XXXVI
Tori
M aking my mom’s bed doesn’t take long at all, and because it’s a little too early to start making dinner, and because I’ve got enough time, I set my phone to charge and take a quick shower. Admittedly, the shower is quick because my mom used most of the hot water earlier, but I keep my hair tied back and clean my body before the water turns completely cold.
Although the small bathroom doesn’t have any heat in it, and I’m already shivering from the tepid water, I check my appearance as best I can in the mirror. Aside from the cut on my thigh, which is already scabbed over, there are more aches and pains than there are new bruises.
My face is almost back to normal—nothing a light layer of makeup won’t cover—but there’s enough yellowy skin that I’m surprised my mom hasn’t said anything.
Before I get too cold, I wrap myself in the towel, grab the bracelet and watch from of back of the sink, and head into my bedroom. Hidden under the sleeves of my sweater, I forgot I was wearing the jewelry.
I’ve done little to sort the room out after my mom searched through it. As long as I can sleep on my bed later, I don’t care about tidying it now. Instead, I lay down one of the suitcases, kneeling awkwardly over it as it takes up most of the floor, and find some clean clothes to wear.
Had I realized I was wearing the tennis bracelet sooner, I’d have taken it off rather than walk around this neighborhood wearing it. I stuff it in the bottom of my suitcase but decide to put the watch back on.
Once dressed, I start making dinner. It takes longer to make than I expected, and now, I’m going to have to eat quickly because it’s nearly time to go meet Payne. I carry the two plates to the living room, but instead of putting it on the table, I decide to carry it around to my mom. Once upon a time, I’d watch shows with my mom, and this might be a way for us to bond.
As I walk around the side of the couch, my foot hits something, sending whatever it is flying noisily over the floor.
“Be careful!” Mom shrieks at me, lunging off the couch. When she gets up, she’s got a bottle in her hands.
“What’s that?” I ask her, even though it’s obvious she’s clutching a bottle of cheap vodka.
“None of your business,” she snaps at me.
Earlier, I cleared out all the empty bottles, but it never occurred to me that I needed to search the apartment to check if there was anything else.
“Mom, I think…” I suck in a deep breath. Mom’s hands are shaking, and she’s swaying slightly on the spot. My mom has a problem. I know she does, I just don’t know how to fix it. “Your dinner is ready.”
Holding onto the bottle like she thinks I’m about to pry it from her fingers, she sits down. “I’m not hungry.”
The corners of my eyes start to burn as I fight to stop the tears from falling. “I’ll put this in the fridge. Maybe you can eat with me later when I get back?”
“Like you care. You’re just going to leave again,” Mom mutters.
I head back into the kitchen, putting the two plates straight into the fridge. “I’ll be back soon,” I call as I put my coat on.
Mom doesn’t acknowledge me as I close the door behind me.
Tears are still threatening to fall as I hurry down across the street to the bar I asked Payne to meet me at, but the only person I’m mad at is myself. My mom’s struggled with everything way more than I have. Even before I left, I knew there was a problem, but I didn’t do anything. Maybe if I had back then, things wouldn’t be so bad now. Only, instead of trying to help her, I’ve been fixated on helping Cole.
Although the bar is open, the only person in here is the server. She looks up as I walk in and gives me a once over. “You’d better have ID if you’re thinking of coming in here.”
I’ve heard rumors that this place was lax when it came to IDing people, which was another reason why I picked this place. Even though I have no intention of drinking tonight, I don’t bother saying anything. I just back out and let the door close behind me. As I turn around, I almost walk straight into Payne.
“I wasn’t going to stand you up,” he tells me. “I just had to park down the street.”
“They ID’d me. I didn’t think about that.”
Lips pressed together, Payne stares at me. Before I can apologize for the stupid oversight, he reaches for my arm. “Tori, are you okay?”
Not really.
But he doesn’t need to know that. This is a problem I need to figure out myself. Besides, I asked him here because I need to give him some bad news, and I don’t want to make it all about me and my problems.
“I’m fine,” I tell him.
“You going in?” A guy asks as he approaches us.
Payne tugs me to the side. “No, after you.” He frowns before glancing up and down the street. “Let’s go sit in my car and warm up.”
I follow him a short distance down the street to a row of parked cars. The lights to his SUV flash as we get near enough for him to unlock it. There’s enough residual heat from his drive here for it to be more than comfortable after being in the cold night air, but once we’re both seated in the front, he turns the ignition on, quickly turning his stereo off.
Turning in his seat, Payne looks at me. “What’s happened, Tori?”
“I met with a guy named Preston du Pont last night. He was supposedly JP’s best friend,” I tell him, cutting straight to the point.
Payne nods. “I remember him. He graduated last year.”
“He confessed to killing JP and blackmailing Cole to take the blame.”
“That’s great news.” Payne gives me a genuine smile. “They’ll have to release your brother.”
I suck in a deep breath before looking Payne in the eye. “You were right about my brother dating Lucy. That night, he took her to the Elite Inauguration party. I’m not entirely certain of the exact details, because I think Preston was being creative with the truth to paint himself in a better light, but Preston said he took Lucy down into the room below the church and had sex with her.” I bite my lip, but Payne remains silent. “He said Lucy had too much to drink and she ended up… Lucy died that night.”
