I stop my car with a loud screech in front of Nelson’s house. I barge in, slamming the door into the wall with a bang.
“Nelson! Karie!” I shout as my long strides carry me further inside.
“What the fuck?” Mick says from above. He and Karie are standing at the top of the staircase.
There they are.I take the steps until I reach them.
Karie looks down at me like a queen would a peasant. “Are you here to apologize and take back what you did?”
I ignore the asinine question. “Where’s my mother?”
“Why are you asking us? She’s at Johns Hopkins, unless your husband did something with her,” Karie says stiffly, tilting her chin high.
I clench my hands so I don’t give in to the urge to strangle her. That wouldn’t get me the answer I need. “She’snotat Johns Hopkins. Huxley’s people can’t locate her.” I add the little lie to prevent Karie from continuing to play dumb.
“They’re probably stupid and blind.” Mick snorts.
“Dr. Blum won’t respond anymore either.” My voice trembles with fear and fury.
“Maybe he got tired of your nagging and paranoia. Just look at you,” Mick says, a little too gleefully. His smirk says he definitely knows something. But my gut says it’s Karie who’scontrolling the situation. Her children always take their cues from her. If she won’t talk, Mick won’t, either.
“I’ll ask again: where is my mother? What have you done with her?” I do my best to keep my voice calm despite rising hysteria. Losing my cool won’t solve anything. Karie and Mick are like snakes, and they’ll exploit any weakness they see.
“I didn’t do anything. Nothing happened to her,” Karie sneers.
“Then why can’t Huxley’s people locate her at Johns Hopkins?” My tone grows loud as panic suffocates me. Just what did they do to Mom? How could I have been so stupid to trust that Nelson and Karie would do the right thing?
“His incompetence isn’t my problem.”
“Care to repeat that to his face?” I say.
Karie shuts up. Mick bristles. It must hurt his pride that he can’t just flip the bird at my husband.
“I’m going to visit her on her birthday next week, Karie.”
Anoh fuckpanic cracks her mask. “Aren’t you too busy ruining Viv’s life to make a trip like that?” she says, trying to deflect my attention from Mom’s whereabouts.
But that only confirms my suspicions. Did Karie do something to Mom as revenge? Even though Huxley’s trust took over the bills, the staff at Johns Hopkins dealt with Nelson and Karie all this time. I take a step forward, my unblinking eyes on Karie. “What did you do? Please just tell me. It doesn’t have to get ugly. But it will if you persist in lying. Don’t think I won’t do whatever I have to in order to find out the truth.”
“Nothing!” Karie shouts with more force than required.
“For fuck’s sake, don’t be so melodramatic. Mom didn’t do anything. Your slutty mother just died.” Mick chuckles.
The words hit like punches to my gut. I grit my teeth as I struggle to process. He can’t possibly mean it. His laughter is proof enough, because what kind of monster laughs over thedeath of a person? He must be saying shit because he’s pissed off. He always acts impulsively. “Shut up! Stop lying.” It’s more a plea than a rebuke.
Karie sighs. “It’s true. She died the day before you took the LSAT. We got a call from the hospital.”
Shock freezes me. My pulse thumps in my head, muffling the sounds from the outside world.She died… She died…The words explode like grenades and shred me like shrapnel. Mick would lie for shits and giggles. Karie… She does everything with calculation.
Mom…Oh my God, Mom!
“Hush.” Karie slaps Mick’s arm as he keeps on sniggering.
“But it’s so funny! Look at her face!” He points, his whole being practically glowing with delight. “She’s crying now!” He doubles over in hilarity.
I ignore him. My pain demands I get answers. “And you didn’t tell me she died?” I whisper as hot tears soak my cheeks.
Karie shrugs. “What good would it have done? She was already gone. It would’ve affected your focus while taking the exam.”
