Then his mask returned.
He turned to the investigators. “I’ll have my attorney contact you.”
“I’m sure you will,” Marlowe said.
He looked at Vanessa. “Get your coat.”
She did not move.
“Vanessa.”
“I’m not going with you.”
His mouth tightened. “You’re upset.”
“Yes,” she said. “And awake.”
That simple sentence snapped something in him.
He looked at me then, and the hatred there was no longer hidden.
“You planned this.”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice so only he and the nearest few could hear.
“No, Daniel. I survived you. There’s a difference.”
His nostrils flared.
“You think this makes you powerful?”
“No,” I said. “It makes me finished.”
Then Noah tugged my sleeve.
“Mommy, can we have the cookies now?”
A strange laugh rose in my throat. I swallowed it, because if I started laughing, I might not stop.
Marianne turned immediately, desperate for something human to hold on to.
