There’s dead silence.
“Hello?” I say again.
“Just hang up, Blondie,” Wilder mutters.
Then, I hear it. The faintest sound. Someone breathing.
“Whoever you are,” I snap, “don’t call me—”
“Ingrid,” I hear.
That voice. I’ve heard it a thousand times before. Always laced with disgust.
“Fanny,” I return as Wilder’s green eyes widen. “How did you get my number?”
“Your mother,” she replies without missing a beat.
Fear races through me. Last summer, Fanny made it her mission to destroy my family. What ifthis summer, she escaped prison to finish what she started?
“What do you want?” I hear myself say.
“I need to speak with my son.”
I scoff. “I don’t think so.”
“He’s been avoiding my calls.”
“I can’t imagine why.”
“You’ve always been rude.” Fanny lets out a sigh as I narrow my eyes. How dare she! “But,” she continues, “you’ve always protected Cash. I suppose I should thank you for that.”
Wait.
What?
“I—”
“I’m not done,” she snaps. “Where I’m going… I won’t be reachable. I need you to keep an eye on him. Whatever you might think of me, I love Cash and I’ve only ever wanted what was best for him.”
“What is she saying?” Wilder whisper-yells.
I shake my head at him, trying to figure out what she means.
“Given everything that’s happened, I believe I was right about you.” Her tone is all snark and snide. “You were always temporary, Ingrid. You just didn’t know it. But I won’t be around, Ingrid. My choices have made that impossible.”
“If you really cared about him,” I say, “you wouldn’t have made the choices you did.”
“I wanted what was best for him then,” she counters. “It’s true. Now, as a mother, I want him to be happy.”
“Where are you going?” I ask her.
She laughs softly. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
Oh. My. Gawd.
She’s making a run for it.
Anger courses through me like molten lava.
