The ground is still wet and marshy from all the rain and it’s seeping through my pants. Chill bumps fan over my body and I hug my middle. My hand is hurting again. That throbbing pain that continually pulses has returned.
“Wrath knew Diego wouldn’t go through with killing you. So he sent me to finish the job. There’s a big paycheck waiting for him when you’re lying on a cold metal slab. You were right that I used to want Diego, but I moved on. Set my sights higher. Once Diego goes down for your murder and his mother grieves herself to death or finally stops being a pussy and kills herself, I’ll be Wrath’s Old Lady.”
I know I need to move. Any second now she’s going to be right up on me.
Headlights flash through the trees. Diego must be back or Taty called for backup. I can either run toward them or away from them. I decide to take a chance on faith.
A chance on hope that it’s Diego and that he will save me again. Right now, he is the lesser of two evils. Despite how I want to hate him, he could have killed me but chose to save me. He staged my murder. If that’s not some sort of fucked up version of love…I don’t know what is. My heart swells at the realization. I have something worth fighting for too.
I zig and zag running as fast as I can toward the headlights. I get cracked across the back by something hard like a tree branch. I drop to my knees, all air whooshing out of me.
“Prepare to say goodnight, Sybil White,” Taty hisses in my ear, shoving me forward with her foot planted in the middle of my back.
I grunt and try to crawl forward, trying to catch my breath. The pain in my hand radiates up my arm, mingling with the ache in my back, and I feel defeated. Like this could be the end.
“Diego won’t save you. You were right. His mother is fine. I set him up. Those headlights you saw were probably someone bringing his body to dump in the grave with yours. No one will ever find you. Either of you.” She laughs manically.
Chapter 19
—Diego
All these years, I’ve been planning for the day that I’d take Wrath out and be able to look into my mother’s eyes and tell her it’s over. That the bastard was dead, and she was finally free. That I kept my promise and avenged my father. Now, I don’t get that chance. I can’t believe that this is how it ends. I guess I should have known deep down that this was going to happen sooner rather than later. My mother has endured so much heartache. It was only a matter of time before her body gave out to all the abuse.
Shit is fucked. I feel perfectly numb right now. I flick my ashes out the window of my truck and hope I make it there in time to tell her it’s okay. That I understand. That I forgive her. I know when my old man died, she did what she felt she had to. She was alone with Wrath breathing down her neck making promises he never intended to keep. Sorry fucking prick. I used to blame myself and wonder why I wasn’t enough for her to want to live. I know better now but it still hurts all the same. A cut still bleeds the same no matter how deep the wound.
I’m halfway to the hospital when my cell phone vibrates with a call from Jericho.
“Lo,” I answer and take another drag off my cigarette.
“Where are you?”
“On my way to the hospital, why?”
“Someone sick?”
“Shit you ain’t heard? Mom…Taty said.”
He cuts me off. “What about your mom? Winnie was just over there about an hour ago. They was having their book club or wine tasting some shit. You know how they are. That’s why I’m calling. Winnie insisted I call you. You know how she gets when she has a vision.”
“She’s okay?”
“No crazier than usual. What’d Taty tell you?
A bad feeling filters through me and settles low in my gut. I cut the wheel and do a U-turn. “Nothing important.”
“You know that girl you were with is all over the news”
“Tell Winnie not to worry. Sybil is fine. I gotta go. I’ll check in with you later.” I end the call and step on the gas. Fucking Taty. I shake my head. Fucking bitch set me up. Wanted me out of the cabin. I dial her cell and it goes straight to voicemail. I’m going to kill her if she touched a hair on Sybil’s head. Out of all the people to fuck me over I never woulda thought it’d ever be her.
Betrayal is a mean bitch, but I’m meaner.
I make an hour drive in half the time. I barrel down the road to the cabin at warp speed, my truck bouncing all over the damn road. When I pull up behind her car two things strike me. The front door is wide open and Sybil nor Taty are anywhere in sight. I exit my truck and go to the cabin, though I know it’s empty.
“Sybil? Taty?” I call out into the cabin.
No response. Fuck.
I rush back off the porch and spin around searching for footprints. I am mostly seeing my own but then I see two sets going toward the trees and that’s when I hear Taty’s laugh echoing through the woods. I slink silently toward the sound. I know this land. I came here often as a child. Sometimes Taty and her family came too. The thought of her betraying me cuts deep, but I’ll deal with it when I find her.