I raise my brow. I didn’t think she would care, let alone ask how AJ is doing. I clear my throat. ‘He’s going to be all right. He’s broken both his legs, and an ankle. He has to have surgery, but the doctors say that given time, he should make a full recovery. I’ve seen him.’
I’m expecting some kind of dry observation to leave her lips, but instead, she nods her head slowly.
‘Evelyn, Echo Salinger is over there.’
She nods again, this time looking at the floor. She seems to have snapped out of her earlier brain fog. ‘I should speak to him.’
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not here. Not now. Practically all of Rapture is here. The ones that are left.’
‘Then by all means, let us address the elephant in the room. It would appear the last bastion of their resistance has burned to the ground.’
‘Don’t do this,’ I hiss at her. ‘Not tonight. Don’t be so callous.’
She turns and looks at me. ‘Did you ever know me to be anything but?’
I narrow my eyes at her, watch her inhale then push her shoulders back before she walks toward Echo. I follow her, but I glance back at my father, and I can’t help but feel disappointment at the sight of him standing with his back shrunk against the wall, staying out of the way, like I often used to do.
Echo walks toward us, his huge presence suddenly magnified by the way he stands before her, his chest thrust out.
‘You’ve got a nerve,’ he grinds out to Evelyn, his bushy brows drawn together.
‘If you think I came here to gloat, I did not,’ she says as they both come to a halt. ‘But even you have to admit, it’s almost serendipitous.’
‘That fire was started on purpose. We have witnesses. They sprayed her with gasoline then struck a match.’
‘I can see how you would try and make out that’s what happened, but the fact remains, that building was made largely out of timber, and barely conformed to even the most basic of fire safety standards. I’ve seen the reports myself.’
Echo can barely contain himself. ‘A man nearlydiedtonight.’
‘Hollie tells me he’ll make a full recovery.’
Mercy steps forward. ‘You heartless bitch!’ she shrieks, and Echo has to pull her back, kicking and screaming. ‘That man is my son!’
‘Your time is up, Mr Salinger. It’s time to say goodbye and accept the offer of compensation on the table.’
My jaw drops. I cannot believe she is doing this now.
‘Rapture’s not for sale,’ Echo bites out, standing his ground, even as Mercy struggles in his grasp.
‘Rapture isgone,’ my stepmother declares. ‘You’ve nothing left.’
‘EVELYN WALLACE!’
The shout comes from behind me. I whip my head around to witness the county sheriff Luke Saint entering the waiting room in his full uniform, flanked by two of his deputies. He marches over to where Evelyn is standing. Behind him, I glimpse my father as his back straightens, a fearful look on his face.
‘Evelyn Wallace,’ the sheriff repeats, coming to a halt in front of her. He removes his handcuffs from his belt. ‘You’re under arrest for solicitation and conspiracy to commit arson in violation of federal law. You’ll need to come with me.’
Chapter Thirty-Three
AJ
At seven a.m, they operated, and realigned my fractured femur. According to the doc, I now have five metal pins inside my leg, and a twenty-centimeter incision in my thigh, closed with sutures and staples. And I’m pumped brim full of pain meds.
Once the anaesthesia wore off, they moved me to my own room on the first floor at Golden Oaks. Hollie was there waiting for me. The nurses told me she refused to leave. I slept a while, and when I woke again, she was lying on the bed, curled into me, my right leg in traction, my left leg in a cast.
Now, the bed is in an upright position and she’s lying with her cheek pressed against my chest through the cotton gown, nestled into the crook of my shoulder, my arm around her. Her hand rests against my stomach and my fingers are in her hair.
Sunlight filters through the closed blinds. I don’t even know what time it is. The days have bled into one another. All I know is that my girl is with me, and nothing else matters.