Page 42 of This is Why We Lied

Still, Sara made quick work of closing the wound. She dropped in four sutures, spacing them close together. Mercy already had one scar on her face that likely served as a reminder of a bad time. Sara didn’t want her looking down at her thumb and remembering another.

Sara recited the usual precautions as she wrapped the gauze. “Keep it dry for a week. Tylenol as needed for pain. I’d like to look at it again before I check out.”

“I don’t think I’ll be here. My mother just fired me.” Mercy gave a sudden, surprised laugh. “You know, I hated this place for such a long time, but now all I do is love it. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. It’s in my soul.”

Sara had to remind herself not to wade into their personal business. “I know it seems bad now, but things are usually better in the morning.”

“I doubt I’ll make it that long.” Mercy was smiling, but there was nothing humorous about what she said. “There’s hardly a person on this mountain right now who doesn’t want to kill me.”

7

ONE HOUR BEFORE THE MURDER

Sara rolled over in bed to find Will’s side empty. She looked for the clock, but there was nothing on the bedside table except his phone. They had both been too troubled by what had happened at dinner to do anything more entertaining than falling asleep to a podcast about Big Foot in the North Georgia mountains.

“Will?” She listened, but there was no sound. The cottage was quiet enough that she knew he wasn’t inside.

Sara found the light cotton dress she’d worn to dinner on the floor. She walked into the living room. Her knee banged the edge of the couch. She muttered a curse in the darkness. She went to the open window and checked the porch. The gently swaying hammock was empty. The temperature had cooled down. There was a feeling of a coming rainstorm in the air. She craned her neck to see down the path to the lake. In the soft glow of the moonlight, she spotted Will sitting on a bench that overlooked the mountain range. His arms were spread out along the back. He was staring off into the distance.

She slipped on her shoes before carefully navigating down the stone stairs. Sandals probably weren’t a good idea this late at night. She could step on something venomous or twist her ankle. Still, she didn’t turn back to get her hiking boots. She felt drawn to Will. He had been quiet after dinner, reflective. They were both a bit shell-shocked by the scene between Mercy and her family. Sara was again reminded of how fortunate she’d been to have a loving, close family. She’d grown up thinking that was the norm, but life had taught her that she’d gotten the luck of the draw.

Will looked up when he heard Sara on the path.

She asked, “Do you want some time alone?”

“No.”

He wrapped his arm around her as she sat down. Sara leaned into him. His body felt solid and reassuring. She thought about Mercy’s question—does he make you feel safe? Except for her father, Sara had never been so sure of a man in her life. It bothered her that Mercy had never felt that way. As far as Sara was concerned, it fell under the category of fundamental human needs.

Will said, “Feels like it’s going to rain.”

“Whatever will we do with all that free time stuck inside our cottage?”

Will laughed, his fingers tickling her arm. But the smile quickly faded as he stared out into the night. “I’ve been thinking a lot about my mother.”

Sara sat up so that she could look at him. Will kept his head turned away, but she could tell by the way his jaw had clenched that this was hard for him.

She said, “Tell me.”

He took in a deep breath, like he was about to put his head under water. “When I was a kid, I used to wonder what my life would’ve been like if she’d lived.”

She rested her hand on his shoulder.

“I had this idea that we would’ve been happy. That life would’ve been easier. School would’ve been easier. Friendships. Girlfriends. Everything.” His jaw tightened again. “But now, I look back and—she struggled with her addictions. She had her own demons. She could’ve OD’d or ended up in prison. She would’ve been a single mother with an abusive ex. So maybe I would’ve ended up in state care anyway. But at least I would’ve known her.”

Sara felt an overwhelming sadness that he’d never had the chance.

“It was nice to have Amanda and Faith at the wedding,” he said, referring to his boss and partner, who were the closest thing he had to family. “But I just wonder.”

Sara could only nod. She had no frame of reference for what he was going through. She could only listen and let him know that she was there.

“She loves him,” Will said. “Mercy and Jon. It’s obvious she loves him.”

“It is.”

“The fucking Jackal.”

“You never found out what happened to him after he ran away from the home?”