“They planned this,” I said.
Daniel turned the screen toward me. “For at least five months.”
A message recovered from Mom’s abandoned tablet made my stomach twist. Counselingservices
Vanessa had written to Kyle: Once she signs, Claire can scream all she wants. She has no authority, and Mom will never survive a lawsuit.
They had not only stolen from her. They had measured exactly how sick she was.
At two thirty, Kyle called me. Someone at the hospital had apparently told him Mom was safe.
“Well,” he said, sounding bored, “you found her.”
“You left her under a bridge.”
“Don’t be theatrical. She refused assisted living.”
Behind him, Vanessa laughed. Music played, and glasses clinked.
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