Page 29 of PET

“You’re upset.”

I snort. “And you’re observant.”

He sighs. “Billie, what’s wrong?”

Looking out the side window, I realize I can’t tell him why I’m upset without telling him Christian lied, too. You’d have to be blind not to see the pissing contest going on between these two when it comes to me. I won’t throw either of them under the bus, but I don’t know how much longer I can play this game.

“Nothing. I’m just exhausted. Take me home.”

“You don’t want to go to Reaper? I don’t know if I’m comfortable bringing you home after what you said about your uncle and—”

“He won’t be there. I’d like to go home, Zeke.”

Holding a hand up in surrender, he shifts the car into gear and roars down the road.

Chapter 12

BILLIE LUCAS

TheroarofZeke’scar fades away as I stand at the mailbox, pulling out an arm full of envelopes and small parcels. Clearly someone hasn’t been checking the mail. I sift through the top stack of envelopes, but there isn’t anything good in here.

I almost drop everything when the sound of tires coming to a stop scare the hell out of me. But when I turn around, expecting to find my uncle there, I’m relieved and surprised to find Mrs. Fairfax. Well, she isn’t exactly Mrs. Fairfax, now, is she? My mind is still reeling from this revelation. I grew up thinking she was Lauren’s mom. Everyone did.

“What can I do for you, Mrs…?” I stop, unsure of what to call her now.

She smiles. “Ms. Witt. Or Dana, if it makes you more comfortable. Do you have a minute to talk?”

I look up and down the street, wondering why an undercover FBI agent—the one who arrested my mother—wants to speak to me. Last I heard, she’s not exactly welcome around these parts. But then again, it’s mostly the assholes who are now behind bars who don’t want her here, but that doesn’t matter because they’re all gone now, anyway. For now.

“What can I do for you, Dana?” I ask, not wanting to address her by her proper name.

“It’s obvious I’m not trusted around here anymore, but if you’ll give me five minutes to explain, I’d like to do so. I need your help. And if you help me, I’ll make some calls and get your mommy-dearest out early.”

Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I shift the mail contents in my arms and glare at her. What the hell makes her think I’d give her evenfiveminutes of my time? She ruined my life. She ruined others’, too. Fuck her.

Without answering, I turn toward the gate and walk away from her.

“You’re in danger, Billie. Everyone in this town is. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I hope you can let bygones be bygones for the sake of saving your friends.”

That has my interest piqued. Turning back around, I look her dead in the eyes and say, “If you fuck me over again, I will kill you.”

I’ve just threatened an FBI agent, but she seems to understand and accept it, giving me a single nod. “Get in, Billie.” Her gaze looks over her shoulder. “Before your uncle returns home.”

After I shove all the mail back into the box, I get into her FBI-issued black Chevy Tahoe without a word. She pulls out of my driveway, heading in the same direction Zeke just headed.

“I believe your five minutes have already started, Dana,” I tell her, getting annoyed because she hasn’t started talking yet. There are plenty of questions swirling through my mind right now, but I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and hear what she has to say before I drill her.

“You hate me for obvious reasons, but you should know I never meant to hurt anyone. I did my job—I did what was asked of me.”

I snort. “Yeah, fooling all of us for years that you’re one of us; only to turn around and put my innocent mother behind bars.”

“Nobody is innocent, Billie. Your mother might not have had a direct hand in killing Mrs. Van, but she was an accomplice and that’s legally the same damn thing.”

There’s no point in arguing with her, so I keep my mouth shut. My mother changed some files and documents. She didn’t murder anyone. And they forced her into doing it—paid off by Mr. Van and the man Dana was pretending to be married to. And if she didn’t? She’d be buried right along with Mrs. Van. I’m not saying it was right, but my mom doesn’t deserve all this hate either.

“How did you go so long without being found out?” I ask, having to know the answer because there were neveranysigns. Learning she’s an undercover FBI agent shocked every single person around her.

She sighs. “I met Mr. Fairfax a few months after his first wife died—Lauren’s actual mother. He hadn’t moved back to Reaper yet, and Lauren was just a baby then. We married right away. When we moved here, it was so easy to convince everyone that I was Lauren’s mother. Nobody questioned anything because nobody knew her mother. The agency couldn’t have planned it better themselves.”

---