This Story Might Save Your Life(74)
“Just tell us what you know, Quinn.”
“What do you know, Benny?” She white-knuckles the broom. “If anyone had reason to kill Xander, it was you. You were in love with his wife. You keep playing dumb, but there’s no way you didn’t know about the divorce.”
I hold up a hand. “I swear I didn’t.”
“Bullshit. You wanted to push Xander out before signing the distribution deal. That’s why you emptied the account—so he would have nothing to fight with. Then as soon as he’s out of the picture, you sign the deal—more money for Benny, more money for Joy, and fuck everyone else, right?”
“That’s not…” I scrub my face. “Is that really what you think?”
She’s aggressively sweeping again. “We moved four hundred miles for your stupid podcast. I put all our money into this stupid cupcake shop expecting a safety net when your stupid distribution deal went through, and— You know what? No. Fuck this. We’re not doing this right now.”
I’m not sure how best to go about it, but I need to keep her talking. “When you said you’d have a safety net when the deal went through…”
Quinn’s red lip curls. “I know it’s hard for you to imagine, but some of us aren’t sitting on a pile of cash. We needed that money.”
“No, I mean…” What do I mean? I connect as many dots as I can as quickly as I can and take a shot in the dark. “Xander promised Mallory a bonus when the deal went through, didn’t he?” I try to say it like I already knew as much, and I’m relieved when she nods. Bingo.
“But after that shit with Ted and Emil went down, he threatened to take it away.” Quinn smirks. “But I’ll bet you didn’t know that part, did you?”
That shit with Ted and Emil? I’m about to ask what the hell she’s talking about when Sarah puts a hand on my arm. “Why would he do that?” she asks.
“Because I told Mallory to stop—” Quinn exhales sharply through her nose. “It wasn’t spying, all right? But when she told Xander she was out, he threatened to cut her bonus.”
“Motherfucker,” I mutter.
“You can say that again.”
We let that linger in the air.
Something occurs to me. “If you didn’t know Xander was hurting Joy, then what did you mean when you said he’s done worse?”
When she doesn’t respond, I press on. “How did you know something weird was going on?”
“I just had a feeling, that’s all.”
“But how?”
Quinn clears our half-eaten cupcakes from the table and tosses them into the trash. “What does it matter? He’s dead.”
My sister knows something. I can see it on her face. “He’s done this before, hasn’t he?”
The overhead lights hum.
“To Mallory,” Sarah adds quietly.
Quinn averts her eyes. “Not like that.”
“Like what, then?”
Cinching the drawstring, Quinn removes the garbage liner from the bin.
“Quinn,” I say.
She sets the bag down with a sigh. “I asked her recently if her family did anything to prevent her from getting sick. I know if I had ear infections that were so bad they made me throw up, then I would try literally anything to stop them before they started.”
“And?” Sarah says.
“And she was like, yeah, of course, Xander put these special drops in my ears every day.”
I don’t know where she’s going with this. “What kind of drops?”
“Some herbal concoction that was supposed to prevent bacteria.”
“That sounds reasonable.” My gaze darts between Quinn and Sarah. “Doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, well. Would you feel the same if you knew he made it himself?”
Sarah’s jaw unhinges. “And you think…”
“I’m just saying,” Quinn says with a one-shouldered shrug. “Kind of a weird coincidence that the infections stopped when Xander went away to college.”
My vision clouds. I don’t want it to be true. I can’t even bring myself to consider what this might mean for Joy if it’s true. “Does Mallory know you think this?”
Quinn nods. “She doesn’t see it. Or she didn’t. I don’t know anymore.”
We’re all silent for a moment, which seems to be all Quinn needs to remember she wants nothing to do with me. “Listen, I have to finish cleaning up. I told Mallory I’d be home thirty minutes ago.”
“Hang on,” I say. “Just a minute. Can we talk about this?”
But she’s clearly done with us, avoiding eye contact as she holds open the door. Sarah takes my elbow, and I reluctantly follow. The moment our soles touch the strip mall concrete, Quinn locks us out without another word.
Joy Moore
Day Five
Footsteps outside my door. Three taps. I get up, blinking away the spots before my eyes. Gloria holds out a tray—an apple and a granola bar this time. A bottle of juice.
“Just checking in.”
I take the tray and stare at the apple. There’s an eruption of laughter in the kitchen down the hall. The thud of something hitting the floor. A sternly worded reprimand. I know now that Gloria’s aware of my situation. That even though my abusive spouse is no longer the problem, I’m still not safe. That I’ve been instructed to hide out until the cops see fit to retrieve me. “Thank you. For everything.”