Ыоуве Been Warned   ::   Patterson James

“She’s in her room.”

I straighten up, barely taking a step before Sean adds, “We’re not supposed to bother her.”

“What do you mean?”

“She isn’t going to school today,” he says, his eyes glued back on the Legos.

“Is she not feeling well?”

“I don’t know for sure. Mommy seems pretty mad, though.”

The words twist my stomach into a million knots. Maybe Dakota came down with a cold. Or maybe she couldn’t keep a secret.

I kneel next to Sean again. “What did you hear Mommy say, sweetheart?”

He snaps another Lego into place. “Hey, look at this, Miss Kristin!” Sean makes awhoosh! sound, waving his missile launcher back and forth.

“That’s neat,” I say, struggling to be patient. “But can you tell me what Mommy said? You remember, Sean?”

My mind explodes with the thought of Dakota spilling the beans to Penley: “I saw Miss Kristin at Nana and Papa’s house – she and Daddy were together!”

Is this how it ends? How this insane house of cards comes crashing down?

I peer over my shoulder at the door to the apartment. The instinct rising inside me is like a power surge to the brain.

Run!

Get out of here!

You don’t want to face her!

But before I can make a mad dash, I hear Penley’s mincing footsteps around the corner of the foyer. I turn to look, and there she is, staring right at me.

“Speak of the devil,” she says.



Chapter 47



“SEAN, DEAR, CAN YOU GO to your room, please?” asks Penley, her voice actually kind of gentle and sweet. Too sweet, I’m thinking. She’s overcompensating for what’s to come, the bloody showdown when it’s just the two of us out here.

Is it too late to make a run for it?

Sean scoops up his missile launcher and shuffles off toward his room. I’m half tempted to beg him to stay. Penley wouldn’t try to kill me in front of her stepson, would she?

Not knowing what to do, I stoop and begin gathering the remaining Legos on the floor.

“That can wait,” she says. “Come, we need to talk.”

Dressed in her workout clothes -what else? – Penley leads me into the living room, motioning for me to have a seat on the green satin couch against the wall. She takes one of the two armchairs facing it, and we both settle in.

“So, how was your weekend?” she asks.

I can’t believe it. She’s toying with me! The pleasant smile and friendly tone. She never asks about my weekend. Never.