Page 94 of The Masks She Wore

?I had to ask Viv questions. As if I were some undercover agent trying to out the mole or something.

?I had never played a role like that before, but what was so different about it? I asked questions to the elite, pretended I was someone I wasn’t, I could do the same to Viv, make it sound casual. I just wasn’t sure what I should ask. I wished they would have given me a list.

?But I suppose this was some sort of test or punishment. He knew I would have left no matter what. That alone would have been subject to a punishment of some kind, yet he was giving me a job.

?To interrogate my best friend.

?Where were Jack and Zo right now anyway? What was their new assignment? Who were they going to kill while I was off trying to solve my own case?

?What would they do with Captain Bard’s body? How would they explain it away to the precinct?

?Why wasn’t I more concerned about the fact that they were going to kill a police captain?

?My mind was too exhausted to care, I decided.

?Or I definitely needed to just go to therapy.

?It reminded me of some sort of secret society, their program. It was more than just the mafia or an organization, there were hundreds of them in the program alone, let alone those who didn’t go into the program. There must have been thousands of them across the world, right? All led by one man and his four sadistic sons.

?A society hidden in the shadows, going around doing…crime? Or murdering people? I suppose the mafia murdered people too. Would that make them serial killers? Was I fucking a serial killer?

?My lips parted in shock. Was I fucking a serial killer? What thefuck?

?I shook my head, trying to calm myself. No, don’t do that. Just relax, it was fine, everything was fine, right?

?But…he wouldn’t murder me. Not unless I blabbed about them. Would I blab about them?

?No. Who would I even blab to?

?I rolled my eyes and settled into my seat. This was ridiculous. I had made my choice, now I had to deal with it. And was it really so bad? It wasn’t like I wanted to give Jack up, so truly what did that say about me?

?A few minutes later Mr. Blakely announced that we were almost there.

?I needed to focus on what I was going to ask Viv. That’s all that mattered now. Something to prove that my memories of her were real. Thatsomethingwas real. That she wasn’t who Malachi and Jack thought she was.

?“When would you like me to come around?” he asked when we finally pulled up in front of Viv’s little one-story house.

?“You can just go home, Mr. Blakely, I’ve already got a ride back.”

?His eyes found mine in the rearview mirror. “Are you sure, Ms. Bennett?”

?I nodded. “Absolutely.”

?I slid out of the car and waved goodbye to him before tightening my high ponytail and adjusting my navy-blue cotton dress that hugged every bit of me. I paired it with sheer black tights, black booties, and my own leather jacket, honestly wishing it was Jack’s.

?As High School as that was, I liked the idea of wearing his jacket. Just the thought gave me butterflies.

?I forced the smile away and straightened. I could do this. I just had to ask questions that weren’t too suspicious. Easy.

?I inhaled deeply and headed for her door.

?I actually liked her house. It was small and cozy. Everything you would need in a good home. It was about the same size as my suite with the added feature of no wall-to-wall neighbors, no elevator, a beautiful little yard. Homey.

?I walked right through the front door. “Viv, just got here!”

?“Finishing up, one sec!” she called back.

?I nodded, running my fingers along the back of her couch, taking in a room I had been in hundreds of times before.

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