Page 131 of Denial
Nellie’s lips part, and then she says in the quietest voice, “I love her too.”
Relief floods beneath my skin, followed immediately by an urgency to get this done so the three of us can settle into this new life together.
“Can you stay with Auntie Whitney and keep her company?”
Nellie turns around to look at Whitney. “Are you scared too?”
Whitney quickly wipes away a tear. “I’m very scared, sweetheart. Alice is my best friend. But your dad is very good at his job. I know he’s going to do his best to get her home safe.”
Nellie collapses solidly against her aunt’s chest, her face tight with determination.
“I’ll stay with Auntie until she isn’t scared anymore.”
Whitney’s arms tighten around Nellie in a secure embrace.
My chest burns seeing my little girl’s brave face. She doesn’t have a clue how much it has killed me to stay here with her. How much it’s going to kill me to walk out that door. My heart is torn in two.
I lean over and kiss her forehead.
“You’re strong, Nellie-Jo. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
37
Alice
The red LEDon the microphone flashes at a steady rate. Jake sits opposite me, his own microphone set to record.
“Hey, hey, heyTrue Crime Lieslisteners. I have a special episode for you today. You’ll never believe who finally agreed to sit down and give us the inside story. If you thought I was done with the Phoenix Fraudsters, you might have been right. If Alice Thompson didn’t have a change of heart.”
He winks at me, as if any of this was voluntary.
“Go ahead and tell our eager listeners hello.”
My mouth feels like ash, and sweat sticks to my skin. I blink against the tears threatening to fall as Nellie’s screams still ring in my head. “H-Hello.”
Jake already informed me this was only a recording, not live, dashing any hopes I had about crying out for help.
“Not only has Ms. Thompson joined us as our special guest, but we also have here one of the infamous Phoenix Fraudsters himself, Mr. Ernest Farnsworth. If you remember, Mr. Farnsworth had his case thrown out when the jury foundthe circumstantial evidence not strong enough to return a guilty verdict.”
Ernest cocks a bored eyebrow at Jake. Leaning over, he picks up Jake’s microphone.
“I think I’m going to take over this for a little while.”
Jake begins to protest, but one look from Ernest shuts him up.
Ernest sits on the corner of the table, one leg on the floor for balance. He turns toward me. “You’re hard to track down. It wasn’t until I put together that you’re friends with his ex-wife that I figured out exactly where you’d gone.”
Friends with his ex-wife? My brain works overtime as I sort through the clues in that sentence.
He means Whitney.
“Leave them alone,” I spit. The mere thought of my family’s troubles turning her life on its end again fills my throat with bile.
Ernest gives an unbothered shrug. “See, your friend, she’s smart. She moved away and kept her head down. Shacked up with a well-connected guy and lived happily ever after. But you?” he sneers, rising to his feet. “You just keep popping up.”
“I didn’t ask for any of this.” I bat at a tear with the back of my hand, fighting against the exhaustion threatening to drag me straight to the floor.
“You handed your own family to the cops and went on with your life.” He fake shivers. “You are one cold bitch. I mean, even I didn’t do that. I stuck beside your brother and his shitty-ass plan until the very end.”
