“I can argue that. But it doesn’t explain the blood, does it?”
Jason leans back against the sofa, shaking his head. I think he has just checked out of this conversation.
“Are you still there?” Landon asks.
“I’m here,” I say.
“I’m going to go over to see Liam now. He’s probably very scared so I’ll tell him what’s going to happen next. Also…”
“What?” I say.
Landon sighs. “I’m going to try to convince him to tell me where Olivia Mercer is. Whether or not she’s alive. We can use that as a bargaining chip.”
I swallow a lump in my throat. This is the last thing I wanted to hear. “Did Liam tell you he did it?”
“You know I can’t tell you that, Erika. Confidentiality.”
“Please, John! He’s only sixteen years old and he’s in jail and—”
I’m sobbing now into the phone. I’m two seconds away from completely losing it, if I haven’t already. I don’t know how this could be happening. I was so careful. How did I get the wrong Olivia?
“Erika, Erika…” Landon’s voice cuts through my sobs. “Look, calm down. He… he didn’t tell me anything. Okay?”
I gulp, trying to catch my breath. “But you think he did it.”
It’s not a question.
Our attorney is silent for a moment. “Yes, I do. Come on, Erika. He obviously did it. The evidence is overwhelming.” He gives me a second to absorb this. “But look, even if she’s dead and he buried her, he can offer to lead the police to her body in exchange for leniency. A life sentence as opposed to the death penalty.”
“Do you think she’s dead?” I ask in a voice that is barely a whisper.
Landon is silent for what seems like an eternity. “Honestly? Yes. I think she’s already dead. If she wasn’t at first, he probably realized he had to get rid of her to destroy the evidence.”
“God,” I whisper. I wipe my eyes with the back of my fingers.
“But I’ll do my best for him,” Landon says. “Whatever he did, I’ll fight for him. That’s my job.”
Why? That’s the question I want to ask. Because if Liam really killed that girl, heshouldbe locked away in prison. He should be in a place where he can’t hurt anyone ever again.
I spent his entire childhood trying to protect him from himself. I have failed.
Chapter Forty-Three
ERIKA
When I come downstairs later in the evening to force myself to eat some dinner, I find Hannah sitting on the sofa in the living room, slouched down as she watches television. I get close enough that I can see what’s on the screen. It’sThe Princess Bride.
The Princess Brideused to be my favorite movie when I was a kid. When Hannah was four years old, I showed it to her and Liam for the first time. Liam didn’t think much of it, but Hannah loved it. It became her favorite movie, and I think it still is. It’s a comfort movie. It’s her bowl of chicken soup.
I stand there for a moment, watching Hannah watch the movie. Her eyes are pinned on the screen, and she mouths the words along with the characters. She could probably recite every line in this movie from memory. Actually, so could I.
“Can I join you?” I ask.
Hannah looks up at me with her blue eyes rimmed with red. The last time I saw her, she was screaming at me. But now she lifts one shoulder. “As you wish.”
It’s a line from the movie. An olive branch?
I sit down on the sofa next to Hannah, but leaving a respectable distance between us. If I sit too close, she’ll complain I’m stifling her. But sitting too far away will make her unhappy too. I can’t figure out how to make Hannah happy—I never could. Even when she was an infant, she would howl her lungs out while I would beg her to tell me what was wrong. Even two-year-old Liam commented once, “My baby sister is always sad.”
