Chapter 8
I waited.
Marcy folded her hands over the blanket.
“The bruises Mom saw on my arm weren’t from Dustin.”
Linda looked stunned.
Marcy continued before either of us could speak.
“They were from training.”
“Training?” I asked.
“At the gym.”
I remembered Eddie telling me she had been there often.
“Why?”
She almost smiled.
“Because I wanted to stop being afraid of everything.”
Dustin looked down.
“I asked Eddie to teach me basic self-defense. Nothing serious. Mostly balance, breaking grips, getting away.”
“And the finger marks?”
“A drill. Eddie told me to wear sleeves because they looked worse than they were.”
Linda stared at her.
“You let us believe—”
“I didn’t know you’d seen them.”
“Then why the turtlenecks?”
Marcy’s eyes filled, though her voice remained calm.
“Because I knew Dad already hated Dustin. I didn’t want questions I wasn’t ready to answer.”
I sat back.
“So Dustin never hurt you?”
“No.”
The certainty in her answer should have brought instant relief.
Instead, it opened another door.
“Then why did you come home crying?”
Her gaze moved to Dustin.
“Because we had a terrible argument.”
He nodded.
“I told her to stop looking into my uncle’s companies.”
“He didn’t ask nicely,” she said.
Dustin winced.
“No.”
“He said I didn’t understand what kind of people I was dealing with. He said if I kept digging, there were ways they could pressure everyone I cared about.”
I looked at him.
He didn’t defend himself.
“I thought I was warning her,” he said. “I sounded exactly like the people I was warning her about.”
Marcy continued.
“I was angry with him. And scared. And when Dad asked what happened, I told the truth badly.”
Linda reached for her hand.
“Why didn’t you tell us about the accounting records?”
“Because I wasn’t certain yet.”
“Certain of what?” I asked.
She took a slow breath.
“That Dustin’s uncle was the one behind them.”
My forehead tightened.
“You think he wasn’t?”
“I think some of the money went to his companies. But tonight, before I fell, I found something else.”
May you like
Dustin moved closer.
“What?”
