Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“But if she had your father’s sperm all those years, why didn’t she inseminate herself before?”
“My mother—I mean, Daphne—was pregnant with Joe before they got married. And then Talon came along three years later. Wendy was busy finishing school, becoming an investigative journalist. And doing God knows what else with her secret organizations. The timing makes perfect sense when you think of it from Wendy’s point of view.”
“Ryan, none of this will ever make perfect sense to me.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of scary that it makes sense to me. But only because I’ve grown to understand her. Which freaks me out more than a little.”
“I hate Ava being in there alone with her.”
“I’m not a fan of it either,” Ryan says. “But I know my daughter. And I think you know her too, Ryan. She’s her own person, and she feels she needs to do this. So we need to let her do this. Remember, she’s smart. She will ask for help if she needs it.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ava
“Grandmother, I want to be honest with you about something.”
“What is that, my dear?”
“I’m in love with a man. I’m in love with Brendan Murphy.”
Wendy’s eyes close. Her skin of her eyelids has a translucent look.
“Yes, I see,” she says. “I believe he’s the great-nephew of Sean Murphy, who was a friend of your grandfather’s.”
“Yes. What happened to the original Sean Murphy, Grandmother?”
Wendy opens her eyes. “It was a shame. It was a needless death.”
My pulse races, but I work to appear calm. “What do you mean? A needless death?”
“He was very important to Brad, and Patricia Watson was very important to Daphne.”
“Brendan swears that his great-uncle didn’t do drugs. That someone must’ve drugged him.”
“Ava,” she says, turning to look into my eyes, “sometimes the innocent get caught in the middle of a battle for a person’s soul.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means…” She sighs. “It means that there are casualties in every war.”
“War?” My heart thrums against my sternum. “I’m not sure I follow, Grandmother.”
“Know only this. When you were born, I realized the purpose of everything I’d put into motion. It was for you, Ava.”
“Please, I’m trying to understand.”
Wendy sneers. “Brad and I should have been together. I was his true love. Daphne… She was a siren. She stole my man out from under me, trapped him, and she had to pay.”
“But…”
“Oh, Ava. I didn’t have to do much to make Daphne pay. I took her best friend. I took Brad’s best friend. But Daphne… Her own mental illness was her cross to bear.”
My skin chills. Did my grandmother just admit to being behind the death of Sean Murphy? All this time, and Brendan and his father may have their answer.
“I think Brad always knew,” Wendy says. “He couldn’t prove it, but he knew.”
“Knew what?”
“He knew…that I…that Sean…”
My grandmother sucks in a breath.
Sirens on her equipment start blaring.
Jemima and Dr. Parks race into the bedroom.
“Miss,” Jemima says, “you need to get out of here. Right now!”
I back up from the bed, but I have no intention of leaving.
“Damn it!” She was in excellent health.
“Jemima, get the crash cart!” Dr. Parks checks Wendy’s neck. “A faint pulse.”
“No! You can’t let her die.” Tears erupt in my eyes. “I need her! I don’t have all the answers!”
“Get out of here, now!”
But I don’t leave. I watch as Jemima takes over with CPR while Dr. Parks readies the paddles.
“Come on, come on!” Jemima pants.
“Charging to two hundred,” Parks says.
Jemima moves Wendy’s gown out of the way, and Dr. Parks places the paddles on my grandmother’s chest.
Bam!
The electricity flows into my grandmother.
“I’ve lost her pulse, Doctor,” Jemima says.
“Damn it, old woman.” Dr. Parks places the paddles on Wendy’s chest once more.
Bam!
Then again.
Bam!
And again.
Bam!
“Come on,” I say through gritted teeth. “If you care anything about me at all, Grandmother, do. Not. Die.”
Bam!
And then—
Just a line.
A beeping line.
Dr. Parks pulls away. “I’m sorry. She’s gone.”
I’m not sad exactly.
I don’t really know what to feel.
I didn’t love this woman, my grandmother. I did feel a connection to her. A bizarre connection, and now that life has left her body, the connection has…
It’s still there, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Wendy Madigan is gone.
For good this time.
“Are you going to be okay, sweetheart?” my mother asks, rubbing my shoulders.
“Yeah, of course I will be.” I sniffle. “But I didn’t get all the answers, Mom.”
“I’ll tell you one answer we will get. I had the nurse draw some blood from Wendy, and I have it in my hands. I saw it come out of her body, and I saw the nurse hand the tube to me. No sleight-of-hand, no nothing. It is Wendy Madigan’s blood, and I’m going to get a DNA test. We’re going to make sure that it is your father’s mother who died today. Then we’ll get an autopsy.”