Chapter 41
FORTY-ONE
“How did you get in here?” I asked, though the question seemed absurd. She’d been getting in here for weeks. Maybe months.
As if she read my mind, Corrine reached into her pocket and pulled out a keychain with a single key dangling from it. She shook it at me and then slipped it into the back pocket of her jeans.
“Where did you get that?”
She cocked her head to the side. “I think you already know.”
She walked right past me toward the kitchen. She had a confident stride, as if she lived here. She went straight to the massive marble-topped island and perched herself on a stool in front of it. I half expected her to offer me something to drink.
“If you don’t leave, I’m calling the police.”
She raised a brow. “You really think you have any credibility left with the Sheriff’s Department?”
“What do you want?”
She rested her chin in her palm. “I want what Lock wants. I want you to pack your stuff and get out of our house.”
She might as well have driven a semi-truck straight into my chest. It got hard to breathe. I walked into the kitchen.
Lock. She said his name. It was an admission. A validation of everything I’d suspected. They had a relationship. He lied to me. There was some part of me that still didn’t want to believe it. My mind became a kaleidoscope of disjointed thoughts and fears.
“This is still my house,” I said. “I’m not leaving without a court order.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “Lock will take care of the legalities next week. You’re embarrassing yourself. There’s still time for you to salvage some of your dignity. Lock doesn’t want you.”
“I want to talk to him. He asked me to come. He wants to see me.”
“You sure about that? He’s letting you take whatever you want out of this house. Your clothes. Your jewelry. You didn’t pay for any of it. If you want me to help you, I’ll be glad to.”
She knew what Lock texted me. Had she been right beside him when he did it? Had they discussed it together? “Why are you here? Why isn’t he?”
She rose and walked toward me. “Because he feels guilty. He’s not a monster. He did have feelings for you. But you stomped those out when you became violent toward me. He came to his senses and realized he’s still in love with me. Face it, Mina, you were the rebound girl.”
“You came to the police,” I said. “You sat in front of a table of law enforcement and accused him of stalking you. You knew what you were doing the whole time. What was the game? To see how I’d react when you mentioned the red ribbon?
If you love him, why would you put him at risk like that?
What has he really done? If you know, you need to tell me. ”
“I wanted to see for myself,” she said. “Understand what Lock saw in you. See how loyal you really were to him, if you’d protect him the way I do.”
“From what? Did you think he killed all those women?” I asked. “Did he?”
Her face contorted with rage. “You don’t know him at all. You don’t deserve him. I knew you didn’t. I knew I could prove it. Now Lock knows it too. He’s finally woken up.”
“Where is he?” I demanded.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said. “How could he turn off his feelings for you so quickly? What you’ve never understood is that you were just a substitute.”
“You’ve been manipulating both of us from the beginning,” I said. “You were never afraid of Lock… of Matt Woodson. The rest of this has been some sick mind game you’ve been playing. Showing up to be interviewed by TRACE. You saw me on the news. That initial press conference. Is that it?”
“Isn’t that what I just said? You’re supposed to be this hotshot prosecutor,” she said. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now. Roy put a call out for people with bad experiences on WhisprMatch. Then I saw you at that press conference. It felt like fate. It shocked me what a liar you turned out to be.”
“What are you talking about?”
Corrine lifted her arm and pulled back her sleeve. She had a red silk ribbon tied around her left wrist, just like the one I wore.
“You knew what this was. And you said nothing.”
“Which is it, Corrine? Is Lock a monster or the love of your life? You filed a police report on him five years ago. I didn’t even know him then.”
She let out a haughty laugh. “That’s between Lock and me.
I’ll admit. We had a bad breakup five years ago.
I regret filing the police report. I don’t regret that it brought us back together, finally.
We were always meant for each other. He has a way of taking over your life, doesn’t he?
You feel like you’re the only person in the world when he shines his light on you.
But when he turns away from you, the world becomes pretty frigid and bleak.
I know that’s where you are right now. The sooner you accept what’s happening, the easier it will be for you. ”
“The note. The paint on my car. The dead dove. That was all you? You were trying to send me a message? Why not just come talk to me? The both of you. Why all of this?”
“Lock’s too nice. You know how hard it is for him to cut people out of his life. Even the toxic ones. He always trusts the wrong people. He’s never known who his real friends are. He can’t see who’s truly on his side.”
“You tried to frame him!” I yelled. “The underwear you brought in. You knew they were mine. What if they had his DNA on them? You’re not trying to protect him. You’re trying to destroy him.”
“Never! I would never hurt Lock. That underwear was for you, Mina. To see if you’d tell the truth. To see if you would protect Lock. You didn’t. You said nothing!”
The woman was absolutely depraved. “Get out of my house,” I said. “You expect me to believe all this was just his or your way of what… letting me down gently? It’s sick. It’s criminal.”
