The Bone House - Brian Freeman [141]
'He's using you.'
'No, he's protecting me,' she said.
'Protecting you from what?'
Katie stared at Amy on the floor, and the smile washed away from her face. 'From who I was.'
Jensen checked his watch and tugged Katie's arm. 'The police will be here soon,' he said. 'We should go.'
'There's something we need to do first,' she told him.
Jensen stiffened with unease, and Hilary tried to read his face. She realized for the first time that she had it wrong. Jensen wasn't the one in control. He was in thrall to this girl. It was Katie whose eyes betrayed a terrible detachment. It was Katie who looked like fragile china, riven with cracks, ready to break apart.
'Katie, we don't have to do this,' Jensen said. 'Not now.'
'We don't have a choice.' 'Yes, we do. Forget about them. We can run.'
The girl's lips tightened into an angry line. 'I've been running my whole life. I'm done with it.'
'Give me the gun. I can protect us.'
'No, you can't.' Katie kissed Jensen again and pushed him toward the bedroom door. 'Don't lose your nerve now. We've come too far. Go downstairs and grab every alcohol bottle you can carry.'
'Katie, stop.'
'You know what we've been through. It's just one last thing. Then it's over. Then we're free.'
Hilary saw something in Jensen's eyes. Self-awareness. Self-hatred. He couldn't say no to this girl. A man who had destroyed his first marriage seducing teenagers had been seduced and manipulated himself.
'Hurry,' Katie told him, her voice insistent.
Jensen vanished toward the stairs without further protest. Amy remained motionless on the floor. Hilary was alone with Katie. The girl cradled the gun loosely in one hand and chewed a fingernail on her other hand. Her glasses slipped down her nose, and she stared at Hilary through the rain-dotted lenses.
'What's this all about?' Hilary asked.
Katie shrugged. 'Glory saw me in Florida.'
'Glory saw yow?'
Her head bobbed. 'She started to remember everything. I knew she wouldn't let it go. She'd tell someone. Gary didn't want me to do it, but I couldn't take the risk. I had to stop her.'
'You killed Glory? Katie, why?'
The girl got a faraway look in her eyes. 'Everyone used to call me Jen back then, but my father always called me Katie. That was my grandmother's name. I was Jennifer Katherine. That's the only part of me I have left from those days.'
Hilary's throat went dry with despair. 'You're Jen Bone. Harris's daughter.'
'I was. I stopped being that girl that night in Door County. I thought I would never have to be her again. Really. It was over and done. But then Glory saw me, and it all came back to her. She remembered being in the garage that night. She saw me light the fire.'
* * *
Chapter Fifty-Two
'I never wanted to believe it,' Tresa said. 'I convinced myself I was wrong, you know? Everybody said Harris did it. He confessed. The thing is, I knew he would have done anything for Jen. He must have known she did it, but he took the blame. To protect her.'
Cab drew closer to the three of them, conscious of the gun in Reich's hand. He didn't know how far Reich would go to save himself. When he studied the sheriff's heavily shadowed face, he saw someone who was staring into the maw of a black hole, the way Cab himself had done in the storm cellar. He wondered whose face Reich saw looking up from the darkness. Harris Bone, screaming in agony for his life. Or Peter Hoffman, staring into the eyes of his friend as Reich shot him to death.
'Sheriff, put the gun down,' Cab said.
Reich ignored him. 'I don't believe this shit. Harris Bone was there. He admitted it. This is another of your fantasies, Tresa.'
'Jen was with me that night,' Tresa went on. 'We were up late writing our stories together. She was really keyed up. I'd never seen her so out of control. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I saw that she was gone. I figured she couldn't sleep, you know? Then I heard her come in. She was naked. She'd taken a shower, and her hair was wet, but I could still smell it.'
'Smell what?' Reich asked.
'Smoke.'
Reich's