Chapter Fifty-Six. Cat
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
CAT
After I cracked the bedroom door to make sure Olivia was asleep—her breath slow, her chest rising steadily—I slipped out, crossed the yard like a thief, the air so clammy it stuck to my skin.
A fine mist slicked the concrete, making the sidewalk gleam under the porch light.
Beyond it, the earth was soft and wet. I picked my way between roots and low brush until I found the trail camera, cold and fogged with condensation where I’d strapped it near The Hollow.
When I came back inside, the heater blasted dry warmth into my face, making my skin sting as it thawed.
Now, I’m pressing the hard plastic button on the camera to skim quickly through hours of footage. Forward. Back. Pause. Rewind. Again. Again.
The screen shows trees, shadows, empty water, but in my head the scaffolding falls.
The metallic groan. The shriek of lights.
Olivia’s body caught beneath it. Glass raining down, opening her soft skin before her pearly bones snap like brittle birch tree branches.
My stomach lurches and I force my mind back to the footage.
My eyes ache, but I can’t stop, not until I find what I’m looking for.
And then I do. My pulse quickens. It’s all right here. Clear as day.
“Mom, what are you doing?” Olivia’s voice sends my hand slapping across the camera’s screen as I fumble for the off switch.
She stands behind me, peering down over my shoulder, wearing pajama bottoms and a big T-shirt, hair pulled back, her face scrubbed clean. In this dim light, she looks young enough to make me cry.
I don’t know how long she’s been there. I don’t know what she saw.
Protecting you, I want to tell her. But she wouldn’t understand.
Because if Kennedy Claire wants to play dirty, she has no idea who she’s up against.