agility was replaced by an air of arrogant ownership. She treated
echoed through the house. I was in the kitchen, trying to ignore t
said. "He told my husband he was going to divorce that drab
n planning to leave me all along. My mother's "accident
voice dripping with smug satisfa
e, Keyla's friend, a woman named Tiffany, deliberately stuck out her foot
ered. "Watch where
s so clumsy. It's a wonder
sts. Before I could say a word, Garrison str
l is going on
he was angry on my behalf. He glared
t did you do?
answer, Keyla let o
arm. "It was awful. Janette just came at me. S
a play. Her face crumpled, tears welling i
bought every
nding on me. The brief flicker of con
u do to her?
said, my voice shaking w
p toward me, his whole body radiating menace. H
rushing to her side. He gently cradled h
it on the stone floor. Shards of ceramic flew everywhere. "
into his arms and started c
" Keyla sniffled into his chest.
ed and looked back at me, his eyes
ously quiet. "You will go to the basement and you will
t was a reinforced panic room he'd had bui
erious," I whis
d. "Or I'll have sec
buried in his shoulder, but I could see the
I had no choice. I walked down the stairs into the oppressive darkness of the ba
sides. Hours bled into one another. I lost all track of time. My body ached from the
t, I must ha
a voice. "Jan
cut through the blackness. Garrison sto
y body screaming in prot
r mother," he said, his voice flat, as if he were discussi
words. He had locked me in a dark room for what f
o go to a part
generous. It's good for public relations. And besides," he added, his voice turning cold,
ink in. "She picked out a task for y
e spitting on my mother's grave. And he was waking me from this torture chamber not out
gh escaped my lips.
had woken me. It wasn't about the memorial. It was about Keyla's
the man I thought I k