Page 138 of Lawton

Confused, I shoved a hand through my hair. "It's just, I dunno." My voice broke. "I couldn't believe she played me like that."

From the chair, Chloe muttered, "I wasn't playing you."

I looked over at her. She was still handcuffed. If she was telling the truth…

No, she couldn’t be.

Bishop turned to look at me. "You know your 'pal,' Brittney?"

She was a lot of things, but not my pal. Still, I made myself say, "Yeah?"

"Well," Bishop continued, "turns out, she orchestrated the whole thing, even gave him that fake story in case he got caught."

My mind was churning, but I didn't know with what. Despair? Hope? Maybe both? Somehow, I managed to ask, "And you know this, how?"

"Lemme put it this way," Bishop said, "the guy's friend was a little more forthcoming, especially with the right encouragement."

I wasn't going to ask for specifics, not in front of Chloe. But still, I had to ask, "How do you know he wasn't lying the second time?"

"This time," Bishop said, "I got it from the horse's mouth. And by horse, I mean Brittney herself."

Chloe's voice cut across the basement. "That bitch! I knew it!"

Together, Bishop and I turned to look.

"Well, she is," Chloe muttered.

At the sight of her, I felt something terrible gnaw at my heart. "Chloe, I –"

"Forget it," she said. "Now are you gonna let me go or not?"

I thought of life without her. I could hardly speak. "No."

"What?" she said. "You're kidding, right?"

"I mean," I continued. "Yeah, I'll let you go." I swallowed. "I'm so sorry about this. But I don't wanna let you go, not like this, I mean in the other way." Words almost failed me. "I am so fucking sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please. You're a total psycho. I should've known better. Now, seriously." She spoke very slowly, emphasizing every word. "Let. Me. Go."

I glanced away, ashamed to even look at her. After what I'd done, I didn't deserve to look at her. But there was something she had to know, if only for her own peace-of-mind.

I met her gaze. "I wasn't really gonna hold you here, you know."

She eyed me with disgust. "Whatever."

From a few feet away, Bishop spoke. "Wait."

She turned to glare at him. "For what?"

"Before you leave," he said, "there's something we need to discuss."

But I was already behind her, unlocking the cuffs. At the sight of her wrists, I sucked in a breath. The skin under the cuffs was red and raw. At the realization, I wanted to hack out my heart and hand it over.

I'd hurt her. Really hurt her.

I hadn't meant to. But I had.

Iwasa monster.