In his lap, Payne’s hands are balled into tight fists. “What happened to her?” he asks through gritted teeth.
“He said he moved Lucy’s body, but when he was cleaning away any evidence, JP and Cole confronted him. Preston insulted Cole, and there was a fight, which JP got in the middle of.” I’m not sure if it was an accident or not, but I don’t care. “Preston made Cole take the blame. They moved JP’s body to the gates and then Cole was arrested.”
“What did he do with Lucy’s…? What did he do with Lucy?”
Biting my lip, all I can do is shrug. “I asked, but he didn’t tell me. I think he was trying to protect himself. Maybe he could say JP died because of an accident, but Lucy is a second victim…”
Payne slumps back into his seat, staring out of the windshield. Then his head drops forwards into his hands. He sits there, bowed over and breathing heavily.
“I’m so sorry, Payne,” I tell him, wishing once again, that I’d been able to tell him good news. I reach over and tentatively place my hand on his thigh.
Payne doesn’t move a muscle. “And where is du Pont now?” His voice is slightly muffled.
“We handed him over to Syn’s father. He has his lawyers working on everything.” I frown. “He was the one trying to get the state to make an exception to the death penalty for Cole, so I’m sure he’s going to make sure Preston gets what he deserves.”
Raising his head, Payne turns back to me. “What he deserves for killing JP. Not for what he’s done to Lucy.”
“We gave Mr. Keyingham a recording of the confession, so even if he denies it, there’s evidence of that happening. And when the lawyers start to look into it, and they hear the part about Lucy, they’ll have to get the police to investigate.” I give him a sad smile. “I know it’s not exactly what you wanted to hear, but I don’t think it’s time to give up hope yet.”
“I’m not giving up. And I’m sorry I haven’t thanked you. You’ve managed to give me more answers than anyone else has.” Payne cocks his head before he reaches up and turns the interior light on. “What did you do to get that confession? It doesn’t seem like something he’d want to give up easily if he got your brother to take the rap for him.”
“It’s a long story, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it if it wasn’t for Syn, Royal, and Gemini.”
Having him know those three helped isn’t important—I doubt their paths will cross again—but it’s easier to tell him this than have to explain what I went through. Not tonight, anyway. It’s enough for him to know about Lucy.
Payne frowns. “That’s what I don’t understand. Why take him to Syn’s father and not to the police?”
“Preston was able to get away with two murders and make my brother confess to one of them. When we looked into it, we never found much evidence. I assume that was because Cole confessed, and they didn’t need anything to prove his guilt. But look at what happened to Archie when he tried to report the story.” I suck in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before I continue. “And we guessed that Declan Salaway attacked me because Preston made him.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Payne cuts in.
What could he have done other than worry?
“Syn wanted to make sure his brother’s real killer was in prison. If we took him to the police, he’d probably have called his lawyer… We didn’t want him to walk away. Preston du Pont is as powerful and well connected as Syn, and he’s also part of the I. Like I said, his father wanted to bring back the death penalty for my brother.” I shudder as the cold, sinking realization of what could have happened if his father had been successful settles over me.
“I guess,” Preston mutters. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts doing something on it.
While he’s occupied, I settle back into the seat and close my eyes. Reintroducing the death penalty won’t easily be done, and if it is, I’d like to think that it would then only apply to those who were convicted after it was reintroduced…
But the judge did sentence Cole to life without parole.
Something in me was desperately clinging to any shred of hope that I could, so I’ve never really considered the true weight of that ruling. I was determined to get Cole out, and he would never serve that full sentence.
“Why isn’t it in the news?”
“Huh?” I glance over at Preston and find him staring at me.
He waves the phone. “There isn’t a single news site—national or local—reporting this. The du Ponts are billionaires. If one was arrested, there should be reporters all over this. There’s nothing. If I search the du Pont name, the top result is about Caroline Windsor attending some charity gala alone last night, because her fiancé, Preston du Pont, was out of the country.”
“That’s not right.” I reach for the phone, but before I can take it from Payne, there’s a loud explosion.
At the same time, the car shakes violently, and the alarms of the surrounding cars start blasting. I look up and see a large ball of fire coming from a building just down the street.
“What was that?” Payne asks, already starting to get out of the car.
I jump out and hurry around to his side as a few people are already starting to file out of the bar. The fire is coming from the deli.
The deli below the apartment I live in.
“Mom!” I scream.
Payne starts to ask me another question, but I’m already running down the middle of the street, faster than I’ve ever run in my life. It takes less than a minute to get to the building, but the fire has already completely consumed the old deli. The explosion has sent one of the boards flying into the middle of the street, revealing an inferno inside.
I start to charge down the side of the building to where the apartment entrance is, but Payne grabs my arm, pulling me back.
“What are you doing?” Payne demands.
“My mom is in there. We live on the fourth floor.” There are apartments on the other floors, and I have no idea if they’re occupied either, but all I care about at this moment is my mom.
“Wait here.” Payne lets go of me and tries to open the door. Before I can fish my keys out of my pocket, he’s already kicked the door down.
Fire and smoke pour out, forcing us back.