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Time was my hope.
“Why don’t you tell me about them?”
She took two steps and stood over me, glaring with her knives. “They didn’t care about us. How about that?”
“Tell me more.” I kept my eyes steady on hers.
Tracy crouched down, and we were eye-to-eye. I could smell a hint of fear on her breath as she let out a sigh. She wasn’t entirely certain about doing the next step.
“They beat my brother until he couldn’t walk because he killed his goldfish.” She stared at the wall. “It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t mean to.”
“I’m sure he didn’t.”
“That was the first time it happened. When his guinea pig died, they did it too. He could barely walk.”
I swallowed down the shock registering through me.
“Did he have issues with animals, Tracy?”
She shrugged, bringing her blade to my cheek. “Not like I did.”
A chill hung in the air as I kept my eyes focused on hers. The cold blade scraped against my flesh as she smiled. “I remember one morning, there was this bird that wouldn’t shut up. Just chirp. Chirp. Chirp.” She laughed. “I couldn’t handle it.”
My throat clenched with fear.
“I never heard it chirp again.”
“Did you enjoy that, Tracy?”
She smirked. “Very much. Probably more than Tim. He enjoyed the slow taunting, like using AI to send you voicemails and calls from Carmella. That was priceless.”
The reality of her words hit me hard. It had never been Carmella leaving voicemails and calling. It had been Tim, but I couldn’t show my surprise. I had to keep focused. Drag this out.
“And what about your parents?” I asked as my throat turned to sandpaper.
“I think they enjoyed hurting us, if that’s what you’re asking. But they got what was coming to them.”
The realization that time might not be on my side worked through my body as Tracy stood and walked over to the window. She pulled back a dusty curtain and peeked outside.
“Life works in mysterious ways.” She took a step back from the curtain, letting it swing as she hummed a tune I didn’t understand. “There was a part of me that thought your boyfriend might find you, but I guess luck is on my side.”
“Do you miss your brother?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.
“Miss him? Hmm. Miss what he promised me? Yes. Miss him? No. Maybe not.” She laughed, turning to look at me. “He wasn’t a nice guy.”
She lifted the knives again and smiled.
“I’ve gathered that.”
Tears stung my eyes as I closed my eyes and willed the pain to go away. I would not show weakness to this predator.
But every single part of my body hurt.
“Why did you go along with what your brother wanted to do?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Money.”
I nodded, surprised at the simplicity of it all.
