Page 66 of A Hidden Past

“Wasn’t his fault,” I slur. “Wasn’t him who hurt you.”

She laughs. “Dear, it’s not about what’s right or wrong. It’s about what’s fair. I had my life stolen from me by a Kensington. So I stole a Kensington’s life.”

It should have hit me already, but whatever drugs Edith used on me are powerful enough that it’s only when she says it directly that I realize what she’s saying.

“You… you killed Lila?”

“No, dear. Clara killed her. I just helped her transition from cocaine to methamphetamines. Those lines you saw weren’t cocaine. They were powdered crystal. I taught her to snort it because it was easier to hide the physical symptoms of meth use that way.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Maybe I’m dreaming. The world is spinning like I’m dreaming.

“Meth is to cocaine what espresso is to chocolate. It’s very easy to get someone hooked on it if they’ve tried cocaine. But it makes you far more paranoid. You’re probably aware of this. I realize that you’re a heroin junkie, but I’m sure you’ve interacted with meth heads before.”

“You… you gave her drugs?”

“I did. And I befriended Lila, much the same way I befriended you. Just like you, she had parents who didn’t care about her. She couldn’t talk to them about her problems. But she could talk to me.” Edith grins. It looks like the leer of a death’s head. “Her Grandma Edith.”

“You…” I stand, but the action makes me dizzy. I hear the thud of my body falling to the ground, but I don’t feel it.

Edith sips her coffee, then stands. “I pushed Lila in the right direction. Helped her discover what her father was up to on her own. Told her to write everything down in her diary to help her deal with her feelings. Then, when I felt she had enough, I suggested that the right thing to do was to go to the police.

“It wasn’t a guarantee. I had to hope that I knew them well enough to know how they would act. And I did. Clara started taking meth constantly. Lila caught her mother tweaking and in her immature rage threatened to expose her. Clara reacted the way any paranoid tweaker would. Violently. And Julian—ever his father’s son—made sure that none of it could come back to hurt them.”

She walks to me and looks down. Her face is blurry, but I can see those eyes, those vulture’s eyes. “Except that you were there. You saved everything, Nate. You saw Lila and of course you fell in love with her. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and she was your age. As soon as she told me about you and told me that you left your vacuum at her house, I knew that was the day she had to be pushed. You needed to see her dead, and if you did, your zeal for justice would push you to discover Clara’s and Julian’s evil. Thank you.”

“But… why… why…”

“Like I said. I can’t leave loose ends. You don’t strike me as intelligent enough to figure out my involvement in these deaths, but I can’t take the risk that I’m wrong about that. So, you’re going to be discovered with a very high dose of Oxycontin in your blood. I will find you in the morning in my pool. I’ll be hysterical. I’ll probably have to move. For my mental health.”

“No… no…”

I intend to shout those words, but I only mumble them. I intend to fight her as she drags me to the pool, but I only hang limp. I have no idea how she manages to drag my body out of her house to the pool. The only thing I can think of is that her hate somehow gives her strength.

I don’t feel the water wash over my head. I don’t really even feel the water fill my lungs as I struggle to breathe. I know I’m dying, but my body and mind are far away.

I think of Lila as I struggle weakly. It’s a cruel irony that Julian and his mother both drowned teenagers in their pools. Edith thinks she was robbed of her family. I think she had more of Julian than she realized.

My last thought before darkness takes me is of Vivian’s smile. Her cool lips on mine, her warm body wrapped around me.

At least I got one last beautiful memory before I was taken from the world.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Then I feel strong hands wrap under my armpits. I feel my head break the surface, and the next thing I know, cool, soft lips press to mine.

A moment later, I gasp and cough. Water spews from my mouth, and those strong arms turn me over to finish coughing out all the water. My head is still fuzzy, but I’m far more alert than I am a moment ago. “Vivian,” I moan. “You saved me.”

“No such luck, kid. But if it makes you feel better, you’re only the second guy to feel my lips on his.”

I turn over to see Detective Ramirez grinning down at me. In the background, I see Detective Harris pinning a shrieking Edith Winslow to the ground and putting handcuffs on her. Edith is snarling and spitting and spouting curse words at him. All traces of the sweet old lady she wore as a mask are gone.

“What the hell?”

I try to sit up, but a wave of dizziness washes over me. Detective Ramirez catches me before I hit my head on the concrete and gently lowers me to the ground. “Whoa. Take it easy there. We’ve got EMS on the way to make sure you don’t OD. In the meantime, you and I are going to continue to hang out like chums. Try not to pass out on me again, though. Not that I didn’t enjoy the kiss, but Harris will get jealous if you get another one.”

I chuckle, and that leads to another coughing fit. Then the world spins around me once more.

“Hey, what’d I say about passing out on me?”

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