Linda called her. She paused for barely a second. Then her expression shifted to a sweet concern so fluid it once would have fooled me. Sheriff Turner, OK? Ryan isn’t answering his phone.
Ben didn’t move from the door. “Why won’t you tell me who Janet is?” Linda’s face didn’t fall. It did something worse. It remained almost the same. Almost. That little almost was enough.
Her answer came out too quickly. I don’t know what she means. Ben slowly stepped down a step from the porch. I think he does know. Linda looked past him through the open door and saw me standing inside the house.
Our eyes met. I’ll never forget that moment. Five years of pots and pans, hugs in church, sympathy cards, soft whispers, and fake tears turned to ash right there in her gaze.
There was no comfort left on her face, no kindness, no sadness, only calculation. She knew I knew. Without another word, Linda turned and ran to her car.
Ben yelled. Sam yelled from inside. Ryan writhed wildly on the kitchen floor and screamed, “Mom! No!” But Linda was already reaching for the car door. Ben ran down from the porch.
He reached the car before she could slam it shut. He grabbed the frame and opened it so forcefully that it made her stagger to the side. She tried to break free. For a woman her age, she fought with surprising strength.
Her purse fell onto the road, scattering lipsticks, receipts, loose pills, and a small bunch of keys that gleamed brightly in the sun. “Keys, Ben saw them at the same time I did.” He held Linda against the side of the car with one arm and picked up the keys with the other.
She stopped struggling the instant she lifted that bunch of keys, and then she said the words that chilled me to the bone. “They don’t have time for this.” Ben stared at her.
What does that mean? Linda’s mouth tightened. Then she looked directly at me and said, “If she had kept quiet, none of this would have happened. I don’t remember crossing the porch.”
One second I was inside. The next I was in the garden with my slippers on the gravel and my hands clenched so tightly that my nails dug into my palms.
“You’re a wicked woman,” I said. My voice trembled, but it wasn’t weak. For once, Linda wasn’t pretending. She looked at me with open contempt. “She ruined everything,” Ben said, grabbing her arms and pulling them behind her back.
She can explain that at the police station, but I wasn’t listening anymore. I was listening to the beating of my own heart. I was listening to the echo of that word. She wasn’t. Yes, no.
Whoever she was? She was alive, real. She was still there. Ben handcuffed Linda while Am forced Rayan to his feet and dragged him to the porch. Rayan’s face had turned gray.
She looked at her mother, then at the keys in Ben’s hand, and then at me. Any weak, pathetic excuse she’d been concocting crumbled away.
Evely said hoarsely, “Please.” She took a step toward him. “Where’s my daughter?” She swallowed. He didn’t answer. “Where is she?” He still didn’t answer. Sam gave her a rough shove.
Speak. Ryan winced. Willow Cek. My breath caught in my throat. Ben’s gaze sharpened. The farm. Ryan nodded once. I could barely hear my own voice.
In the basement. He closed his eyes. That was enough. Ben turned to Sam. I need backup right now. Quickly and quietly. Then he looked at me. You’re not coming.
Yes, I’m going. No, that’s my daughter. Her face softened for just a moment, but her voice remained firm. And if there’s more danger there, I’m not going to send a mother there blindly.
“I’ve been blind for five years now,” I said. “No more.” For a second I thought she’d keep arguing. Then she looked at Linda Arayan, at the keys, and made a decision. You stay behind me.
You’ll do exactly as I say. The second I tell you to stop, you stop. I will. He nodded once. After that, everything happened quickly. Sam helped Ben secure Arayan and Linda in separate vehicles.
An assistant arrived, then another. He sold quick orders. The neighbors began to peek out from behind their curtains. Mrs. Howard even came out onto her lawn with curlers in her hair, staring openly. I didn’t care that the whole town was watching, that they all saw the monsters who had smiled while sitting at my table.
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