Page 135 of A Forgotten Mistake

Liam asks, “Why are you here? Did Matthew send you in his stead? We were going to fight. Or more accurately, I was going to kick his ass, and he was probably just going to cry and beg for forgiveness.”

“Do you want to keep your job?” Michaels asks.

“No one would dare fire me over this case,” Liam assures him. “This shit was going on back whenyouwere in homicide, and yet no one did a damn thing about?—”

I pat Liam to gently remind him that criticizing our boss is probably the last thing he should do when it’s only minutes before Abby will start accusing him of killing her father and Jonah. We really need to keep the highest number of people on his side as possible.

My stomach tightens at the thought and my hand reaches out to Liam, wanting to pull him back, but I can’t. I need to trust that he has a handle on this. We have to be confident, composed,pretend we have absolutely no idea what Abby is going to try to do.

“Liam was just taking the long-winded approach to saying that he appreciates you and looks forward to many more years under your guidance,” I say with my best salesman smile.

“Under his guidance, my ass,” Liam grumbles, still incapable even after I try to save him.

“It’s a good thing you’re useful,” Michaels says to Liam. “So you’re under the assumption that Abby is involved? Can you explain your thoughts?”

The two of us give Michaels a rundown of what we’d heard from Lisa and what we believe was happening. He listens carefully before nodding. “I don’t want you making the arrest or doing the questioning, Liam. With your connection to Abby, I’d like someone else to. Nye is already here and speaking to the nurses to see if anyone attempted to see Abby that we aren’t aware of.”

“She’s a manipulator, so good luck with that,” Liam says.

“Understood.”

We follow Michaels up to Abby’s room and meet Matthew outside of it. Matthew and Michaels go in first, and I debate having Liam hang back, but she’s going to say what she has to say whether he’s there or not, and honestly, Liam is the best bullshitter of us all.

“Good evening, I’m Sergeant Michaels and this is Detective Nye. I know you met him previously, but it’s been a little bit. We’d like to speak to you.”

“I’m sorry, my head really hurts,” Abby says, doing a good job of looking miserable as she squints at them.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but we still need to ask you a few questions,” Michaels tells her.

“I can try to be as helpful as possible,” she says. “Sorry, my head is fuzzy though.”

“We have reason to believe you were involved in recording multiple victims before their deaths. The videos we’ve found have informed us that someone, likely the person targeting the victims, was tracking and recording them.”

“You’re… I’m sorry, you’re saying that you thinkIwas involved?” she asks, sounding quite offended that anyone could think that. “Liam, tell him how there’s absolutely no way I was involved.”

“Why would I? I’m the one who told them I think you are involved,” Liam says, voice cold. “I have proof of you having in your possession videos of me that were identical to videos found in Anthony’s house. One of which was of me.” Obviously, we never got to see those videos since Lisa disposed of them, but Abby doesn’t know that.

“What are you talking about? Are you trying to manipulate me? If these people knew what you were really like, they wouldn’t listen to a damn thing you said,” she retorts.

My heart pounds but Liam is just as confident as can be. How can he not be afraid of what she’s going to say? I need to make sure I’m not going to give a single thing away as anxiety eats its way through my stomach while I watch the scene unfold before me.

“If you believe we’re wrong, I’d love to hear who gave you the videos that were in your foster home,” Matthew says.

Abby shakes her head. “I don’t even know what he’s talking about! That Lisa was always out to get me. Always trying to make me into a bad guy because I smoked some weed. My mother was a druggie; of course I didn’t make the best decisions. And my father was an abuser, but everyone worshiped the ground he walked on. Liam, I thought you said you’d help me, and now you’re stabbing me in the fucking back with these senseless accusations? Now you’re leading them to believe things that aren’t true?”

Liam is ruthless. “I know it’s you, Abby. Clearly someone has been killing for you while you’ve been in the hospital, but you are the one behind it all. They were trying to distract us from the fact that you’re involved. But you’re the one manipulating them, finding others who enjoy watching people being destroyed and ruined. You were testing everyone your entire life, looking for those who enjoyed your sick desires and who else you could manipulate.”

“You…” Her grip on the railing of her bed tightens. “I know what you did, and I kept your fucking secrets.”

“What secret did you keep? That I snuck out sometimes to fetch your ass when you were drunk or on drugs?”

“Liam, let’s have you step out of the room,” Michaels says.

“He killed my father! And he killed the person who murdered his mother,” she hisses.

Liam nearly chokes before letting out a laugh. “I did what? Excuse me, if you know who killed my mother, I would be thrilled to know.”

“I can tell you where he buried the body,” she snaps. “So whatever he’s trying to tell you is him trying to protect himself. I’ll tell you right where he buried the body.”

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