Page 76 of Our Lips Are Sealed
Horrible noises were coming from Annabeth. Deep, guttural wails of terror. She was breaking down, and Evie shushed her, neither of them able to pull their gazes from poor Callahan.
Toby leaned in to admire his work. “Honestly, I don’t particularly care for the method. It’s not very personal. The least you can do when ending a human’s life is look them in the eye as they leave this world.”
Jamison lurched in his grasp, startling him. “You’re a sick fuck,” she snarled.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Jamison. Did you want to look?” Toby aimed her towards the officer’s body, hovering her over the man. “Evie told me you were into this kind of stuff.”
Jamison went stiff, her nostrils flaring. “No.”
“Come on.” Toby gave her a shake. “Are you sure?”
The more her sister fought not to look, the more determined Toby became to make her see.
“Stop it,” Evie pleaded. “You’ve made your point.”
“I know what you guys are thinking. That it was a mistake to kill the cop,” he mused, giving Jamison a firm shake. “And I agree. For the most part, law enforcement will leave you alone if you use the everyday human, but strike one of their own, and woe be unto you.”
He returned Jamison to his side, placing his lips to her ear. “That’s why I left your boy toy alive,” he whispered, chuckling. “Seeing you two together at the hospital was absolutely adorable.”
Kicking the officer’s leg, Toby let out a huff when he didn’t get a reaction out of Jamison. “Anyway, a dead cop is one thing, but a dead fed is something else entirely, and I can’t have that on my hands. Not with the big plans I have laid out.”
Evie turned Annabeth from the body, facing her towards the forest. “Damn it, Toby, none of us care about your big plans.”
Cruel green eyes rolled from Callahan to her, sizing up this sudden courage appearing out of nowhere. Evie searched for a sign of Lucas in them, the man she’d once felt a real connection with.
But he wasn’t there.
Lucas had been nothing more than a shadow to hide the monster lurking beneath.
Annoyed by his unimpressed audience, Toby inclined his head for them to get moving. “Walk,” he ordered. “But not too far ahead.”
“Here we go.” Evie guided Annabeth onto Haven’s thick carpet of grass. “Just keep moving and don’t think about what’s happening.”
They walked across the lawn in silence, passing through the gardens. When they neared the forest, Evie hesitated, sensing someone watching. She risked a peek over her shoulder, but no one was there except Haven House, its white exterior cast in shades of orange and pink from the setting sun.
“Man, oh man, this really is an incredible place,” Toby breathed, pausing with her. “I remember how my mother loved it here. Charlie said it was supposed to be hers, but Ben and Simone stole it out from under them.”
With Toby staring off at the house in awe, Jamison used his distraction to meet Evie’s eyes, signaling her it was time to act.
Evie shook her head, telling her no. Whatever her sister meant to do would likely get them hurt or killed. When questioning Nick, Jamison’s hobby had come in handy, but dealing with Toby was entirely different.
“You said your father died in a boating accident.” Evie swiftly turned Annabeth to keep walking so Jamison would lose the opportunity to do whatever she was planning. “Or was that a lie, too?”
Toby yanked Jamison along with him, catching up, and the four of them walked together on one of the paved paths as if out for a casual afternoon stroll. “Hmm, I guess the word accident is subjective. I executed him like I did Officer No Name back there, and threw his body off our boat.”
Annabeth shook violently at Toby’s nearness, and Evie changed positions to place herself between them. “Executed?”
“That’s what the winner does,” he replied with a shrug. “He executes his enemies.”
“Killing people doesn’t make you a winner.”
Toby tsked. “That’s Samuel’s influence talking. But don’t worry. We’ll purge it out of you and make you my Evie again.”
Surprising them both, Jamison reared against his hold, cracking her skull into Toby’s face. He hissed and twisted her arm, eliciting a grunt of pain from her. “If you can’t walk like a good girl, I’ll drag you like a bad one.”
Evie halted, ready to drop Annabeth if she needed to stop him from hurting Jamison. “Why did you kill Charlie?”
Toby didn’t answer, and instead whispered to Jamison, the color fleeing her face with every word.
