Page 85 of Under His Control

“I’m fucking tired of you always telling me what to do!” Wayne yells.

“I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t doing things you shouldn’t be doing! You think I like being a grown man’s mother? Always cleaning up after your mistakes?”

“My mistakes? My mistakes? What about you, huh? Do you like being a murderer?”

Sasha’s eyes go round. “Wayne! You watch your goddamn mouth!”

“No! Fuck you! The mistake I made was keeping your secret, you fucking evil bitch!” Wayne points an accusatory finger at Sasha, his eyes wild and glittering. “She killed her! She killed Fiona and made me help her cover it up!”

The music must have been turned off because it’s deadly quiet as collective horror ripples through the room. Everyone’s frozen with wide eyes.

“He’s—he’s drunk!” Sasha cries, darting a terrified look around the room. “I didn’t… I would never… he doesn’t know what he’s saying!”

“I’ve never been more sober in my fucking life!”

Contrary to what he said, Wayne throws his bottle down onto the wooden floor and it shatters. A few yelps and gasps echo around the room.

I flinch and jump back as one of the bottle shards skitters toward my feet. Jacob pulls me behind him to shield me with his body. To my left, Ruth is quietly sobbing. I feel so terrible for her.

Officer Brent steps forward with his hands raised, a tense expression on his face.

“Alright, I think we need to calm down—”

“You didn’t have to do it,” Wayne says, his voice broken. “You didn’t have to kill her. I loved her.”

Sasha is breathing hard, tears running down her cheeks. Then her panicked expression turns into an ugly sneer at Wayne.

“Yes, I did, you cheating son-of-a-bitch! You loved her, but I loved you. I’m fucking glad I hurt you as much as you hurt me too!”

Then Sasha turns and flees the house.

19

Jacob

Everyone’s in a hurry to abandon Lewis and Melissa’s party with a murderer on the loose.

Penelope and I finish giving our statements to the police and I lead her back to the car. I dwell on the night’s events during the drive home.

The good: the police don’t care about my involvement with Fiona anymore after Wayne and Sasha’s confession.

The bad: Penelope was attempting to sneak away from me.

“I wonder if they’ll catch her?” Penelope asks in the silence.

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

Something in my tone must have upset her. She folds her arms and frowns.

“I get why you’re mad but you gave me no choice. You didn’t take Cedric’s threat seriously. I did.”

“No, you panicked. Just like he wanted.”

“I can’t take the chance he won’t follow through. I would never forgive myself if he hurt my family knowing I could’ve prevented it.” She pauses. “I would never forgive you either.”

I throw a glance at her then frown at the road.

“Most people choose self-preservation. You seem to gravitate to self-sabotage. You know what Cedric will do to you if you go home empty-handed, yet you tried to do it twice.”