The Judge, The Fiancée, The Frame-up

off cheap takeout and bad coffee. I hadn' t answere

ck on the door. I ignored it. It c

me. Please, o

as S

mpty. But a cold, hard anger was starting to replace the grief. I

ed the

. She tried to smile, a weak, tr

ed into the small, squalid room and look

live like t

ces I lived," I said flatly. "You

to talk. What you hear

ign a waiver? Did I misunderstand that Liam killed my parents? Did I misunderstand t

it because I love him, Ethan. I' ve always loved him. He

away instead," I

ted. "The money from Liam was just the start.

After what you did? There is no 'comfortable' for m

me. They weren' t for me. They were fo

asked, my voice low and da

aid quickly, too quickly. "He a

her eyes darted away from mine. She was s

aid, walking towards the

t!" she cal

an. I couldn't go to the police. Sarah had made sure of that with the waiver. It wa

ts that I didn' t see the

the shape of the grille before it slammed into me. The impact was a white-hot explosion of pain. My b

angle. I could feel something wet and warm spreading on the back of m

e, screaming my name. She was kneeling beside m

er mother' s. She must have b

r mother asked,

th something that wasn't concern. It was frustr

sing. This wasn't a random accident. This was planned. Just like the faulty machine in

r whispered frantically. "If he

composure. "I' ll handle it. Call our private doct

thing I saw was Sarah looking down at me, her expression

ains drawn. My head pounded with a dull, throbbing rhyt

y the bed. When she saw my eye

ke! Thank God. You g

d?" I rasped,

you must have stepped off the curb wrong. You fell and hit your

liar. Not a flicker

he continued. "I didn' t want the press getti

He had a shifty look about him and smelled fain

have been a lot worse

o keep things quiet. Sarah was trying to bury me un

oking my hair. Her touc

We' ll get you the best physical therapy. Some of it... might be unconventi

ishing the job the car started, but slowly, quietly. Turn me into a vegetable, a c

ey thought I was helpless, ly

were

ard thing. It burned away the pain

f strength I had. I dragged myself out of bed, biting my lip to keep from crying out as seari

burner phone, its screen c

h effort. I dialed a number. A number I hadn't called in f

case. He was old-school, a straight arrow who never believed I was g

hird ring, his voice

ders

thed, my voice weak.

pause on the othe

"I' ll be damned. I heard

ling out. "Sarah and Liam. They ran me down with

. Then, "Where

he address o

. "Don' t talk to an

live with a new, terrifying purpose. The game had changed.