Page 31 of Oliver

“See,” Mom says, waving her arm. “How dare you come here and accuse my baby of this. How dare you! Haven’t you done enough?”

She devolves into tears, and I stand, relieved when the detectives follow suit.

“Do you know why your father would accuse you?” Stewart asks and I shake my head.

“No, but I hated him, and he knows it. The fucker couldn’t keep his dick in his pants and his disgusting behavior got old.”

The detective slowly nods, searching my gaze once more. Beside her, Masters eyes Mom with a glint of distaste and clenching my jaw, I lead them to the door.

“One last thing,” Stewart says, and I raise a brow. “Who else can corroborate your appearance at prom?”

“Virtually everyone else who was there,” I say dryly, closing the door as they walk to their car.

Alright, I got them off my back, but for how long? And what the fuck is going on? Did the old man do it or not?

Chapter 11

Penny

There’s been something niggling at my brain ever since I spoke to Oren and finally, I push my ass into the shower before heading out the door. It brings me no pleasure to drive my mom’s car, but I need the wheels and unlike her, I’m not worried about her soul being trapped inside.

Once again, I go over the weeks preceding her death but much like with Dixie, my head was stuck so far under the proverbial sand, I not only couldn’t see the clues, but I refused to.

She was off her meds and cycling through her paranoia mixed with grief. I suppose it’s naive but after Mr. G was arrested, I hoped she could find some peace. A foolish notion because even I buckled under the emotion pressing at me from all sides.

Without having to focus on who killed Dixie, the grief had a chance to sneak through.

My phone buzzes in the passenger seat and I groan. I’ve opened a door I never wanted to see again but I had no choice. I needed Oren’s home address and Sabrina’s fucking mom was part of the emergency phone tree created by the PTA.

I practically had to beg her because she’s a bitch, but she relented with promises to meet up soon. She wants something, of course. I’ll play along for now, but I’ve got bigger issues than Sabrina and her fucking demands.

After pulling up to the house that Oren resides in, I eye the two-story facade complete with purple flowers adorning the porch and wrinkle my nose.

Oren for all his goth looks, comes from what appears to be a nicely middle-class neighborhood. Douche.

My phone buzzes again and I go back through the messages, starting with the one I sent last night.

I need something from you

Sabrina:Why should I help you?

Penny:Maybe because you ruined my fucking life

Sabrina:Did I? Your actions speak louder than my words

Penny:Look, that was a long time ago. This is about my sister

Sabrina:I help you, you help me

Penny:With what?

Sabrina:I want that fucker Ramsay and his bitch to burn

Shaking my head, I skip over her text rant and subsequent sending of Oren’s address to today. I sure hope she didn’t mean that burning business literally. Gah.

Sabrina:You think it was a coincidence that Oliver was out of school for 6 weeks? Or how about the fact that Willow’s sister was killed by that skeevy asshole too?

Wait what? Willow’s sister? And where the hell was Oliver for six weeks?

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