Page 122 of Too Old for This

I pull up Morgan’s social media on Junior’s phone and scroll through. She’d posted an old picture. The only people who had a copy of it were Archie and me. And now Morgan.

Isn’t he cute? That’s my Archie when he was a little boy. And look how beautiful his mother is!

#LifeGoals #xoxo

This was last year, not long after I met her for the first time. I hadn’t been very nice to her, either. It felt like Archie was forcing her on me, making me accept her before we knew each other. And yet, she still posted this. Something I would’ve known if I had accepted her friend requests. Or even looked at her account.

The pain is deep and sharp. It hits my brain like an ice pick. Another mistake, one that could have been avoided if I had been a little nicer. A little more welcoming.

Dammit. Focus. Regret is not what I need to feel right now.

“Your father never had this picture,” I say. “He must’ve been using some kind of app?”

Junior nods. “Facial recognition software. Ever since itbecame available online, he’s been using it. Dad never stopped looking for you.”

If not for him, Plum never would’ve shown up at my door. All of this, every part of it, has been because of Burke.

I place my hand on the table, steadying myself. It feels like the wind has been knocked out of me. The truth is not what I believed. It’s something else entirely.

“Why did he contact Plum?” I ask. “Why not call the media directly?”

“He knew you wouldn’t say anything. Reporters would just make you disappear again. He hoped Plum would draw you out.”

“He thought I would agree to be in her show?”

“Plum was going to make the docuseries no matter what. He figured you’d have to.”

“Have to?” Maybe in an alternative universe, where everyone lives on hope, that would be true.

“He didn’t know you were going to kill her,” Junior says.

First, that’s hard to believe, since Burke has always thought I was a killing machine. Second, I don’t have to answer Junior. Not one way or the other.

“So it all got out of hand, is that what you’re saying?” I ask. “Your father was trying to frame me, and now Norma is missing in action?”

“Did you do something to her?”

“I haven’t done anything to anyone. Norma put an illegalcamera in my house, and your father is the one who told her to do it. He texted her.”

Junior opens his mouth. Shuts it. Opens it again.

“You look like a fish,” I say. “Spit it out.”

“But you…”

“I what?”

“You killed Plum.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “You think so?”

“Yes. So does Dad.”

“Fascinating.”

“Fascinating? What does that mean?” he asks.

I grab the hammer and smash the side of his head.