Page 45 of The Hand that Frays

All for her.

Ada’s very nature is likely a symptom of my work.

The fucking bitch cornered me last night, too. Spewing vile words at me and empty threats. Emptybecause she’ll no more confess to knowing it’s me than she will stop lusting after me.

I gave her what she wanted and gained her silence.

I fucked her tight little pussy so hard that I nearly passed out afterward.

She called me father when she came, and my sick soul purred at her obedience.

Now, the only thing I have to face is the likelihood that my wife will go down for my crimes. In all my attempts to keep her happy and caring for her children, now she will be ripped away from them.

But there’s nothing I can do about it.

Men like me don’t last in lock-up.

Anne’s the strongest woman I know.

She’ll be fine.

It will all be okay.

“It’s the last paper,”Lyla whispers, closing the folder.

“I’m surprised he let these survive and didn’t shred them. The ignorance of some people astounds me.”

“Carl is our target,” she says, and finally, something shifts in my chest as the objective becomes clear in my mind’s eye.

Even if it doesn’t sate my perfect need to kill someone who looks and behaves like my mother, it will fulfill the urge for blood.

“What do we do about Ada?” Lyla asks.

I shake my head, my mind trying to puzzle all this shit together.

It’s so tangled, however.

“She knew her brother and sister were being poisoned and used it to gain something for herself,” she says.

“She survived, though. No matter how she did it. Sometimes, survival isn’t pretty, stupid love.”

Lyla looks at Ada’s picture pulled up on the screens across from us and nods absently.

“Carl Hatt,” she mumurs.

“Carl Hatt,” I confirm.

“Feels good to have a name.”

“Indeed.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

LYLA

Our plan to kill Carl Hatt is in motion. Friday night while Anne is away at her mother’s house, per the note on the fridge reminding Carl of her trip. Her mother lives in Slough, which gives us plenty of time to get in and out, and it also offers Anne an alibi for when the investigation ensues after she comes home to Carl’s lifeless body.

Neo and I are free to do as we please for the next few nights.

---