Page 173 of Symphony for Lies

She stood right there in front of me, smiling as if we were having the most casual encounter in the world.

Something cold and hard pressed against my side.

A gun.

“Do me a favor?” she whispered, her voice soft. “Come with me to the rooftop. No fuss, no theatrics, okay?”

That was a command. Not a request.

Rita’s smile widened, a finger resting lightly on the trigger. “Don’t even think about trying something. Even if you go for the gun—” Her eyes flickered to the side, then back to me. “I won’t just kill you. I’ll shoot everyone in this hallway.”

The irony.

I almost laughed.

If I hadn’t gotten up when I did, Rita would have walked right into Amelia’s room. Would have pulled the trigger right there in front of me.

Thank you, God.

I reached behind me and pulled the door shut.

Rita grinned. “Good boy. Now, walk. Elevator.”

I shook my head. “So you can slip inside and finish what you started?”

She tilted her head, pretending to think. “Don’t worry. I keep my promises.”

Lies.

The woman hadn’t spent years hiding in the shadows just to give up.

She pouted when I didn’t move an inch. “You don’t believe me?”

My jaw clenched.

“Aww… Don’t be a fool. We can get this over with the easy way by making Amelia lose the love of her life. It might break her heart enough to make her feel just a bit of what I’ve felt my whole cursed existence.”

I stared at her, not feeling anything but rage.

“Amelia thinks my father liked her? The bitch just reminded him of the daughter he lost! The one he cried for! And I was just a fucking shadow. A mistake. Forgotten.” She laughed in a very unhinged way. Her words didn’t make any sense.

“You know what it feels like to be invisible, Zane? To grow up knowing you were born from shame?” She shook her head. “I gave him everything! The music, the art, the kills. I made each death a performance, a masterpiece. Art! Like he used to say, ‘True art speaks without words.’ I followed his rules. And he still… still… looked at Amelia. He even hesitated to kill her in the end!”

Rita pressed the weapon harder against my stomach as if it were my fault, but I still didn’t budge. “He even wanted to make one special song for her. A goodbye melody…” She sighed with no sign of regret in her eyes. “Well, he’s dead now.”

Her expression darkened, turning almost feral.

I still didn’t react, staying calm.

“So, I have to make her suffer. I’ll take everything she loves—”

“Zane?”

Shit. Stacy was comingtoward us.

“Stay back.” I couldn’t let her get involved.

I felt Rita’s finger twitch slightly on the trigger.