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I strain to keep my breathing steady, but a glimmer of hope lights up in the form of headlights near the main entrance of Crane. I keep my focus solely on Mrs. Foster. I can’t let her see the car’s headlights bouncing up the gravel road.
Please let it be Ian. Please.
Mrs. Foster starts to turn her head when an audible noise comes from behind her. “You know nothing about what Ian and I have gone through. Nothing!” I scream out, praying to anyone who will listen that she keeps her attention on me.
Mrs. Foster lets out another humorless laugh.
“No, Georgia. You know nothing. You don’t know how easy it was to slowly lure you back here. How patient I’ve been. When I found out that you had a daughter of your own, I couldn’t stop the jealous, hideous thoughts that plagued me. Knowing that you get to be a mother to this sweet girl after you ripped my own from this world...it just wasn’t fair. But I knew that was how you needed to be punished. The same way you and your mother punished me by taking my Irene from me. You see, my revenge has been a long time coming. I needed your daughter to be the same age as my sweet Irene so that when I took her from you, you’d know the same pain you and your mother inflicted on me.”
The car lights have completely disappeared, and I struggle to hear the sound of a door slamming shut. It had to be Ian. Who else would be coming to Crane at this hour? Unless I imagined the lights? What if nobody is coming to save us?
“Where’s your husband?” I ask Mrs. Foster. “Does he know the twisted and horrendous things you’ve done?”
“Heavens no. The man is utterly useless now that he’s stepped up in your father’s place at the rigs. A nice little reward for him, don’t you think? It wasn’t easy to slowly poison Lincoln. I didn’twant him to die, but I needed an excuse for you to bring Auden here. Gabe is the one that told me about the aconite, after all.”
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Aconite?”
“Aconite, wolfsbane, same thing. Those deceptive, pretty purple flowers are deadly when ingested. I didn’t realize how potent the dosage was when I slipped some into your cup of lemonade all those years ago. But I know better now. I learned. Adapted. And I’ve been giving Lincoln small enough doses in his morning coffee to keep him weak. Weak enough to cause alarm, to bring you home.” Lydia says the last part with a sinister smile, making goosebumps trickle up and down my spine.
“You did all of this just to punish me,” I say, my voice hard as I stare her down once more. “But if you kill my daughter, then you’re punishing Ian, too.”
Mrs. Foster howls with laughter. “Oh, dear, he’ll get over you. He should have gotten over you when he found out that you spread your legs for another man mere minutes after you sent him away. I’m not worried about Ian’s thoughts on the matter.”
This time, I’m the one who laughs. An ugly, hoarse laugh.
“Oh, Lydia, how wrong you are,” I say, risking another small step closer to her. “If you kill my daughter, then you’re killing his daughter, too.”
31
Ian
Now
As soon as I get through the gates of Crane, I dim the headlights and park toward the front of the house. I have no idea what’s going on other than I’m needed at the lake,specifically the dock. I called Georgia over and over again on the drive back, but she never picked up.
I decide it’s best to make a quiet entrance so I can assess the situation. I close the car door quietly and sneak over to the willow tree. I can hide in the fronds and still have an entire view of the lake.
I peer through the gaps in the fronds. All the air in my lungs leaves my chest when I see the scene before me.
My mother is holding Auden, who is limp and asleep. At least I pray she’s just sleeping. My mother is standing at the very edge of the dock while Georgia is standing mere feet away, her arms up as she pleads with my mother to not do this.
“Why are you doing this?” Georgia asks, her voice trembling.
Doing what?
I listen with bated breath as my mother tells Georgia that she was the reason Caroline died, that the poison was meant for Georgia. I hear the confession from my own mother’s lips. She tells Georgia how she is responsible for Lincoln’s mysterious decline in health.
None of it makes any real sense until she tells Georgia that she’s planning to kill Auden to punish Georgia for the death of Irene.
Everything Georgia has suffered through is because of my own mother’s hands.
I love my mother, but I cannot let her do this. She’s clearly sick, having some sort of psychotic break.
But how can I stop this? How can I get all of us out of this while making sure nobody gets hurt?
I reach into my pocket and dial 911. The operator answers instantly, and I whisper into the phone that we need help at Crane Manor.
They promise to be here in fifteen minutes.
