Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
I rip the photo down and fold it into my pocket.
She engineered it all. She played on my sympathies, tried to win me over—all for this reaction. Is it all just performance art? Am I just a character in some live-action novel?
But no. That’s just wishful thinking. The simplest explanation is the right one.
Just ten minutes ago, Grace was telling me about murders caused by infidelity, and now this. It’s an escalation. She knows about me and Bradley. If I stay, I’ll be lucky to stay alive another week.
I walk around the house to the barn, feeling the need to confront her, once and for all. But when I get there, the barn is empty. I’m about to go back to the cottage when I spot something in the corner.
No—it can’t be.
It’s a large red container, the kind you find at gas stations. I walk over and unscrew the lid, and the smell is unmistakable.
Gas. Bradley says they only have EVs, but maybe this is for the lawnmower?
Either way, it’s all I need. I know that if I ask Bradley for a ride, he’ll find a way to sweet-talk me into staying.
But I can’t stay, not after what Grace just did to me.
Sooner or later, these little mind-games are going to escalate.
I carry the container out of the barn and all the way to the cottage. I stuff everything into my pack and am soon walking awkwardly up the driveway. Just before it bends, I turn back to look at the main house. I think I see movement in the attic, so I flick Grace the bird and walk off.
I don’t know where I’m going, but at least I’ve made a choice.
I’m never coming back here again.
The car is where I left it, unchanged except for a thin layer of dust from the passing trucks.
“Too shitty to steal, aren’t you, girl?” I mutter as I unlock the front door and pop open the petrol cap.
The container of gas is heavy, and I don’t have a funnel, but I manage to pour it in without making too much of a mess.
It probably won’t be good for my paint job, but that’s the last thing on my mind.
I sling my pack and the empty canister into the trunk, then get in and start the ignition.
Nothing. The engine doesn’t even make a noise.
I try a few more times before popping the hood. I’m no mechanic, but it’s not hard to see what’s wrong.
There’s a big empty space in the engine.
Some asshole has stolen my battery.