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“Exactly.” Nora smiled thinly and patted me on the shoulder.
I took a deep breath and lifted my chin. “How are you going to do it?” I asked. “I mean… how are you going to kill me?”
“Matthew—sorry, I mean Mr. Blythe—will take you up to his house. He lives near the bluffs on the north end of town. Have you ever been there?”
“I don’t think so,” I said, shaking my head.
“It’s a beautiful spot. Very popular with walkers and amateur photographers. Unfortunately, it’s also quite a popular spot for jumpers.”
“Jumpers? You mean…”
Nora interrupted me. “Suicidal people,” she said bluntly. “The cliffs are very high. Every so often, someone goes there and—” She stopped abruptly and drew a line across her throat with her index finger.
“I get the picture,” I muttered.
“I’m going to need you to write a note for Mr. Blythe to leave at the scene,” she said in a breezy tone, as if we were simply discussing the weather. “If it isn’t in your handwriting, people will suspect something.”
I gritted my teeth. “I won’t do it.”
“Yes, you will. Or else we’ll go after your mother. You don’t want that, do you?” Nora said, smiling sweetly.
A flicker of fear kindled in my gut. I swallowed thickly and shook my head. “Leave her out of this. Please. She’s been through enough.”
“I promise we’ll leave her alone if you do us this one small favor.” Nora leaned down to rummage in the tote bag and came back up with a small notepad and a silver pen. “It doesn’t have to be long and drawn out. A simple ‘I’m sorry for what I did’ will suffice.”
I took the pen and pad, chewing on the inside of my cheek as I considered my next move. I wanted to write something that would trigger police suspicions without triggering Nora’s, but my mind had gone frustratingly blank.
“Come on,” Nora said, clicking her fingers. “Just write ‘I’m sorry for that I did to Cerina’. Maybe add a ‘Goodbye everyone’ at the end as well. Then sign your name.”
Guilt whipped through me at the mention of Cerina’s name, even though I wasn’t guilty of her murder. At the same time, Mr. Blythe’s words from Thursday night flashed back to me.I didn’t kill Cerina. I didn’t have an affair with her, either. You’re wrong about everything.
My eyes widened as a dark realization dawned on me.Of course.I finally understood why Nora and her acquaintances were doing this to me. They genuinely believed I was guilty of killing Cerina and they were worried I was going to get away with it, so they’d decided to take matters into their own hands and mete out their own version of justice.
I swallowed hard, heart racing. This was a chance to save myself. I just had to convince Nora of my innocence.
I put the pen down, steeled my jaw, and looked over at her. “I know why you’re doing this,” I said in a low voice.
She arched a perfectly-plucked brow. “Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s a revenge thing, isn’t it?” I said. “You want me dead because of what I did to your daughter. What youthinkI did, anyway. But that’s the problem—I didn’t do it.”
She let out a short sigh. “If you say so, Kinsey.”
“Nora, please.” I reached out and put a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry for what happened to Cerina. So, so sorry. She didn’t deserve it. But it wasn’t me. I didn’t kill her. I swear on my life.”
Her lips tightened, and she snatched her arm away from my hand. “I really don’t have time for this. Please just write the note.”
I kept staring at her, beseeching her with my wide-eyed gaze. “I know you want revenge for what happened, and I completely understand that. If I were you, I’d want revenge too,” I said. “But you have the wrong person. I didn’t kill Cerina.”
“I know, honey.”
My brows shot up. “What?”
“I know you didn’t kill her.” Nora smiled pleasantly and patted my hand. “Idid.”
10
Jax
