He took the knife from her and helped her up the steep berm. “Afterward then. I’ll hide the entire set in the old house’s attic.”
“Mommy?”
Charlotte froze. Dwight swore under his breath. He squeezed Charlotte’s hand with a bruising grip. “What did she see?” he whispered harshly.
“How the fuck do I know?” Charlotte spat. “Olivia, darling, what are you doing here?” she asked, trying not to panic. Children talk. They always do. She’d tell on them. Not directly, but something or someone would trigger a memory and Olivia would start babbling.
Olivia’s nightgown swirled around her ankles. She clutched her rag doll. Wise green eyes too big for her head blinked innocently at Charlotte. Olivia leaned to the left, trying to see behind them. She pointed at the water. “Who’s that man?”
“Shit,” Dwight muttered.
Charlotte was sweating. “That’s a seal, darling,” she said, her voice pitching upward.
Olivia’s nose scrunched up. “Why’s the seal wearing clothes?”
“Don’t be silly, Livy. Seals don’t wear clothes.” Charlotte’s laugh was maniacal.
Dwight jerked her arm. “What if she tells someone?”
“She won’t because you’ll get her to believe she didn’t see anything and that we weren’t here.”
“Charlotte—” He growled. “I’m not gaslighting our daughter.”
“You’ll do whatever it takes to keep her from talking,” she said through her teeth. She poked him hard in the chest. “None of this happened. You hear me? We never speak of this again, and that includes Olivia.”
“She’ll have nightmares for life. This will mess her up.”
“No, it won’t, because you’re her daddy and she trusts you. Keep her close. Make her forget. She’s only five for fuck’s sake. Now get her out of here.” Charlotte discreetly took back the knife, positioning her body so Olivia wasn’t left with the image of her mommy carrying the murder weapon. If her daughter recalled anything, it wouldn’t be her holding the blade.
“Upsy-daisy, Princess.” Dwight picked up Olivia. “You must be cold.”
“Really cold.” She giggled. “I love you, Daddy.”
“Love you, too, Princess.”
Charlotte looked back at the ocean one last time. It was too dark to see Benton. Poor man. He never had a chance when he confronted Dwight.
Hair flew into her face. Wind slammed into her back. She stumbled. Spooked, she looked down at the water. The ocean wanted her. Too bad. It couldn’t have her. Not today.
CHAPTER 38
Two weeks after Dwight’s death, Olivia buried her dad’s cremated remains with only Blaze at her side. It wasn’t so much a funeral as it was a goodbye to a man Olivia barely knew. Dwight might not have murdered Benton St. John, but he had a hand in the man’s demise.
Dwight’s autopsy report showed his blood alcohol was above the legal limit. His death was ruled an accident. Whatever role Lucas played, only he knows. Olivia’s brother isn’t anywhere to be found, at least in the places she’s looked. Lucas has bailed before without notice, but he’s never been gone this long. It’s been three months. She’s worried about him and his frame of mind.
As for Charlotte, Olivia doesn’t begin to know where to look for her, or if she should. She skipped town the day Olivia and Blaze drove Josh to the lake house. She watched the surveillance footage and saw the town car drive Charlotte away. But her mom left behind the deed to her house in her children’s names: Olivia, Lucas, and Jenna Mason, proving Charlotte had known Lily’s name all along. It’s the only way Olivia could explain away the deed. Charlotte wouldn’t have been able to change it on such short notice.
She left them each a bank account funded by an untraceable offshore account with enough money to buy a house. Or in Olivia’s case, a second home. In Oceanside. On the beach. If she wanted to have a place near Lily and Josh.
At least that explained why the husband of one of the county’s most successful real estate brokers always complained about never having enough money. His wife was funneling it elsewhere.
It’s been three months since Olivia found Lily, and she still hasn’t fully recovered from Charlotte’s deceit. Both parents betrayed her, but her mom crushed her soul. There are days when she’s with her therapist that she wonders if she’ll ever get over a betrayal of that magnitude. Does one ever fully recover? Her therapist has commended her for not shutting others out, which those who’ve been wronged tend to do, and as Olivia’s done in the past. This time, she isn’t alone.
Christmas is in four days. Day after tomorrow, Olivia and Blaze will drive to Oceanside to spend the holidays with Lily, Josh, and Tyler. She and Lily—she still isn’t used to calling her sister Jenna—need to decide what to do about Lucas and Charlotte. Pursue them, or let them be? Lily is just as worried about Lucas as she is, but Olivia’s reason for finding Charlotte is selfish. She needs closure, and she wants justice. She also wants to tell her mom that her recurring nightmare finally makes sense. As soon as Lily shared what she’d overheard the night she ran away, that Charlotte had wielded the knife, Olivia’s mind filled in the blanks, from the beginning to its awful, bloody end.
“When will you get . . . here?” Josh asks during their daily phone call. He was the one who insisted he and Olivia regularly keep in touch. But when Lily mentioned Josh’s speech pathologist encouraged him to talk as often as he could, Olivia suggested he call her daily. His aphasia has abated for the most part. Aside from a slight hesitation in his speech, it’s barely noticeable. A relief given how his injury happened, which was almost as much of a relief as it was to hear from Lily that Dwight didn’t push him.
In the last few months, Josh has made remarkable progress. He’s learned to talk around a word if he can’t find it. He’s back in school and picked up reading again. The Crimson Wave graphic novels were the first two books he read. They probably don’t need to talk every day anymore, but neither has bothered to change their routine.
“Blaze has to work on Monday, so we’ll be there late.” She’s also waiting on a delivery from her publisher, a very advance, spiral-bound copy of book three in her Crimson Wave trilogy, one of many gifts she has for Josh.
Blaze remarked on the pile accumulating in the living room under their white pine Christmas tree. They’ll have to take his truck instead of her Mercedes if she keeps buying Josh and Lily gifts. She just gave him a look. What does he expect? She has a lot of holidays and birthdays to make up for. Besides, she’s an aunt. She’s entitled to a little spoiling.
“I promise to call as soon as we get on the road. And don’t forget to call earlier tomorrow,” she reminds Josh as she walks into the dining room where Amber, Mike, and Blaze wait with a bottle of champagne. “Amber’s wedding is at four.”
Mike grunts. “Mine too.”
Olivia winks at him and says goodbye to Josh.
“Love you, Aunt O.”
“Love you too.”
She sets down her phone on the table and Blaze pops the cork. Champagne foams at the mouth, leaking onto the table. Blaze gives a whoop and Mike grabs two flutes. Amber’s ring sparkles and Olivia blots the spill with a stack of napkins. Blaze sheepishly grins.