Page 207 of Burning Daylight
“That’s funny,” I say. “I was thinking the same thing about you.”
Juliette whimpers yet again, and even though I was just trying to wake her up, now I want her to stay asleep. I don’t want her to have any memory of this; maybe then, she can wake up later and it will just feel like a bad dream.
“Me?” Frederick laughs. “I’m the opposite.”
“So, you planned to shoot Tyler last night?”
He grimaces. “An unfortunate hiccup. However, Tyler shouldn’t have gotten in the way of things. He had a part to play, and he didnotplay it well.”
“What part?”
I’m hoping that if I can keep him talking, then maybe it will give Benjamin time to get to Lance. Assuming he meant what he said.
His grin widens. “Doesn’t really matter now, does it?”
“What is all this, Frederick? Why go through all this just to get me?”
His smile drops. “You Montgomerys are all the same. Always with an overinflated self-worth. This has been years in the making.” He throws out his arms and glances around him like I should be impressed by the large empty space. “And finally we’ve done what we’ve needed, and you’re here. I’ll admit, a little messier than usual, but still…” He leans in, his eyes gleaming. “We’re about to finish the job.”
We.
The word slams into me and I resist the urge to look around.
“Who iswe, Frederick?”
He doesn’t answer. But he doesn’t need to.
There’s a slow, measured click of shoes on gravel behind him, and then she appears, and all of the air leaves my lungs like she’s personally reached into my chest and ripped it out.
“Ma,” I croak out.
She smiles. “Hey, Ry.”
Anger, blinding and fast, rushes through me. “Donotcall me that.”
She smiles, coming to a stop next to Frederick, her eyes wild and her skin sallow.
“I never meant to hurt you,” she says, like this is just a misunderstanding.
My eyes flicker behind me to Juliette. She’s not moving, and her face is too still. Her pallor too white.
“What did you do to her?” I grind out.
“No idea,” Frederick says, and my mother cackles.
He looks at her. “Did Beverly tell you what she was planning to use?”
My mother shrugs like the girl lying crumpled against the rock doesn’t matter.
And another knife stabs its way into my back. No, worse, intoJuliette’sback.
“You drugged her,” I whisper.
Ma’s lips purse and she picks at her cuticles. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
I take a step forward, ignoring the way everything inside of me wants to reach out and throttle this woman who’s hurt me so badly while all I’veeverwanted to do was be her son. “Tell me she’ll wake up.”
“She’ll be fine,” Frederick confirms. “Eventually. She’s just…resting.”
