She frowned, like she was worried too. “Oh my God, I hope he’s okay.”
“Do you think you could get in the car and help me look for a few minutes? It’s hard to keep an eye out when I’m driving.”
“Of course!”
Olivia got into the car without a second thought. I had the chloroform ready. She was out like a light. And before any nosy neighbors could realize it was me driving this time and not my son, I took off.
Liam’s relationship with Olivia. The neighbor who saw him with her at two in the morning. The hair and blood I planted in the trunk. And then after Olivia died, I was going to make her body re-surface, because it’s harder to get a conviction when there’s no body. I had been trying to think of what else I could plant on her that would be the final nail in my son’s coffin.
And now here is Hannah, messing everything up.
Well, that’s what she’stryingto do. And yes, she’smessing up the original plan. The original plan was to have a little fun with Olivia and get Liam locked away for good. I didn’t have any other ambitions besides that. But now that Hannah is here, I realize this plan could be even better than I originally thought.
Here’s what the police will discover:
Liam kidnapped Olivia, and when Hannah discovered her brother’s plan, Liam sadly had to kill both of them. And then Erika was so distressed, she took an overdose of the Xanax she keeps in her nightstand. Except they’re not Xanax, but something much stronger than Xanax that I swapped for the Xanax several months ago.
Or maybe Liam kills Erika as well. I haven’t decided on that part yet.
And I, of course, will play the part of the grieving widower. Who no longer has to deal with a nagging wife, a whiny daughter, and a sociopath son. It will be even easier than when I was fourteen and played the grieving son.
It’s an excellent plan. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.
That’s the fun part.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
OLIVIA
Istill can’t wrap my head around it entirely. Mr. Cass. Liam’s dad. I had seen him once before when he was picking Liam up early from school, and he seemed really nice. And for a dad… well, he’s pretty hot.Reallyhot. He looks so athletic and muscular and has a nice smile, whereas my dad is balding and has a potbelly.
So when he told me to get into the car, of course I did it. I was worried about Liam. And there was no reason to suspect Mr. Cass wanted to harm me. He was Liam’s dad, after all.
If people are wondering what happened to me, they must be blaming Liam. He’s the one I had a date with that night. I bet anything my nosy neighbor Mrs. Levy saw us kissing that night. If I never reappear, he’s the one who will get blamed. If anyone goes to jail for this, it will be Liam.
“Dad,” Hannah says in a choked voice. “Please don’tdo this.”
Do what? Does he have a gun? A knife? I wish I could see what’s going on out there.
“Hannah.” He speaks in that bland, calm voice that he used when he was asking me what it was like to starve to death. “Do you know what you’re doing? You’re ripping apart our family.”
“I swear to God, don’t come any closer.”
“Hannah. Come on. I’m your father. She’s nobody.”
“Dad…” Hannah is sobbing now. “Please…”
“I’m going to make this so simple for you, Hannah. She’s not getting out of here alive. There’s no chance. The only one who has a chance is you.”
My heart is beating so quickly, my chest is starting to hurt. “Hannah,” I say. “Don’t listen to him. He’s evil.”
“Would you like to finish her off, Hannah? I’ll pull her up and let you do it.”
“Please, Daddy, don’t…”
He laughs. It’s a sound I’ve come to despise over the last several days. “I’m just kidding. I know you can’t do it. You’re not like me. You’re so much like your mother, it’s disgusting.”
I can barely make out Hannah’s face in the shadows. Her cheeks are streaked with tears.
