he almost never broke any bones. She talked for ten minutes without stopping, and by the end, Maria was fuming and believed everything.
“Fucking asshole.”
Cindy nodded. “I have a plan.”
“Tell me.”
“I found somebody who is going to fake my death. Mine and Avril’s.”
“No way.”
“Yeah. I have to get out. He’s going to make it look like we were killed in a fire on a boat.”
“But there’ll be bodies.”
“They’ll be about our size but there won’t be enough left to identify.”
“Whose bodies will they be?”
Cindy had avoided thinking about that and she shook her head. “Maybe stolen from a morgue?”
“Where the hell did you find somebody who can arrange this?”
“On DarkNet. It’s the part of the Internet that nobody knows about. You can find—”
Images passed through her mind of the child pornography, organ harvesting, murder, and so many other terrible things that she’d seen.
“You can find anything there. Trust me on that.”
“This sounds like a scam.”
“No. It’s real.”
“Oh, babe, you’re in way over your head.”
“No. He’s going to help me.”
“By ruining your fucking life? You’ll be in hiding and never be able to come back.”
“Maybe when Avril is grown up. We’ll have new names.”
“I’ll never see you again.”
Cindy was silent and drained her glass of wine.
“It’ll never work. You know that.” Maria’s voice was calm and reassuring. “You can’t hide. You need your freedom. What kind of life is he giving you? What about Avril? Can you really sentence her to a life in the shadows?”
There was that word again. Freedom.
Maria locked eyes with her and they just looked at each other as if they were making a silent promise.
“This guy is a killer, right?”
Cindy nodded.
“He’ll kill people to get bodies that would pretend to be you. I know you, and you would never really let him do that to innocent people.”
Cindy’s eyes watered again. She felt her body drain of energy and just wanted to crawl under a rock.
“No, I can’t.”
“You know what you have to do.”
Do I?
“Do it for Avril. Don’t make her hostage to that bastard. She doesn’t deserve to have to hide the rest of her life. Neither do you.”
Cindy wanted to agree, but she couldn’t say the words out loud. She looked around again, satisfied nobody was paying them any attention.
“I know. But—”
“Have him killed. You know that’s the solution. This guy can help you, but not the way you said. He needs to kill Tony and set you free.”
Once again tears filled Cindy’s eyes. This time, the tears were from relief.
“I think I just needed you to tell me,” she said. “I wanted to but I couldn’t. I’m so scared. I’m scared of Tony, scared of this guy, scared of getting caught, scared of what might happen to Avril, just scared of everything.”
She rested her face on her hands and closed her eyes.
“I just don’t want to be afraid anymore.”
Chapter 8
July 13
He sat in the back of an old barn. From the outside, it looked like it should have been demolished years ago, and there’s a chance the owner of the property would have agreed, but it wasn’t just the barn that was run-down. The entire 100 acre farm hadn’t been used for more than ten years. The fields that once grew soy beans were now just overgrown masses of weeds and wild grass.
The main farm house had partially burned down and had never been repaired. Today, anybody who walked nearby could still smell the rotten timbers that lay in a big scrap heap. The frame and part of the house still stood but it wasn’t safe, nor livable.
The farmer who owned the property was an old man who watched his life burning away all those years ago. Silent tears fell down his cheeks. Since he lived many miles from the closest fire station, he didn’t bother calling it in. His home was engulfed far faster than the time it would have taken anybody
“Fucking asshole.”
Cindy nodded. “I have a plan.”
“Tell me.”
“I found somebody who is going to fake my death. Mine and Avril’s.”
“No way.”
“Yeah. I have to get out. He’s going to make it look like we were killed in a fire on a boat.”
“But there’ll be bodies.”
“They’ll be about our size but there won’t be enough left to identify.”
“Whose bodies will they be?”
Cindy had avoided thinking about that and she shook her head. “Maybe stolen from a morgue?”
“Where the hell did you find somebody who can arrange this?”
“On DarkNet. It’s the part of the Internet that nobody knows about. You can find—”
Images passed through her mind of the child pornography, organ harvesting, murder, and so many other terrible things that she’d seen.
“You can find anything there. Trust me on that.”
“This sounds like a scam.”
“No. It’s real.”
“Oh, babe, you’re in way over your head.”
“No. He’s going to help me.”
“By ruining your fucking life? You’ll be in hiding and never be able to come back.”
“Maybe when Avril is grown up. We’ll have new names.”
“I’ll never see you again.”
Cindy was silent and drained her glass of wine.
“It’ll never work. You know that.” Maria’s voice was calm and reassuring. “You can’t hide. You need your freedom. What kind of life is he giving you? What about Avril? Can you really sentence her to a life in the shadows?”
There was that word again. Freedom.
Maria locked eyes with her and they just looked at each other as if they were making a silent promise.
“This guy is a killer, right?”
Cindy nodded.
“He’ll kill people to get bodies that would pretend to be you. I know you, and you would never really let him do that to innocent people.”
Cindy’s eyes watered again. She felt her body drain of energy and just wanted to crawl under a rock.
“No, I can’t.”
“You know what you have to do.”
Do I?
“Do it for Avril. Don’t make her hostage to that bastard. She doesn’t deserve to have to hide the rest of her life. Neither do you.”
Cindy wanted to agree, but she couldn’t say the words out loud. She looked around again, satisfied nobody was paying them any attention.
“I know. But—”
“Have him killed. You know that’s the solution. This guy can help you, but not the way you said. He needs to kill Tony and set you free.”
Once again tears filled Cindy’s eyes. This time, the tears were from relief.
“I think I just needed you to tell me,” she said. “I wanted to but I couldn’t. I’m so scared. I’m scared of Tony, scared of this guy, scared of getting caught, scared of what might happen to Avril, just scared of everything.”
She rested her face on her hands and closed her eyes.
“I just don’t want to be afraid anymore.”
Chapter 8
July 13
He sat in the back of an old barn. From the outside, it looked like it should have been demolished years ago, and there’s a chance the owner of the property would have agreed, but it wasn’t just the barn that was run-down. The entire 100 acre farm hadn’t been used for more than ten years. The fields that once grew soy beans were now just overgrown masses of weeds and wild grass.
The main farm house had partially burned down and had never been repaired. Today, anybody who walked nearby could still smell the rotten timbers that lay in a big scrap heap. The frame and part of the house still stood but it wasn’t safe, nor livable.
The farmer who owned the property was an old man who watched his life burning away all those years ago. Silent tears fell down his cheeks. Since he lived many miles from the closest fire station, he didn’t bother calling it in. His home was engulfed far faster than the time it would have taken anybody
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