MALLORY
“You see,” I tell that little bitch, who listens to the story with her mouth open. “Here’s what he told me.”
I could spin it any way I wanted, and she’d gobble it up. Soon, everyone will. But this one right here, she’ll soon know the truth. She doesn’t know that she’ll take this to her grave.
“One day, Derek told me, he’d been scrolling through social media reels, back at home, in San Francisco.
He saw a scandalous video of an online sensation singer and guitar player.
Something about her face was familiar, and then he saw your last name.
He started watching your videos online. Got obsessed.
Thought you were a carbon copy of him. Derek was after money and fame and anything that shone.
He was yakking away about his daughter. You.
” I feel a prickle of anger again at the memory.
“How he’d tracked you to Pittsburgh, then back to Burnville.
He wanted to meet his daughter, he said. ”
Envy coils inside me, though I won’t admit it to Josie Boots.
“He came back for you, and he didn’t even recognize me.
The worst part was when I was done listening to his blabbering about you and I got up to leave.
You know what he asked me?” I snort and grip the gun in my hand tighter, feeling anger flare up inside me.
“He asked me if I had twenty bucks he could borrow. Yeah, what a tool.”
I see the tiny wheels in Josie Boots’s head working as she puts all the pieces together.
“Why did you kill him?” she asks.
I would’ve slapped her again, but then she’d cry and turn into a puddle, and I need answers. I shake my head. “No-no-no, that’s not on me. That was an accident. Whatchamacallit? Karma, yes, that’s it.”
“How did you end up in the basement then?” she asks.
“Oh, that. That would make for a better story.”
“Better story?”
“Yes, better story. I have plans. With the media and all. But I do need you to tell me where Derek’s body is. When we find it, I’m going to call the police and tell them that you tried to kill me.”
She gawks at me like a sheep. “This is crazy.”
“Not so crazy considering you were there, at his place. You found me. Derek was dead since day one. How will you explain that to the police? You can’t, because they are going to find a knife with your fingerprints. But before they can ask you that, you’ll be gone, and I’ll claim self-defense.”
I see the realization hit her—she’s not getting out of this.
It is all coming together nicely.