Page 36 of Vain

“Did she just call Matilda Carson a piece of fluff?” Jennette asks, sounding semi-hysterical.

“I’m pretty sure she was dropped on her head as a baby,” Wade adds.

I turn to Jennette. “If she finds out the truth, she’ll call the press out of spite. Tilly has enough going on.”

Her eyes soften. “You call her Tilly?”

“Focus, Jenette.”

“Right, sorry. She won’t hear anything from me.”

“Thank you. I’m gonna head back to visit Kellen.”

“I’ll run interference here so everyone leaves Miss Carson and Zoe alone.”

I give her a wink and head back to Kellen’s room.

“You seem to know the kid. What’s her story?”

Wade sighs. “Kid lost her whole family in a fire, which is where she got her scars. You remember Claudia Manson?”

“Vaguely.”

“That was her mom. Zoe came to Tempest to live with Caroline.”

“Wait, didn’t Caroline die? I remember June going to her funeral before she had her fall.”

“Yeah. The kid’s been in the care of child services ever since. Not sure what she’s in here for now, but her health has been spotty since the fire.”

“Jesus.”

“I noticed your girl rocking her own set of scars. She was in a fire?”

“No. They’re acid burns.”

“What the fuck?” he snarls as I push the door open.

Kellen looks over. “What the fuck what?” He looks paler than he did before.

“You look like shit.”

“I feel like shit. I think the good stuff is wearing off.”

“You got a morphine drip there. Hit the button.”

“Gonna try and go without for a— Hey,” he complains when I hit the button for him.

“You were blown up. Take the fucking drugs.”

“Asshole,” he grumbles, looking from me to Wade. “What were you what the fucking?”

“I was telling him about Matilda’s attack.” I sit down and proceed to tell them about the acid attack and the Post-it notes that started arriving once more.

“I have a friend on the force up there. I can call him and see what his take on it all is.”

“Can’t hurt. The fact is, once Andrew confessed, they stopped looking for suspects. If they have the wrong guy in prison…” I let my voice drift off.

“Then Matilda’s attacker is still out there, and by the looks of it, he’s planning to finish what he started.”