Something about the question is off. Why would she ask about him like that for no reason?
A cold knot forms in my gut as I step past her without waiting to be invited in. “Why are you asking about Milo?”
She hesitates, closing the door behind us while forcing out a nervous laugh.
“I was just asking because of Eli,” she says quickly. “I wanted to make sure he didn’t try anything.”
“And you know what Eli is capable of, huh?” I take a step toward her.
She starts backing away automatically.
“Because you know him so well…right?”
Her smile falters. “What’s going on, Sloane?”
I keep moving toward her until the backs of her legs hit the sofa and she drops onto it with a startled gasp, while Kirill stays beside me, silent and terrifying.
“What happened to our mother the night she died?”
“Um…you know what happened.”
Kirill reaches down and removes his gun from its holster. “Tell her again.”
The metal catches in the light as he lifts it casually in his hand, and my sister’s eyes go wide, all the color draining out of her face.
“Well…uh, y-you were fighting with Mom about your drinking like always,” she stammers. “Sh-she shoved you and you almost fell in the pool, remember?”
I shake my head. “No.” My voice drops, and real fear flickers across her features. “I don’t. So tell me.”
She clears her throat and keeps going. “You got mad and threw her into the water. Y-you held her face down until she stopped breathing, and by the time I realized she was dead, it was too late.” She tugs on the hem of her shirt, clearing herthroat. “I tried to pull her out while you just stood there, and then we told the cops it was an accident. That we didn’t know she fell since we were inside the house. Her blood sugar was high that day. They believed she slipped and drowned.”
Her hands tremble in her lap, and when I catch it, she clasps them. “Why are you asking this?”
“Because…” Kirill steps forward and presses the cold barrel of the gun right between her eyes. “We don’t believe you.”
She inhales a long drag of air.
“So how about you tell that story again?” he continues. “But this time, you tell us the truth.”
“I don’t know what crazy shit you two have heard,” she snaps, trying to recover some of her confidence. “That’s exactly what happened. Since I was the only sober one alive, I’d remember.”
A hot surge flares up in me. “So Eli wasn’t the one who killed our mother with your help?” A humorless laugh slips free. “While you made me believe it was me?”
The reaction is instant. Every drop of color drains from her face. And that’s when I know.
She did it all.
As Camille opens her mouth to speak, Kirill inches the barrel into her throat.
“You will pay for what you did to our boys. To my wife.” His tone grows thick with barely contained wrath.
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammers. “I’m calling the cops.”
She tries to stand.
Kirill fires. “I hate liars.”
The bullet tears through her foot, and she collapses back onto the couch with a scream so loud it rattles through me. Before she can make another sound, he shoves a pillow over her face.
