Page 26 of Oliver

Now, I’m staring blankly at my uncle while he spouts off about shit that I don’t care to hear but probably should.

“You can’t stay here, sweetie. Not after the end of the month.”

Bills. Rent. Underage. It all flies over my head. Absently I note that I can’t feel my fingers as I brush them stiffly over my face.

“I’m almost eighteen,” I finally whisper, and he sighs, rubbing his forehead.

“I know and I convinced the social worker people that I would watch over you until then, but you still can’t stay here.”

His bushy brows crawl over his face when he speaks, a trait that used to make me smile. Now I can’t help but to stare at them with a burn of resentment.

“I’m supposed to leave my home. Dixie’s things. Mom’s things?”

When he touches my hand, I recoil, and he bows his head. I’m being a bitch. Intellectually I know this but it’s like the good sense I haven’t used in fucking forever floats outside my body.

“I know this is hard—“

“You don’t know shit,” I spit, standing and walking away. “Besides, I doubt Reva is all that fucking happy about this.”

It’s a long shot but maybe if I remind him how much his wife hated Mom and our little family, maybe he’ll back the fuck off.

“Reva’s fine,” he says but newsflash, it’s not all that convincing. “Three weeks,” he calls before I escape up the stairs and lock myself in my room.

It’s not like I didn’t have this coming. Regardless of Mom’s death, turning eighteen signified the next step in my life. It’s just…how do I get a fucking job and act like everything is normal?

It’s midnight. I’ve been staring at the ceiling for hours. Uncle Hank finally left after doing god knows what downstairs.

My eyes sting and roll back in my head every few seconds but no matter, I still jump awake every time.

Since sleep eludes me rather brutally at that, I groan and roll over, stumbling to my computer, before clicking into the new message in my inbox.

There’s no text, just a link.

I hover over the blue highlighted text. If Mr. G is in jail, then who the fuck sent me the link from Charming Charlie?

A shiver rolls down my spine and when I click into the link, an article pops up.

Science Teacher Arrested for Murder

Why would he send me this? To get me to back off? Who the fuck is it?

Fumbling for my phone, I pull up my contacts before clicking over to the message I must have missed in my self-induced daze.

With a tingle of resentment, I press play, knowing whatever this is, I’m not going to like it any more than I did the last call from an unknown number.

“Hello, this message is for Penny Loughlin. Penny, this is Detective Matthews. I wanted to inform you before it hits the media…”

With a laugh that’s more a strangled sob, I rub my face and glance at the window. For half a second, just half, I contemplate how easy it would be to jump, slit my wrists, anything before I turn away and drop to my knees.

I’m fucking tired. So tired but the game isn’t over.

Chapter 9

Penny

“Penny…Loughlin, right?” Ramsay says, raising a brow.

Narrowing my eyes, I say stiffly, “Yes.”

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