time. I try again. “Corinne, I need to know where Mr. Parker is, and if you don’t tell me—”
“He’s gone.”
My stepmother’s voice is raspy, like she’s been crying, or singing, for hours.
I swallow. “Gone where?”
“To his compound. He’s got your men too. Or what’s left of them.”
My mouth fills with bile. “You saw them?”
The veil shakes.
“But Mr. Parker told you he’s got them?”
A nod.
I turn to the twins. “Can you guys still get us into his compound?”
“Maybe…” Archie’s eyes are on the shrouded figure of Corinne. “How do you know she’s not lying, Kitten? This could be a trap.”
A thin laugh makes me whip around. “What?” I demand.
“Sorry,” my stepmother touches her cheek through her veil. “But the idea I’d bother deceiving you is hilarious. It’s over mydarling stepdaughter. Parker got everything he wanted. He’s taken your men and they’re probably already dead. All of them except the blond. He needs him for Orchard.”
A shock goes through me at hearing her mention the drug Doc invented. “Doc is never going to help him make Orchard if he kills the others.”
She shrugs. “Then he’ll kill him too.”
“You don’t know that.”
Another tinkling laugh. “I know Parker better than anyone. He wants Orchard. He’s been obsessed with it for years. Marrying you was more than just about getting your virginity or your name. Your uncle Wilson sits on the board for Procter & Gamble. He wants the funding to be able to manufacture it. Sell it to the world. It’s all he cares about.”
“And what do you care about?” Archie asks roughly. “What the fuck did you want out of all of this?”
Corinne tilts her head toward him and even through the cloth I know she’s sneering. “I wanted what I was owed.”
“And that is?”
Corinne turns back toward me and when she speaks it’s in a light almost dreamy voice. “You know I used to want children of my own. I wanted to secure my future with your father, but then I watched your stupid mother die in the middle of her bed giving birth toyouand there wentthatidea.”
I flinch.
“You asked what I wanted,” Corinne says quietly to Archie. “All I wanted was security. To be safe and happy and now… I have nothing.”
“That’s not true,” I say before I can stop myself. “You had Daddy for years and this house and…andus. How could you have done this to Margot and the boys and me?”
