“Just spit it out.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “Shit, okay. Murray is ill.”
“Oh?”
“You know the headaches he has?”
“Oh my God. Does he have a tumor?” Lucy imagined Murray losing his beautiful head of hair due to chemo and her eyes started to sting.
“It’s not that simple.” Townes scooted forward. “Did Murray tell you how his parents died?”
Lucy pulled a face, then shook her head. “Some sort of accident?”
“Carbon monoxide poisoning. Here. In this house. They inspected the furnace after. It worked fine. Then the police investigated Tallulah.”
“Why?” Lucy blinked, trying to connect the dots.
“The hearse was left running in the garage and a neighbor thought they saw her leaving the garage that night.”
“What does this have to do with Murray?”
“Tallulah was in Orlando at a mortuary arts conference. She presented. Solid alibi.”
Lucy waited for the other shoe to drop. Townes didn’t disappoint.
“Tallulah found him at the cabin a few days later. He claimed he’d been there all week.”
“Okay…”
“She found some of her clothes in his suitcase.”
“You’re telling me Murray killed his parents and then he tried to frame Tallulah…”
“Not exactly.”
“Dammit, Townes!” Lucy sat back with a huff and dug in her purse for her smokes. “If you’re going drag this out half the night, I’m gonna have a smoke.”
She pulled out the pack but couldn’t find her lighter. Hoping for some matches, Lucy slid open the center desk drawer.
A tube of lipstick rolled at her and she brushed it aside. She found matches and lit one. By the light of the flame, she saw a smudge on the lipstick tube, the exact shade of red from her window.
Heart in her throat, she opened the drawer farther. With trembling fingers, she pulled out a copy of Vogue, addressed to Tallulah Layhe.
The letter O was missing from the cover. Lucy flipped through the magazine, barely cognizant that Townes was speaking, her heart hammered so loudly in her ears.
“He’s broken, Lucy. A patchwork version of who he used to be.”
The door swung open.
“Sorry,” Tallulah hurried into the room. “They got diverted from Sacred Heart. The place is on fire, evidently. They think Rusty might still be—”
“You conniving bitch.” Lucy tossed the magazine at Tallulah, followed by the lipstick. Tallulah caught the copy of Vogue, but Townes reached down and picked up the lipstick from the floor.
“I don’t understand…”
“You think you can toy with me? How dare you threaten me?”
“Luc—” Townes started, but she cut him off.
“And you! With your bullshit stories about Murray?”
“It’s not bullshit.” Tallulah’s deadpan expression made Lucy want to take her cigarette to her haughty face.
“You don’t want Murray with white trash. I get that. But you…” Lucy turned to Townes, a tear slipping from her angry eyes before she could stop it. “I wasn’t good enough for you and now I’m not good enough for your friend.”
Tallulah dropped the magazine and gripped Lucy by the upper arms. “You need to hear me, now. Murray is unstable. He’s mentally ill.”
“He warned me about you. Said your friends ditched you and got you gang raped. He said you won’t get help.”
“All of those things are true except one,” Tallulah said, then the lights went out.
“Shit.” Townes spat. “I’ll go check the fuse box.
Lucy turned suspicious eyes back to Tallulah, but the taller woman was staring past her, out the window into the darkness. Somewhere outside, Townes cried out, and a scuffle ensued. By the light of the full moon, Lucy could see fear in Tallullah’s gaze.
“He’s here,” Tallulah whispered.
“Who?” But Lucy feared she already knew.
“I wasn’t kicked out of that car on Black Mountain. And I wasn’t beaten and raped.”
Something caught Lucy’s eye in the window behind Talullah. It was a figure. She’d mistaken it for Tallulah’s shadow, but as the seconds passed, it was swelling in size.
Talullah shook her once, hard, and Lucy’s eyes were drawn back to the woman in front of her. “Those things happened to Murray!”
Glass shattered around them, and the room fell into chaos.
Lucy startled awake, throat throbbing, mouth dry. Her head lolled to her left. Murray was driving, dressed in Tallulah’s clothes. He had a long wig on, and it might have been funny, what with the facial hair. Even then, the resemblance was astonishing.
They were in the hearse. Lucy turned in her seat and saw two tarps lying in the back. She heard a soft moan. Tallulah. She assumed the other tarp held Townes.
“Murray?” Lucy croaked, and he whipped his head to face her. His eyes glittered with madness. How had she not known he had this in him?
“It’s Tally, dear girl. I know we’re twins, but I hardly think we look that much alike.” Murray spoke in a high-pitched affectation of his sister. Lucy flinched back against the door, terrified at the sound of him.
“Where are you taking us?” But making out the surrounding landmarks, Lucy suspected she already knew.
“Why Riverside Cemetery, of course. I know how much being near Thomas Wolfe means to you.”
“How do you know that?” She wanted to keep him talking. She needed to think.
Murray smiled at her, and Lucy wanted to scream. “I know everything Murray knows.”
As they slowed to cross into Riverside, Lucy tried to open the door to jump out, but it was locked.
“No, no. Bad girl.” Murray giggled, and Townes popped up from behind him. Townes wrapped an arm around Murray’s neck. Murray bucked and fought, and the car veered wildly as they struggled. Lucy tried to grab the wheel, and Murray backhanded her. Her head hit the window. Desperate, she tried again for the wheel, but it was too late.
They hurtled directly into a tree.
When she came to again, she was in darkness. Tallulah was half carrying her. Murray walked behind them, dragging a tarp. His face was covered in blood and his wig was missing.
“Townes. Murray hit him with a shovel.” Tallulah’s eyes were lifeless. Lucy made no attempt to hide the tears that followed.
“Over here, ladies.” They turned in time to
