“Fine, but you need to get a new doctor, Uncle. You need to find out what’s wrong with you.”

“Don’t know if that’s possible.” He walked out of the storeroom.

Chapter 30

Tashlyn

Everly was uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the morning. The whole incident with her uncle knowing about The Grog seemed to be biting at her heels. It seemed perfectly plausible to me that she’d mentioned it in passing to him, but Everly seemed confident it had never come up.

Something wasn’t right. I was feeling uneasy about everything, and on top of it, my plans to stay close to Everly had been messed up. I had no choice but to walk home alone. Jem would be back soon, and I took comfort in knowing I would only be alone for an hour or two.

I grabbed a bottle of water for the walk home. “I’ll see you later, Everly. I’ll do some cleaning.”

She looked decidedly upset that she was stuck having to watch the store on her afternoon off. It wasn’t like Everly to be in a bad mood, but she’d been off all morning. I dismissed it as the disappointment of having her day off taken away.

I headed out. Thank goodness for daylight. I passed Alice’s bookshop but resisted the urge to stop in. I needed to go straight home and get inside. Jem had made some calls the night before to track down Draven but with no luck. He seemed to have vanished after chasing me down the street.

My sore knees felt every step as I practically race-walked down the sidewalk. It reminded me of when I was little and I was hurrying down the hallway to crawl into bed with my dad after a bad dream. Invisible monsters chasing you down a dark hall are nothing compared to the real thing.

Even though I felt confident strolling through town in broad daylight with cars rolling up and down the street, I breathed a sigh of relief when I reached the front door. I unlocked it and went inside, making sure to turn the deadbolt. There were dishes in the sink, and I headed there first.

Time would pass quickly. I was anxious to see Jem. He wouldn’t give me details, but there was someone he’d needed to visit today, someone who he thought might know some of the town’s secrets.

I turned the water on in the sink and heard a floorboard creak behind me. For a fleeting second, my mind reasoned it was Everly. Then I remembered she wasn’t home. I turned off the water, and the floor creaked once more. It was happening all over again. My heart raced with terror. This time I had no place to flee. I grabbed the handle of a butter knife. Before I could spin around with my pathetic weapon, he spoke.

“This time I’ve got you, pussycat.”

They were the last words I heard.

Chapter 31

Jem

An older man with leathery skin and a gritty, hoarse voice opened the door. I wasn’t completely sure I’d be allowed in, but he led me down the hallway of the house to a door. He knocked and spoke through it. “Rebecca, you have a visitor.”

The door opened. Rebecca Gregor looked thinner and grayer than I remembered. Not that I ever saw her much or talked to her. Just like her daughter, Everly, she avoided my family. She looked up at me with green eyes that were sunken into a small face. She didn’t look the least bit surprised to see me.

“I was wondering when you’d come see me.” She turned around and headed into the room. I followed. The room consisted of one twin bed, two chairs and a dresser. She sat on the edge of the bed, and I pulled a chair up across from her.

She looked me up and down. “You remind me a lot of your father. You’re even more handsome, but Alcott Wolfe was a head turner.” We’d spoken maybe four times in my whole life, but she talked to me now as if we’d been longtime friends. “How is your dad?”

I shook my head. Rebecca, like my dad, had nursed her sorrows with alcohol.

“Wasted life, that one,” she said, as if she was sitting in a fine office or home.

“Why were you expecting me?” I asked.

She picked up the edge of her blanket and pulled it around her shoulders, even though the room was stuffy as hell. “Well, you’ve always been the smarter, more decent member of the Wolfe family, and I figured, one day you’d want to know just what the hell was going on in our lovely little town.” She reached under her pillow and pulled out a silver flask. She opened it and sipped some before offering it to me. “And Everly has told me a few things about her new roommate that made me think your visit would be soon.”

I took the flask and gulped down the burning liquid. I handed it back to her. “Thought you were in here to get off the stuff?”

She put the cap on and returned the flask to its hiding spot. “I am. But I found that this place is more tolerable with a little nip, now and then. I guess if you’re here, then you’ve already figured out who was really controlling all the horror up there on the mountain.”

“I have an idea, yeah. But still trying to understand it all.”

“Well, it started with Elizabeth’s death.” She stopped and shook her head. “No, that’s not true. It started with my mom giving birth to a monster, a monster, who in their eyes could do no wrong.” She shook her head. “They had such plans for Landon. That’s why my dad, who was mayor at the time, managed to keep Landon’s name out of the paper. They didn’t want him associated with Elizabeth’s death.”

I sat forward. “Landon was there the day she died?”

She nodded and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “We’d all gone out for the day. My brother would follow your dad around like a groupie at a rock concert. He was friends with Alcott Wolfe, and that made him a big man on campus. Alcott just tolerated having him around. Back then, before everything spiraled out of control, your dad was all right. He was still considered a bit of a troublemaker, but he was admired too. Elizabeth adored him, and he loved her. They’d been messing around, playing tag on the rocks when she slipped and hit her head. She was out cold. My brother told Alcott to run. He told him that we’d take care of Elizabeth and that he’d be blamed if he stuck around. Your dad was upset, not thinking straight. So he listened to Landon and ran. That’s how diabolical my brother is. In that short span of time, he came up with a plan, a plan that would help him feed his sick cravings and keep Alcott at his feet for the rest of his life. At the time, I had no idea what Landon was up to. He told me he’d stay with Elizabeth, while I ran to get help. By the time I returned, Elizabeth was gone, her body drowned in the river. My brother was nowhere to be seen. I knew then, what I’d figured all along—my brother, Landon, was sick.”

“You let him just have free reign?”

Rebecca looked relaxed. She wasn’t going to defend herself. She’d already sentenced herself to this life of giving up and drowning in alcohol just like my dad. “I tried to get my parents to see there was a problem, but they always saw Landon through rose colored glasses. He was their pride and joy. I was their embarrassment, an unwed mother who had gotten knocked up by a drifter just passing through town for lumber work. Nope. They would have had me locked up long before their precious boy. Oh, and Landon was quite the drama king. Always pretended he was sickly, to throw off any hint that he might be up to something wretched. He’s doing it now too, I hear, claiming that his hands are shaky. Everly told me some detectives had come through town again to ask about the missing girls. I’m sure that triggered this last bout of pretend illness.” She shrugged. “After awhile, it became easier just to pretend the ugly stuff wasn’t happening.” She looked at me. “You know what that feels like, I’m sure.”

I nodded. “The accidents on Phantom Curve, they were murders?”