Page 96 of His Property

I pause and clench my jaw. “She’s a predator, and all she’s doing is taking advantage of you.”

“Shelovesme,” he insists, his voice loud and angry. His hands ball into fists at his sides. “And I love her, so don’t say another fucking word about her being a predator. She’s been through enough of that shit.”

“Do you know why she was in prison?” I ask, desperately trying to talk some sense into him.

“Because your boyfriend got pissed at her and told a teacher she molested him. Helied. He was a psychopath even then, and he did it because he was scared she’d call the police on him for killing her husband.That’show I know he’s a murderer. I saw the grave with my own eyes. It’s in a clearing a few miles from his home. Cora had me dig up a bone in case he tried to move it and she needed evidence. That’s how afraid she is of him.”

I narrow my eyes and pause for a few moments while I try to make sense of that. The body was in the backyard, not miles from home. And she had him dig up a bone? What the fuck?

What has TJ gotten himself into?

I give my head a shake and let it go. “Victor told the truth, and she went away because of her own actions, not because of him. Look at you,” I say, gesturing to him. “She claims she was wrongfully convicted, and the first person she ‘falls in love with’ is a teenage boy? How can you not see what she is?”

“I’m eighteen.”

“You’re a child.”

TJ grinds his teeth, but he doesn’t respond.

“Look, maybe we’re both being stupid,” I say, my heart breaking as I do. “You’re right, Victor is a killer. And Cora is a pedophile. Let’s just drop them, okay?” Tears fill my eyes as I come toward him and put my hands on his arms. I’m dying as I plead with him, but I’d say anything right now to get him away from that woman. “They’re too much drama. Let’s drop them and, and, and you can stay here. They’ll leave us alone eventually.”

TJ shakes his head, tears spilling onto his cheeks. “I love her. I’d doanythingfor her.Anything.”

My muscles tense, and I slowly pull my hands away. I don’t like the emotion in his voice. It sounds almost like an apology.

“Why did you come here?” I ask, my stomach dropping.

Instead of answering, TJ grabs my arms, making my eyes go wide. He spins me around and wraps his arm around my neck, squeezing until my windpipe is crushed. I struggle against him, hopelessly trying to get a breath. I claw at his arms, but he doesn’t let up. I reach back, searching for his eyes, but the only thing I manage to do is knock his ball cap off his head. He may be a kid, but he’s so much bigger than me. So much stronger.

I don’t have a chance.

“I’m so sorry, Mae,” he says, his voice cracking. “I promise, it’ll be okay. She just wants you out of the picture for a day or two so that the police won’t follow up with you. I’ll bring you home, and I swear I’ll make it up to you. Iswear.”

TJ continues talking, but the ringing in my ears blocks him out. My eyelids get heavy, and I can feel my muscles weakening. My hands fall limp at my sides.

My eyes close, and the weight of my body slumps in TJ’s arms.

26

VICTOR

Mae’s voicemail plays in my ear for the third time, and I grit my teeth while I wait for the beep. The first two times she didn’t answer, I hung up, but now, I decide to leave a message.

The beep sounds just as I turn onto her street and push down on the gas pedal.

“Hey, I know it’s late.” I glance to my right at the sun peeking over the horizon. “Or, early… But I need to talk to you. I’m almost to your house.”

I click off and toss my phone on my lap.

I’ve been dreading this conversation with Mae the entire drive, and her not picking up her phone makes me nervous. She might be pissed at me for not coming home sooner or giving her an update. It took a hell of a lot longer than I thought it would to track down Cora and then longer to track down the boyfriend. Neither one were at the abandoned house where Cora has apparently been slumming it. And I only found out my mother has been fucking TJ because I found a paper with his name on it inside his backpack thrown with Cora’s things.

Mae is going to lose her shit.

My phone rings, and I hurry to pick it up.

It’s Gabi. She came by the house while I was gone, saw the broken window, and has been blowing up my phone ever since. I responded to her text hours ago saying that I would call her in the morning, but I haven’t answered her calls or texts since. It would lead to at least an hour-long conversation of her grilling me about what happened and then her telling me not to do anything stupid. I don’t have the time or patience to explain everything right now, and I don’t need to hear another person tell me how to handle the situation.

I send the call to voicemail and put my phone away. My hand grips the steering wheel, and I shift in my seat.

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