Page 99 of Deja New
Abrupt silence, like a switch had been thrown. Angela felt like she was witnessing a miracle. Or witchcraft. Something about Jason made people want to stop and listen. Maybe it wasn’t “people” (a general term), maybe it was just the Horde.
Jason started a little. “Oh. Sorry. I was waiting for another chorus of interruptions. You wanted me to continue?”
Silent nods.Definitely witchcraft.
“Last month, he wrote your mother and asked for a visit. A week after that, she came.”
Dumbfounded silence. “Why—why did we not know that? She’s always maintained zero contact, hasn’t spoken to him since he took the plea and went to prison.” Archer was shaking his head. “Why didn’t we notice he wrote to her?”
Angela felt dull pain in her palm and realized she’d clenched her fist so hard her knuckles had whitened. “Because Mom checks the mail. It’s the one thing she’s consistently done for the last ten years. And we let her because, hey, at least she was engaged insomepart of family life, right? That’s what we told ourselves.” She turned toward the fridge, where her mother had been standing a minute ago. “Isn’t that right, M— Dammit!”
Emma Drake had left the building.
