You will not cry, I told myself. You will not run screaming. You will not stop breathing. I had gotten used to the idea of Olivia being obsessed with me, and while all those shots of me were creepy, they almost had an inevitability to them. But the pictures by the door were different. She had pinpointed the four people I cared about most. Had she left those out so I would know she was coming for them? I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket and stared at it stupidly, as if I didn’t know what it was.
“I think I’m gonna go,” Esther said behind me. “Um, good luck with everything.” There were footsteps, and then a heavy silence behind me. Smart girl, that Esther.
I don’t know how long I sat there, staring at my phone, watching it tremble in my shaking hands. Eventually, I was able to dial.
Eli got there first, as planned. I had closed the door to the Scarlett room and was sitting outside on the front steps. Hugging my knees again. He got out of the truck in a hurry, then slowed down when he saw me. I didn’t say anything as he crouched into my eyeline. He was wearing jeans and a dark-red T-shirt with Hair of the Dog embroidered on the left breast.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you leave work,” I said woodenly.
“It’s fine. Will’s there today. There was a fight last night, but I finished cleaning up half an hour ago.” Eli had that barely contained look he gets when he wants to touch me. I kept my eyes on the sidewalk. I had forgotten all about the other crime scene.
“The stairs are in the kitchen. The body’s at the bottom of the stairs, straight ahead. You need to get it out of there as fast as you can, because Jesse is on his way. He can’t see it.” My voice sounded dead even to me.
“Okay…” he said cautiously. “Are we switching vehicles? I can pick up the truck later.” He held out his keys expectantly.
“No. You’ll have to put the body in your truck. It should be light. Squish it down in front of the passenger seat. Whatever. I don’t care.”
He stood there for a moment, hesitating. I didn’t bother explaining that I didn’t have the White Whale with me. “Just do it, Eli,” I snapped. I didn’t look up again.
He disappeared from my vision, and I heard him step into the house. I didn’t move. After a while he came out carrying a surprisingly small plastic garbage bag, which presumably held the disposable body bag I’d left down there earlier. He loaded it in his truck without a word, but then came back to squat in front of me again. “It’s done,” he said quietly. “Scarlett, what is it?”
“You should go,” I said. “Jesse will be here.”
I thought he flinched when I mentioned Jesse, which gave me an idea. “We’re going to handle the case together,” I said. “I don’t need you.” He stood up, staring down at me, looking confused. “Jesse and I will be together,” I repeated. “Just stay away.” I flicked my eyes down so I didn’t have so see his reaction.
Eli disappeared from my line of sight, and a moment later I heard his truck start up. I didn’t move.
It took Jesse another fifteen minutes to get there. He had probably had to drop Kirsten off at his parents’ house. He pulled up in his personal car, a navy Corolla, and came straight up to the steps, standing in front of me. “I checked the records,” he said. “The place is owned by a woman named LuEllen Schaub. She was found dead in a hotel room last year. No heirs, and the courts haven’t gotten around to figuring out what to do with this place.”
“The stairs are in the kitchen,” I repeated. I felt like the animatronic guardian of a theme park ride. “Take a hard left at the bottom of the stairs. Skinny door painted to match the wall around it.”
Jesse paused, confused, but just shrugged and went into the house. He was in there for a long time. When he came back, he sat down on the stairs next to me, looking out at the neighborhood. It was midafternoon, and we watched a school bus deposit a dozen kids at a corner across the street. Their parents divided up the herd and split off in different directions. Jesse started to speak, but then he shook his head and remained silent. Finally, he said, “I think we should just stick together from here on out. This learning things separately business is obnoxious.”
I didn’t smile. After a few seconds, I felt Jesse staring at me, and finally looked over.
“What?”
“Olivia is not your fault, you know,” he said.
“I know.”
“No, you really don’t seem to.”
“Thanks, Robin Williams. I appreciate the after-school-special moment, but we both know that if I wasn’t around Olivia wouldn’t be on the rampage. Maybe it’s not my fault, exactly, but I’m still the cause.”
“We don’t know for sure what her agenda is,” he argued.
“You saw the pictures by the door?” I asked. He nodded. “She knows about you. She’s gonna come after all of you. It’s the same thing she did before; the exact same thing. Take away the people close to me. Take me.”
“You really think that’s her plan?” he asked, turning his body to study my face.
I nodded. “It makes sense. She’s not just an asshole; she’s completely boring. She’s the Elmer Fudd of trying to kill me.” I fought to keep my head from sinking onto my chest. I was so tired. In every possible way.
His voice was so dangerously soft that I barely heard it. “You’re not still thinking it’d be best to give yourself up?”