Page 39 of The Two Last Moments

“You said I’ve lived with you and Ned off and on for a couple years now?” I ask. “Ever since my parents were in that car accident when I was…seventeen?”

“That’s right. When you were seventeen. You’re like a daughter to us.” She says this in a monotone, still staring at her screen. But my stomach just dropped like an elevator when the cord has snapped.

Before, Kathy told me I waseighteenwhen I lost my parents. And that would’ve beensixyears ago, not two.

It’s one thing for her to tell me stories for a few hours during some FaceTime conversations. Another to keep it all straight.

Sweat pricks along my arms. A cold bead runs down my side. “Could I use your phone?” I ask. “I just realized I left something at Danny’s house. I need to let him know before I forget.”

Her jaw clenches. She’s still got her eyes on her screen. “Maybe later. Stay here and finish your lunch, all right? I need to go make a phone call.” Without waiting for a response, she scoots out of the booth and walks toward the hallway where the bathrooms are located.

I watch her go, my insides turning to sludge. What the hell is going on here?

On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t wait to find out.

I dig into my backpack, grab a twenty, and toss it on the table. Then I get up and walk calmly toward the front exit, keeping the bathroom hallway in my peripheral vision. I don’t see Kathy on my way.

Once I’m outside in the parking lot, I’m not sure what my next step should be. I have to tell Danny to come back and get me. It’s either that or call the police—not high on my list anyway—but all I can say is that my aunt is acting suspicious.

I don’t actually know if sheismy aunt.

If she’s not, then she’s been lying to me. Lying since the minute that she filed that missing person’s report in Eureka saying her niece was gone.

But why would she do that? It sounds crazy.

What does your gut tell you?That’s what Nina would probably ask.

I know the answer.

I go around the side of the building, trying to think this through. Maybe I’m wrong, and Kathy is just nervous. And somehow my uncle Ned made it back from a remote Alaskan oil rig in two days flat…

Yeah, still not buying it.

Danny was suspicious from the moment we learned Kathy’s name. I should’ve listened to him. I should never have told him to leave me here. But I believed everything Kathy told me. Let her convince me with a few photos and a bunch of convenient stories.

If Kathy lied, she must’ve had a reason for it. She wanted to lure me out here. Why?

I’m behind the building now, resting my back against the stucco facade. Then I freeze when I hear Kathy’s voice. “She’s asking a lot of questions. No, she doesn’t remember anything. But—”

I don’t see her, but there’s a dumpster near the back door of the restaurant. She must be on the other side of it. I try to edge closer, fitting myself into a gap between the dumpster and the brick wall of the building. That’s one benefit of being scrawny.

I can barely make out Kathy standing by the rear exit of the restaurant, her phone to her ear.

“She’s inside eating lunch.Yes, I left her. She’s not going anywhere. Your bigger concern is me.” Kathy pauses. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this going. I’m the one who gave my name and ID to the police. They know who I am. If anyone finds out, I’m the one they’ll go after.”

Another pause. Meanwhile, I’m silently having a heart attack over here.

Kathy is obviously talking aboutme. But what is she afraid someone will find out? Who’s on the other side of that conversation?

“If you want me to deliver her, I want more money.”

My hand flies to my mouth as I cover a gasp.

“A thousand more. Not a cent less.”

The person on the other end of the line yells. It’s so loud I can hear it from where I’m standing, though I can’t make out the exact words.

“No, don’t come here,” Kathy says. “That wasn’t the plan! I’m—” She curses, dropping her phone to her side. The other person must’ve hung up.

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