Page 93 of King of Clubs
“Seb! She moved to Bondi recently. Before that she never lived here. I knew that. I knew it was weird we’d been seeing her so often. She was fucking everywhere!”
“The police are on their way here, apparently Lori is known to them,” Felicity added from where she sat with Jack and Jay, who until then I hadn’t even seen. Probably the first time Flick and Jay had ever been together without arguing.
Wayne’s phone beeped and before I could respond, everyone descended upon him.
“We have an address!” He held his phone out for me and I grabbed it, reading the screen.
“Andy, you stay here with Arna in case they come here or Marlee gets away. Wayne, can you go check that she isn’t at either mine or Andy’s house?” Turning to my best mate I saw a mirrored look of determination with a hint of rage. “You come with me,” I said to Coop as we ran out to my car.
Find her, find her, find herthe driving force behind every action I made.
Marlee
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Lori, w-why do you care if I’m seeing Sebastian?” I asked with a forced composure which did not reflect the churning vortex of nerves swirling in my stomach.
“Why the fuck do you think, Mar-leee?” She elongated my name, her voice now oozing with condescension.
What was the correct answer to a question like that?
I have no fucking idea you psychopathic bitch.Which is why I asked!
At this point, asking her anything was like flipping a coin, I never knew which side it would land. Whether she would be rational or someone I felt I’d never met – so I kept my mouth shut and focused on where she was driving. I'd never seen her like this. Her hair was greasy and thrown back into a loose low bun, the jumper and pants she wore were filthy and the car littered with rubbish. The Lori I remembered was always so put together, priding herself on her appearance down to freshly manicured fingernails and my unease only increased when she glanced over and I noted the red tinge to her eyes.
I wondered how long it had been since she last slept. When she’d become fixated onme.
The flick, flick, flick of her unkempt nails the only sound in the otherwise silent car.
“I know you want to be with him, Marlee. You just forget how happy you were. And he is so much better when he’s with you. You know that, right?” The sharpness in her voice had melted into something gentler as if she was speaking to a child.
“You know why I left, Lori. I know you saw the bruises. I thought you would understand. I thought we were friends and you cared about me.” My voice was weaker than I hoped and I flinched when a jagged, unrestrained laugh echoed from within her.
“Friends?” She spat. “Bitch, you destroyed my family! Just left without so much as a goodbye!” She spoke at a dizzying speed, her voice barely able to keep pace with her thoughts.
I destroyed her family?She wasn’t making any sense. She knew how hard it was with her brother. I may have ignored the looks of sympathy she gave me when he didn’t notice, but I saw them all the same. She was very aware, but never said or did anything to stop it. Out of fear or loyalty, I couldn’t be sure.
“Your brother stopped me from seeing you. I didn’t have a say.”
“You liar,” she delivered scornfully. “You can’t fool me. I know what you did. You know, my mum made me promise to keep an eye on him. Even though her and my dad couldn’t be near him because he wasunsafe,” her hands left the steering wheel while she threw air quotes around her words. “But apparently it was safe enough for me. He needsyou. Not me. I can’t. I just can’t. It’s him. It’s you. It’s not me,” her words skated on the edge of coherence, tumbling out in a relentless stream as if she was plucking thoughts at random.
“Now,” her eyes darted to me, her voice suddenly crackling with intensity, “be a good sister and open that glove box for me. We need the rope.” I stared at her, eyes wide and unmoving.
“Hurry the fuck up!” She reached into the pocket of the car door and nausea rose up my throat as a glint of metal caught my eye. A long-edged knife unexpectedly pointed in my direction. This Lori was crazier than her brother, with her sleep deprived eyes and her anxious flicking. And I was at her mercy when she was in this state. At the mercy of someone who clearly wasn’t well and had already planned how today was going to play out.
I lent forward, not wanting to provoke any more erratic behaviour, opened the glove box and grabbed the thick blue rope.
My hands were visibly shaking as I placed it on my lap, not daring to ask what she wanted me to do with it.
“Tie your hands together,” she waved the knife in the direction of my wrists, the car swerving and my eyes filled with tears.
“Please, Lori,” I pleaded, my terror visibly streaming down my face.
“Lucas is about to go pay your boyfriend a little visit,” she sneered, “and if you don’t listen to what I say, it will go much worse for you. So tie your fucking wrists together. And make it tight!” My sharp intake of breath was audible, the thought of Lucas harming Seb the only encouragement I needed to do as she said.
Using my teeth, I shakily tightened the knot as best as I could and found my composure.
I needed clarity. Rationality. Remembering the manner in which Seb did everything, I drew in another deep breath.
