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Chapter Fifty-Eight

OLIVIA

I still can’t wrap my head around it entirely. Mr. Cass. Liam’s dad. I had seen him once before when he was picking Liam up early from school, and he seemed really nice. And for a dad… well, he’s pretty hot. Really hot. He looks so athletic and muscular and has a nice smile, whereas my dad is balding and has a potbelly.

So when he told me to get into the car, of course I did it. I was worried about Liam. And there was no reason to suspect Mr. Cass wanted to harm me. He was Liam’s dad, after all.

If people are wondering what happened to me, they must be blaming Liam. He’s the one I had a date with that night. I bet anything my nosy neighbor Mrs. Levy saw us kissing that night. If I never reappear, he’s the one who will get blamed. If anyone goes to jail for this, it will be Liam.

“Dad,” Hannah says in a choked voice. “Please don’t do this.”

Do what? Does he have a gun? A knife? I wish I could see what’s going on out there.

“Hannah.” He speaks in that bland, calm voice that he used when he was asking me what it was like to starve to death. “Do you know what you’re doing? You’re ripping apart our family.”

“I swear to God, don’t come any closer.”

“Hannah. Come on. I’m your father. She’s nobody.”

“Dad…” Hannah is sobbing now. “Please…”

“I’m going to make this so simple for you, Hannah. She’s not getting out of here alive. There’s no chance. The only one who has a chance is you.”

My heart is beating so quickly, my chest is starting to hurt. “Hannah,” I say. “Don’t listen to him. He’s evil.”

“Would you like to finish her off, Hannah? I’ll pull her up and let you do it.”

“Please, Daddy, don’t…”

He laughs. It’s a sound I’ve come to despise over the last several days. “I’m just kidding. I know you can’t do it. You’re not like me. You’re so much like your mother, it’s disgusting.”

I can barely make out Hannah’s face in the shadows. Her cheeks are streaked with tears.

“I’m afraid this all has to end tonight,” Mr. Cass says. “For both of you.”

And Hannah screams.