Page 18 of Toy

Even though I was quite certain by now that Martha was innocent, part of me still worried she would emerge from the kitchen with a gun or knife. I sat stiffly on the edge of my chair, ready to jump up and protect Jolie if necessary, but Martha stepped out with a plate of sandwiches and cookies instead.

“Here you go,” she said with a smile, setting the plate down next to the coffee cups. “Eat up.”

Jolie thanked her and picked up a cookie. I noticed she didn’t bite into it, though. She was probably worried that Martha had sprinkled poison on top.

“Are you okay?” Martha asked, brows puckering.

“Yes. I was just wondering if I could ask you some questions about New Eden,” Jolie said.

Martha nodded slowly. “Okay. Sure.”

“Do you remember the day of the FBI raid, or any of the days beforehand?”

“Yes. Why?”

I saw Jolie swallow hard. “Do you happen to remember walking down the hall that led past the Penance Rooms the day before the raid?” she asked. Her tone was light, but I knew how frightened she was to bring up this subject. I reached over and squeezed her knee encouragingly.

A small smile curved up Martha’s lips. “Are you asking if I overheard you making your video?” she asked. “Because I did.”

My forehead wrinkled. The way she’d admitted it so casually gave her another point in my book. If she was the one who ratted on us, then surely she wouldn’t own up to it in any way, including the fact that she’d overheard us.

Jolie’s face had turned white as a sheet. “How?”

“I was on my way to the kitchens. I heard a really faint voice coming from one of the rooms. Usually the only thing you’d hear coming from there was crying or screaming, so it made me wonder. I couldn’t actually make out any words. Just this incredibly faint voice, chattering away. I was curious, so I stepped over to the door. I still couldn’t make out any words then, but when I pressed my ear right up to the door, I heard everything.”

“Oh.” Jolie’s voice was barely above a whisper. “So you knew what we were planning to do.”

Martha nodded. Her gaze had turned steely. “Yeah. I did,” she said. “I mean, I only caught the tail end of the plan, but I still figured out enough from that.”

I leaned forward with narrowed eyes. “Did you tip off the men?” I asked, dropping all pretense of being friendly. “Did you know they were going to do this to me?”

Martha’s eyes widened. “Did I what? What are you talking about?”

“Someone told the men. That’s how they managed to escape before the FBI showed up,” Jolie said stiffly. “They also blew up Mason’s car while he was in it, as retribution for his betrayal. They murdered his whole family too.”

Martha stared at us in an incredulous silence for several long, painful seconds. Finally, she looked over at Travis. He nodded and mouthed something to her. It looked like he said: Tell them.

Martha turned back to face us. “Mason, I’m so sorry. I had no idea they did that to you,” she said, hands trembling on her lap. “I thought you might’ve been in an accident or something. I didn’t ask because I thought it would be rude to bring up the scars.”

“Why are you sorry?” I asked. “Because you did it? You told them?”

She held up her shaky hands, palms facing outward. “No.” She shook her head vehemently. “God, no. I just…” She was starting to look flustered. “Look, I get it. I totally understand why you guys would assume it was me. But can you please let me explain myself before you jump to any more conclusions?”

“Go ahead,” I said icily.

Martha leaned forward and looked right at Jolie. “How old were you when the men faked the apocalypse and trapped us underground?” she asked. “Six? Seven?”

“Seven,” Jolie said.

“Right. I was a little older. Nine, almost ten. Not that much older, but when you’re a kid, a few years makes a huge difference. It was a bit harder to convince me of all the bullshit than it was with the younger kids, like you.”

Jolie frowned. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I knew it was a pack of lies from the very start. At the same time, I could tell we weren’t getting out anytime soon. The men were obviously dead serious about the commune, to the point where they killed my mother and sister to make it happen, along with so many others. I had no proof, but I knew it.”

“No.” Jolie shook her head, eyes narrowing. “No way.”

“I did,” Martha insisted. “But like I said, I knew we weren’t getting out anytime soon. That was made very clear to us. I remember the first time they ever killed a girl. They said it was because she tried to seduce a man, but I knew the truth. She didn’t believe any of the apocalypse shit, and she tried to escape.” She shuddered. “After that, I knew I had to figure out a way to survive. So I did the only thing I could think of. I pretended like I was really serious about the stuff they taught us, and I acted my ass off.”

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