Chapter 66
NAOMI
A fire is the only way.
There is no way for me to explain both Ezra and Veronica being dead in the cellar.
And especially not the marks from the tape on her wrists and ankles.
But if there’s a fire, it will wipe out everything.
They won’t know that Ezra died from a fall.
It will just seem like a tragic accident that claimed two lives.
Nobody will even have to know I was involved. I’ll just say I came by to get my car, and I saw the smoke coming out of the window.
My plan is to light the fire, then grab Teddy from his bedroom, where he is sequestered until he hears the special code words.
I will seem like the hero who rescued my son from the burning house, although nobody except me will know it was the second time I saved his life.
And Jeremy, who cherishes Teddy above everything else, will love me again.
So you see, this is the only way to get a happy ending.
I come upstairs to search for something to ignite the alcohol in the cellar. There are no matches, but one of the drawers in the kitchen contains a lighter, which will do nicely. That fire will spread quickly, so as soon as I light it, I’m going to have to hightail it.
As I’m walking through the living room on my way back to the cellar door, Veronica’s phone lights up on the coffee table. I walk over to check if Jeremy messaged her again, but it’s not him. It’s another message from that Lola woman.
You should go straight to the police.
I groan. The positive test result Veronica received must have been a DNA test. Clearly, she didn’t mention it to Jeremy, but it seems that one other person knows that Teddy is Veronica’s biological child. This is no good at all.
I click on Lola’s name. She is in Veronica’s address book, and I’m pleased to see that in addition to her phone number, her physical address is listed as well. She’s right in St. Louis, not too far from my mother. It won’t be hard at all to find her.
I’ll deal with Lola after Veronica is dead. Or maybe my mother will help me out.
Now it’s time to take care of this little situation.