Page 92 of The Revenge

“What’s that?” I ask her, even though it’s obvious she’s clutching a bottle of cheap vodka.

“None of your business,” she snaps at me.

Earlier, I cleared out all the empty bottles, but it never occurred to me that I needed to search the apartment to check if there was anything else.

“Mom, I think…” I suck in a deep breath. Mom’s hands are shaking, and she’s swaying slightly on the spot. My mom has a problem. I know she does, I just don’t know how to fix it. “Your dinner is ready.”

Holding onto the bottle like she thinks I’m about to pry it from her fingers, she sits down. “I’m not hungry.”

The corners of my eyes start to burn as I fight to stop the tears from falling. “I’ll put this in the fridge. Maybe you can eat with me later when I get back?”

“Like you care. You’re just going to leave again,” Mom mutters.

I head back into the kitchen, putting the two plates straight into the fridge. “I’ll be back soon,” I call as I put my coat on.

Mom doesn’t acknowledge me as I close the door behind me.

Tears are still threatening to fall as I hurry down across the street to the bar I asked Payne to meet me at, but the only person I’m mad at is myself. My mom’s struggled with everything way more than I have. Even before I left, I knew there was a problem, but I didn’t do anything. Maybe if I had back then, things wouldn’t be so bad now. Only, instead of trying to help her, I’ve been fixated on helping Cole.

Although the bar is open, the only person in here is the server. She looks up as I walk in and gives me a once over. “You’d better have ID if you’re thinking of coming in here.”

I’ve heard rumors that this place was lax when it came to IDing people, which was another reason why I picked this place. Even though I have no intention of drinking tonight, I don’t bother saying anything. I just back out and let the door close behind me. As I turn around, I almost walk straight into Payne.

“I wasn’t going to stand you up,” he tells me. “I just had to park down the street.”

“They ID’d me. I didn’t think about that.”

Lips pressed together, Payne stares at me. Before I can apologize for the stupid oversight, he reaches for my arm. “Tori, are you okay?”

Not really.

But he doesn’t need to know that. This is a problem I need to figure out myself. Besides, I asked him here because I need to give him some bad news, and I don’t want to make it all about me and my problems.

“I’m fine,” I tell him.

“You going in?” A guy asks as he approaches us.

Payne tugs me to the side. “No, after you.” He frowns before glancing up and down the street. “Let’s go sit in my car and warm up.”

I follow him a short distance down the street to a row of parked cars. The lights to his SUV flash as we get near enough for him to unlock it. There’s enough residual heat from his drive here for it to be more than comfortable after being in the cold night air, but once we’re both seated in the front, he turns the ignition on, quickly turning his stereo off.

Turning in his seat, Payne looks at me. “What’s happened, Tori?”

“I met with a guy named Preston du Pont last night. He was supposedly JP’s best friend,” I tell him, cutting straight to the point.

Payne nods. “I remember him. He graduated last year.”

“He confessed to killing JP and blackmailing Cole to take the blame.”

“That’s great news.” Payne gives me a genuine smile. “They’ll have to release your brother.”

I suck in a deep breath before looking Payne in the eye. “You were right about my brother dating Lucy. That night, he took her to the Elite Inauguration party. I’m not entirely certain of the exact details, because I think Preston was being creative with the truth to paint himself in a better light, but Preston said he took Lucy down into the room below the church and had sex with her.” I bite my lip, but Payne remains silent. “He said Lucy had too much to drink and she ended up… Lucy died that night.”

In his lap, Payne’s hands are balled into tight fists. “What happened to her?” he asks through gritted teeth.

“He said he moved Lucy’s body, but when he was cleaning away any evidence, JP and Cole confronted him. Preston insulted Cole, and there was a fight, which JP got in the middle of.” I’m not sure if it was an accident or not, but I don’t care.“Preston made Cole take the blame. They moved JP’s body to the gates and then Cole was arrested.”

“What did he do with Lucy’s…? What did he do with Lucy?”

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