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“Of course.” Penny shot forward, taking me by the shoulders.

She protectively led me back to her bathroom and shut the door behind me.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The Final Straw

Royal

It felt like my throat was caving in on itself. I wanted to say something, but my tongue was heavy and my thoughts scattered. What the fuck could I say that would comfort her?

Nothing that came to mind seemed appropriate, let alone, enough.

I trailed after them, one hand stuffed in my hair like it might help me get it together if I tugged a little harder. I didn’t think I could possibly feel any lower, until I walked near the bathroom door and heard her hushed voice on the other side.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore. I don’t know if he is trying to keep me alive, or reveling in my agony. What if he is a part of it? What if this is what they meant to do with me all along? What if he never meant to kill me, and this is their way of later being able to say that I knew all along and stayed quiet about it? That I was complicit in my brother… and… what next? My father’s death? I can’t fucking do this. I don’t know how to get out of here, but I have to. You have to help me…”

Hearing her say those words to my mother made me question everything I knew about myself. Was I the fucking monster she feared I was? My shoulders fell, only for a chill to race up my spine, when my mother asked, from behind me, “What are you doing, Royal?”

Kennedy stopped speaking mid-sentence, and I knew there was nothing to do, but confront things. I heard the phone call end, and I waited.

I shifted my weight from foot to foot and stared at the door.

“Roy?” Mom whispered.

I huffed and dropped my gaze, stepping toward the door as I did so. The lock hadn’t worked in years, but I doubted Kennedy knew that, judging by the alarmed look on her face when it swung open.

She clutched her phone and hurled herself toward the south wall.

The sight of the girl I’d dreamed of cowering from me like that, was just too much. It was the final straw for me.

“You should go. You should take my mom’s car, the one we were in, and go to your friend. Leave with her. Don’t wait on a bag. Don’t stop for an ATM.” I reached for my wallet, took out a stack of big bills, and shoved it into her nearly limp hand. I had to curl her fingers around it before she became responsive.

She sucked in a wild breath and her eyes watered over.

“Don’t tell a soul where you’re going to hide.” I shook my head, hoping to convey just how fucking serious that part was.

Chapter Thirty

Playing Along

Kennedy

My head throbbed, and everything felt funny, almost like I was in a dream. I don’t remember moving my feet, but I know I didn’t float out of that house.

My fingers were still wrapped around the money he’d forced me to take and Penny’s keys dangled from the opposite hand. It felt like I couldn’t draw a full breath, and each step seemed to make the sensation worse.

In my mind, I expected a shot to ring out at any minute.

It wasn’t until I’d pulled out onto the highway and put the pedal to the floor, that I finally accepted that I was free.

I’d played along. I’d survived!

I dialed Bootsie back up and laid the phone on my lap while I called out to her in a panic, “Get your fucking shit, I need you. I’ll pick you up in ten minutes.”

I didn’t give a damn if she told the world. I’d listened to every word my father said, and more. It may very well have been all in my mind, but I could have sworn I heard Kingston Crowe in the background.

Was he there to finish things?