Chapter 59

Chapter Fifty-Nine

ERIKA

" M om." Liam shakes my arm, growing urgency in his voice. "Please. Just drive."

I have no reception out here. Every bone in my body is screaming that I should call the police. But then what? My son is here. My daughter is apparently here. Something terrible is going on, and I can't imagine sitting here in this car and twiddling my thumbs until the cops show up.

Liam is not going to kill me. Sometimes I'm not sure what he's thinking, but I know that much. He would never hurt me. And the only thing I can hear in his voice right now is fear. He's scared of something.

But what?

And why on earth is Hannah's bicycle out here? I can't figure it out.

So I push on, into the woods, following his directions. I drive another five minutes on this dirt path, and finally a cabin comes into view. The cabin is dilapidated—the wood is splintered and dirty, falling apart in places. The front door is hanging by only one of its hinges. It looks like it's been abandoned for years. Except for two things:

The dim light coming from inside.

And the Prius parked right outside.

I don't know why Hannah's bicycle is out here. But I can't even begin to imagine why my husband's car is parked here when he's supposed to be at work.

"Liam," I say slowly. "What is going on? No more games. Tell me right now."

He takes a deep breath. "Dad went out last night and Hannah followed him. She said he came here— she showed me directions she wrote down. She told me she was going back tonight and I wanted to come, but she was worried I'd get in trouble if… well, if she found something really bad. But I was sitting in my room and thinking about Hannah and… I thought Dad might…"

I stare at him. "Might what?"

He frowns at me. "You know Dad is crazy, right?"

I get a horrible sinking feeling in my chest, like my whole world is collapsing on itself. "What are you talking about? Your father is the most normal man I've ever met."

He snorts. "You don't see it, I guess. I do. I always have. That's why it scares him so much when I… well, you know. He sees himself in me. But I'm not like him. Not as mu ch as he thinks, anyway."

"This is crazy," I whisper. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I thought you knew." Liam blinks at me. "All those years. You didn't even… I mean, I don't know what he's doing all day, but he's not at work. I called his company once when I needed to reach him, and they told me he's never there. You never suspected…?"

No, I never suspected anything. Ever .

But there were all those late nights. All those "business trips" he always had to take. I always accepted it blindly. There was that time I worried he was having an affair, but maybe it was something much worse than that.

What if I was smelling the perfume of a dead woman?

No, that's not possible. This is crazy. Why am I thinking this way? Jason is my husband of twenty years. He's not a murderer. I don't know what his car is doing out here, but there's got to be a reasonable explanation.

"I think Olivia is in there," Liam says. "Mom, I'm really scared he might kill them both."

"He wouldn't do that," I say. Although it's pretty clear I'm no expert on what Jason would or would not do.

Liam hesitates for only a split second before he darts out of my car. I call to him, not wanting him to go inside and face whatever is in there. What if it really is Jason? Could he have done something like this? He couldn't have. Never. I don't care what Liam says. I know my husband. A guy who can make that many puns about eggs is not going around murdering people. He just isn't.

I pick my way through a dirt path, littered with leaves and branches, until I've reached the cabin ten paces after Liam. He's taller than me so his strides are longer, and he's more surefooted on the uneven ground. We get there just in time to see Jason stumble through the broken door.

Liam stops short, staring at his father. "Where is Hannah? Where is Olivia?"

Jason's face darkens in a way I've never seen before. At that moment, it seems entirely possible that everything Liam just told me is true. That Jason is somebody I don't know at all. Someone who could've done horrible things.

But then he catches sight of me and the dark look fades from his face like it was never there. "Erika! Thank God you're here. You've got to call the police right now!"

"Where are they?" Liam shouts at him.

Jason gazes at him with venom in his eyes. "They're both in there—dead. You should know since you're the one who killed them. You monster."

I feel like somebody punched me in the gut. "Dead?"

"I'm so sorry, Erika." Jason's eyes fill with tears as he rushes to my side. His hand is on my back. "I tried to save Hannah… "

"You liar!" Liam's face is purple. "You hate Hannah! You hate all of us!"

My legs feel like they're going to collapse under me. No, not Hannah. She can't be… No…

Jason's arms encircle me, barely catching me before I collapse. "We're going to call the police," he says in a soft, soothing voice. "They're going to punish Liam for what he did to our baby." He glares at Liam. "Don't even try to run. They're going to catch you."

Liam stares at us, his face still scarlet. But then something changes in his eyes. They grow wide, like he's seen something terrible. "Mom," he gasps.

And then instead of running, he lunges at Jason. I see the glint of a knife in Jason's hand. He hadn't been holding it when he came out of the cabin. He took it out as he was comforting me.

Oh my God. Was he going to stab me?

Jason is still heavier than Liam, but Liam is younger and quicker. The knife clatters out of Jason's hands, and Liam grapples him to the ground. For a moment, it looks like Jason might manage to get free, but then Liam takes a swing at him, and I hear a sickening crunch. When I look at Jason's face, there's blood pouring out of his nose.

"You little asshole!" Jason howls. "I'm going to kill you."

"Mom, the knife," Liam manages .

The knife is lying in the grass. The knife doesn't look familiar to me—it's not one of the dull blades from our kitchen. I snatch it off the ground so Jason can't get it. My fingers close around the handle, but I'm not sure what to do with the sharp end. I point it in Jason's direction, but who am I kidding? I'd never be able to stab him.

He knows it too.

"Mom." Liam's voice is breathless. "Give me the knife."

Jason struggles against our son, who has him pinned down tightly. I'm impressed with how easily Liam is restraining him. Liam has become stronger than his father. "Erika, don't give it to him," Jason manages.

I stare at my husband. "Why shouldn't I?"

Jason's face is ashen. "You know what Liam is like. You've always known. He's crazy , Erika."

Well, that's not untrue.

Jason sees my hesitation, and he pushes on. "Erika," he says urgently. "You do not want him to have that knife. You know that. He'll kill us both."

Will he?

Liam looks at me with his brown eyes that are so much like what I see when I stare into the mirror. I'm not sure what to believe anymore, but between Jason and Liam, I know which one I want to have the knife .

I turn the blade around and offer Liam the handle.

My son smiles at me with those perfect, straight teeth—a smile I know is one-hundred percent genuine. "Thanks, Mom." His fingers close around the handle. "And you were half right, Dad."

I watch as Liam plunges the knife into his father's chest.