Page 106 of Property of Fang
She melts down her chair.
“How?” Kathy whispers. “How did you figure it out?”
Again, my first thought is to lie—no—omit the truth and merely say they look alike, which they do. But why jump ship now when I’ve only just set sail?Lock in, Jenna.
“Their father belongs to another MC. I recognized Mary-Beth when they put us all together. She recognized me a few days later.”
Darla rolls her head back and groans.
Kathy presses her lips together, eyes glassy with emotion. “You’re the one who did it, aren’t you?”
What do I say to that? A simple ‘yes’? It seems inadequate given the gravity of the lie.Again, not a lie, just an omission of the truth.“She threatened to out me to our captors so that she could buy her way out.”
“And killing her seemed like the only feasible option at that point, right?” Darla grows even more languid and resigned in her seat.
“It wasn’t intentional.”Yes, it was.“At first.”
Kathy scoots her chair away from mine and closer to Darla.
It’s the most painful thing she could have said.
“I understand if you tell the sheriff when he’s next here.”
Darla huffs a laugh, tossing one hand. “Sue. Because it’s no big deal, so we’ll just wait until he pops by for a chit-chat and acoffee. ‘Hey, Mr. Sheriff. Great biscuits you brought with you. By the way, Jenna murdered Mary-Beth.”
Kathy whimpers in the back of her throat.
“Fuck. May as well wait until Anna brings it up first to let her know too, huh?”
If I could disappear—straight merge with the wood beneath my ass—I would. “Please don’t tell her yet.”
“And when is the right time?” Darla jerks upright, leaning forward in her seat.
“Let the police do it. Let Maisie tell her. She’ll know what to do.”
“Yeah? And whatdoyou do when she breaks down? Cries? Feels betrayed? How does one fix that?”
I don’t say anything. I knew Darla was straightforward and blunt, but fuck, she can be mean too.
Not that it isn’t warranted.
“I’m sorry.” Fuck the rock in my throat. “I freaked out when it happened, and things just spiraled deeper after that. I didn’t know how to tell you guys.”
“You just said you didn’t want to because it’d change how we look at you,” Darla hollers, one hand extended out before her.
Kathy tucks her knees up, nibbling on the point of a lapel.
“And it has,” I yell back, knowing if I don’t, I’ll cry. “Hasn’t it?”
“How could it not?” Darla volleys. “You fucking murdered someone. No. Not just someone. Another kidnapped woman.” She makes a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, her back hitting the chair. “All because she saw you as a way to get free. How fucked up is that?”
“That’s not how it is.”
“Isn’t it?” she cries. “Because I can’t see how it could be anything else. Your selfish and thoughtless actions cost someone their life,” Darla states harshly.
I want to argue it further—to say that Mary-Beth was a horrible person, but that doesn’t excuse my actions, does it? Everything I told Fang was the truth, and at the time it felt like a valid reason to defend myself. But was it simpler than that? Is there some part of me deep inside that was purely jealous that she had a way out, and I didn’t?
“I’m sorry.” I set the mug aside, allowing the blanket to fall from my body as I stand.