Her face hardened. Corrine came out from behind the island and stood right in front of me. She turned sideways then and ran a hand over her abdomen. Was there a bulge there? My whole body started to tingle.
“I didn’t want to be cruel,” she said absurdly. “I know how hard it’s been for you trying to conceive. But you need to face facts. I was able to give Lock the thing you couldn’t. His child.”
“Why should I believe a single thing you say? You aren’t just trying to break up my marriage. You’re trying to destroy my life. You need help, Corrine.”
“You knew you didn’t deserve to be in Lock’s world,” she said.
“Piper tried to tell him. She’s been right about you all along.
We had dinner with the Shepherds the night before last, actually.
They had quite a few things to say about you.
Eli could not be more thrilled Lock is filing for divorce.
He feels like he’s finally getting his friend back. ”
“I don’t believe you,” I said. She had to be lying. I had just talked to Eli. No. Eli tried to tell me without telling me. What had he said? I’m his friend. No matter what.
She shrugged. “You can choose to believe whatever you want. Just do it somewhere else.”
She turned her back on me and walked over to the other counter. It was then that I saw a large envelope near the coffee maker. She picked it up and tossed it to me. I let it fall to the floor.
“You’ve been served, Mina,” she said.
I looked down.
“Open it,” she said.
I should have just walked away from her. Maybe called the police like I’d threatened. Instead, I picked up the envelope and tore it open. The caption read Benton County Circuit Court. Lockwood Manning v. Mina Sobel Manning. Complaint for Divorce.
My vision blurred. I threw the paper onto the kitchen table.
“Read it,” she said. “He’s being generous. Including whatever personal property you want to take from the house, he’s letting you keep your car. He’ll give you a lump sum payment of one hundred thousand dollars. That’s fifty for each year you were married.”
Something broke inside of me. Her smug look.
Her cruel words. Talking to me as if she knew who Lock was.
For the last two years, I’d shared every intimate detail of my mind, body, and soul with this man.
And he had shared the same with me. She was lying.
This could not be how my marriage ended. She was a stranger. He was a stranger.
“It’s hard. I know,” she said, her tone dripping with condescension. “You’ve had your fun. You’ve gone farther with Lock than anyone would have guessed. I guess you have your charms.”
“Lock doesn’t love you,” I said. “You’re delusional. You need help.”
All these months of torment. She caused it.
For one split second, I let my rage win.
I lifted my hand as if to strike her. Then I unclenched my fist and brought it to my side.
No, I would not give in to this. I had to get a hold of myself.
I knew I should simply turn my back on her and walk away.
I took a breath and started to do just that.
That’s when the first blow came. She shoved me hard. I pitched forward, just catching myself on the opposite wall before hitting the floor.
“Don’t you touch me!” she screamed. “Don’t you ever even think about touching me!”
She stood over me. I got my hands up just in time as she delivered a kick to my shoulder. I rolled onto my stomach, trying to get my hands under me. She kicked me again. I tasted blood.
I managed to scramble to my feet. When she cocked her fist, I was ready for it. I blocked her next blow with my arm and shoved her backward as hard as I could.
She grabbed a metal pot from the counter and threw it at me. I dodged, but it glanced off my shoulder—the same one she kicked.
“Stop!” I yelled. But Corrine had become a different creature. One fueled by wild fury. As I looked into her eyes, I knew she would kill me if she had the chance.
I ran. She’d been in the house, but I still knew it better. I raced through the second hallway, headed for the sunroom and the door out to the garden.
She caught me by the hair, wrenching me backward with enough force to knock me off my feet.
She stood over me, holding the hank of my hair she’d ripped out.
She tossed it away with disgust and lunged at me.
I rolled sideways. She lost her balance, but corrected quickly.
It was just enough time for me to get back on my feet and change course.
I headed for the backstairs. If I could get to the bedroom before her, Lock’s gun was on the dresser.
Could I get to it? Could I lock the door and escape from the balcony?
She was on my heels as I staggered up two stairs at a time. She pulled my ankle and dragged me down three steps. My knee exploded in pain, but I kept going.
“I want you to die!” she shrieked, as if that weren’t already obvious. I got to the top of the stairs. She dove at my legs, bringing me down.
I rolled over. Corrine stood over me holding a butcher’s knife I never even saw her grab.
She really was going to kill me. I threw my hands up, shielding my face just as she brought the blade down, two-handed.
“ARRGGH!”
It was a guttural, deep scream coming from behind Corrine. I saw a blur of black slam into her shoulder. Corrine pitched violently sideways, slamming into the wall.
Lock stood behind her, heaving, sweat pouring down his face.
“Mina,” he croaked my name and then took a staggering step backward. He dropped a forty-five-pound weight plate from his right hand. The one he’d just used to pummel Corrine.