I turned. He was in the same spot, watching me with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Roe and Wyatt were about twenty feet behind him talking about something with the twins. “I’ll catch up,” I yelled over my shoulder, and I headed back toward Reid. When I reached him, I jumped back into his arms to kiss him.
Just one more kiss,I thought.
That one more time turned into three and I eventually pulled away.
“I’ll be right back,” I told him, and ran to catch up with the girls, who were already at the restroom. There was a line out the door, and Mac and Lemon were at the front of it. I was about eight ladies back. I waved at them to let them know I was here. Mac yelled that they would wait for me when they were done.
While I waited, I tightened my ponytail that was high on my head. Just as I finished, I felt something hard press into my back. I looked over my shoulder and saw Mother. My stomach dropped. What was she doing here? Had she followed me? I went to move away, but she grabbed the back of my shirt.
“Let’s step out of line,” she said, ushering me away until we were completely out of sight of the restroom. She led me to adark, less populated area. Her grip on my shirt didn’t let me turn around and she continued to press something hard against my spine. “We have five minutes to get out of here,” she told me. “If we don’t and I don’t call the person I hired to follow your friends around, one of them will be shot. Do you understand?”
My heart started galloping. I nodded.
“Then let’s get moving,” Mother said, steering me ahead of her once again.
As we got closer to the fair’s exit, I wanted to dig my heels into the ground. I kept walking. What if she was telling the truth about someone helping her? It made sense. For years, she’d had Clay help her.
“Mother—”
“Shut up and keep walking,” she ordered.
I did. It made me sick to my stomach, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other.
We went through the exit and into the parking lot. We walked past rows and rows of cars until we were next to an old, dark green sedan that looked similar to the one Prue owned.
“Stop here,” she ordered.
She still wouldn’t let me turn.
“Has it been five minutes? Please call that person watching my friends,” I begged.
“You’re so pathetic. Even now, I still can’t believe I gave birth to you.”
That was the last thing I heard before pain exploded on the back of my head and everything went black.
A smack across my face woke me. When I tried to open my eyes, everything spun. I blinked to try and focus. The strong smell of gasoline filled my nose with each breath I took.
Another slap. “Wake up!” Mother’s voice roared.
“I’m awake!” I yelled back, and tried to bring my hands up to touch the back of my throbbing head. My wrists were caught by something. I glanced down. I was sitting at my late father’s desk—now Mother’s—with a laptop placed in front of me. I was in a chair from our dining room and my wrists were handcuffed to its armrests. I was home and I was in Mother’s study.
“Good,” Mother said from where she stood next to me. “I know you sold your shares to Sullivan.”
“What?” I asked. “How do you know that?”
She sighed as she scooped up a bottle of gin and took a big gulp. I guessed she was foregoing glasses and splashes of lime. “Because Prudence told me,” she answered with a slight slur in her voice.
I didn’t believe her. “She wouldn’t have done that.”
“I’d tell you to ask her yourself, but she’s not breathing anymore.” Mother gestured with the gin bottle toward the other side of the desk.
I turned my head away from her and there on the floor was Prue lying face down. She was beaten badly and blood had pooled around her body. Her eyes were open and lifeless.
I was screaming. I was so in shock that I hadn’t realized when I’d started. Mother slapped me again and tears began to drip from my eyes. “What did you do?” I cried.
Watching me, she got this delighted look on her face like she enjoyed my reaction. “I heard from a little birdie that Sullivan was coming to town. I followed him to JJ’s firm. Imagine my surprise when I see you pull up not a minute later. You all were there for a long fucking time. Nearly all day. Then the police showed up and I really got curious. As soon as I saw Prudencewalking to her car…well, I knew she would be able to tell me. Plus, I was a little pissed at her betrayal.”
“So you brought her here and killed her?”
