Page 53 of Caged Bird

With the phone unlocked, an app began playing silently, the one Eddie and the other guys must have been watching before Fawn had called them in for breakfast.

And it froze my fingers to the spot.

“Zane!”

Fawn went to take the phone from my fingers, but I couldn’t let go of it. And when she looked down at the screen, she inhaled a short, sharp gasp. “Who is that?”

Security camera footage rolled on a continual loop.

A man in a mask, chasing a woman around a house, a knife the size of my arm clutched in his gloved fingers.

“Don’t you remember my mom, Peach?”

Fawn jumped a mile at Eddie’s voice behind us.

I just stared at him in horror, not even caring that he’d caught us when what was on that screen was so much worse. “What have you done?”

Eddie chuckled, plucking the phone from my fingers. “Just teaching you a little lesson about snooping through other people’s property. See something you don’t like?”

“Why?” I couldn’t help the agonized question that fell from my lips, even though I already knew exactly what his answer would be.

Eddie shrugged. “You think Fawn was the only one who needed punishing last night, Zaney boy?” His eyes narrowed. “You clearly needed to be reminded of your place. So I sent Spider down to hang out with Mommy.” He peered over my shoulder at the phone and grinned at the chase taking place. “Does look like he got a little carried away though, doesn’t it? What a clown.”

Anger blazed inside me. “She’s seventy years old, Eddie! You’re going to give her a heart attack!”

He snatched the phone and got in my face, lording his size over me. “Then maybe you’ll learn what it feels like to lose the only person who gives a shit about you.”

I refused to back down. “Then what? She’s dead. You’ve got nothing on me after that.”

Eddie glanced toward Fawn, a knowing gleam in his eye.

Like he knew everything we’d done out by the stream. Like he knew the exact sound of my heartbeat every time I looked at her. He unlocked the safe with his thumb print and put the phone back inside. “Don’t I?”

For both our sakes, I needed to pretend like there was nothing between me and Fawn. I couldn’t give Eddie another thing to use against me. “I want proof Mom’s alive.”

“She’s fine. You just saw that.”

“I want proof, Eddie. That could have been footage from hours ago. She could have bled out on the kitchen floor now for all I know. I want to talk to her.”

Eddie shrugged. “Fine. I’ll give you proof.”

He walked away without another word, rejoining his friends at the kitchen table.

Fawn paused as she passed me, making her way upstairs. “He left that phone there so you’d see what he’s doing to your mom.”

“I know.” At least, I knew that now.

Fawn stared down at her feet. “Just play the game, Zane. It’s the only way to survive and stay alive. The sooner you learn that, the better off we’ll all be.”

She walked away, and I watched her go, not sure that just surviving was any better than being buried six feet under.

15

FAWN

Iavoided the mirror for the next two days, but Zane’s expression every time I passed him told me exactly how bad it was. I could barely see out of one eye, but the pain in my face paled in comparison to the hurt elsewhere.

My heart was so broken I could barely get out of bed in the mornings. It was only Otis who kept me going.

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