Daphne pulled up into her mother’s driveway, just as her car started notifying her that she was getting a call. She looked down, and noticed that the call was from Maggie.

  Here? A lump grew in her throat. If Mother sees me on the phone with her now…

  Daphne checked her watch and noticed that she was a few minutes early for the allotted time her mother had requested her to be at the house by. I suppose I can spare a few minutes.

  “Hello?” Daphne asked as she answered the phone.

  “Hello, Daphne?” her sister’s voice blasted through the speaker of the car. Maggie’s voice was trembling, as Daphne turned the sound down in her car.

  “Maggie?” Daphne asked. “Are you okay?”

  The line fell silent long enough that Daphne looked at the screen in the car to ensure that the car was still connected. The seconds were still ticking upwards despite the silence.

  “Maggie?” Daphne asked again.

  Maggie let out a stuttering, heavy sigh. She’s been crying.

  “Cy was arrested again last night,” Maggie said, drawing out her words.

  Daphne’s heart jumped into her throat at Maggie’s words, the memory of calling the police office the afternoon before coming to mind. Is that why Mother called me to the house today? How did Maggie find out so quickly?

  Daphne rapidly shook her head. No, no, I shouldn’t make assumptions. If I do, I’m liable to fall into a trap of my own making.

  “Do you know why Cy got arrested last night?” Daphne asked.

  The line fell silent again. “Well…” Maggie said with a sniffle. The line crackled, making Daphne wince at the sound in her car. Still, Maggie didn’t reply.

  “Did something happen?” Daphne prompted, noting she was already beginning to run out of the little bit of extra time she had.

  “Yeah…” Maggie answered. “Something happened.”

  Daphne’s heart dropped. “What happened?” she murmured.

  Maggie choked on the other side of the line. “Cy broke into our house last night with a baseball bat.”

  Daphne’s blood was ice, moving through her veins. “What?” she hissed. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Yeah,” Maggie replied, her voice cracking. “I’m not even sure how we’re all okay, because it took forever for the police to come.” She took in a heavy breath. “I’m not sure if he came with the intent to kill or not, but he was high off his ass. Michael had to pretty much hold him down the whole time we were waiting for the police…” Her voice crackled again, a sob sputtering through the phone.

  “What the fuck?” Daphne asked, shrilly.

  “I don’t know, Daphne!” Maggie exclaimed. “I knew that he and Mom had a weird relationship, but I didn’t think it was to this extent.”

  “Do you think Mother told him to attack you?” Daphne asked.

  “Why else would he?” Maggie asked.

  Daphne shook her head. “It’s not like he stole my car because Mother asked him to. I think something is just up with him…”

  “I did say I was going to take Viola from Mom though,” Maggie pointed out.

  Daphne bit down on her lower lip. “I forgot about that,” she murmured. “But that doesn’t mean that Mom told Cy to attack you.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Maggie sighed on the other side of the line.

  “Still, Mag…I’m so sorry that happened to you, that must have been terrifying.”

  “It was, it really was,” Maggie replied, her voice cracking. “I could have never imagined that Cy would be capable of physically attacking his own kin…”

  “I’m so sorry,” Daphne said.

  I don’t know what else to tell her. I was equally baffled when Cy stole my car, but at least he’s been attacking me forever. He and Maggie used to be close.

  “The police asked if I wanted to press charges,” Maggie said, her breaths coming out in puffs. “I said yes.”

  “The police also asked me if I wanted to press charges against him for the theft of my car, and I just called them back yesterday and said that I did.”

  “So, we’re in this together, then,” Maggie muttered on the other side of the phone.

  “We are,” Daphne agreed.

  Asher did say that he thought it was possible that Cy was my killer. How he had maybe hired a woman to kill me. Maybe I should have given his idea more weight than I initially did. Daphne shivered and pulled her coat tighter around her. If Cy can attack Maggie, there is no reason he couldn’t attack me.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  Daphne shook her head. Still though. There is no good reason for Cy to want me dead. At least, that I know of.

  Another car came up the driveway, and Daphne checked the time. Shit. I’m two minutes late now.

  Ollie parked his car behind Daphne’s. He popped out of his car, and Daphne raised her eyebrows when she noticed that Alexa wasn’t with him.

  So Mother called both Ollie and I here for some reason, then.

  “Hey Mag, I gotta go,” Daphne said as she watched Oliver walking up to her mother’s front door.

  “Alright,” Maggie said with a sniffle. “Thanks for listening and understanding.”

  “Of course, anytime,” Daphne replied, a small smile on her face. “We can talk more later if you need to, okay?”

  “Okay, that sounds good,” Maggie agreed. “Love you Daph. Bye!”

  “Love you too, bye!”

  Daphne hit the end call button. Her stomach twisted up into knots. Somehow…I feel as though his meeting with mother is not going to go well. She opened her car door, and slammed it closed behind her.

  ~

  The dining room was deserted except for Ollie and Daphne as she sat down next to him. “Do you know why we’re here?” Daphne asked, her stomach still fluttering from her conversation with Maggie.

  Ollie frowned. “I was hoping you would know why we’re here,” he said.

  Daphne grimaced as she shared a look with her brother. We’re probably both here to see if she can get us to help with one of her schemes.

  Kimberly walked in, wearing a pair of garden clogs, a sunhat, and she was smiling. “Apologies for the wait,” she said, pulling off the hat and fluffing up her short dark hair. “I was taking care of my plants in the sunroom.”

  She sat down at the head of the table, in the same crook of the wood that she had sat in only a couple of days earlier. She folded her hands together on the top of the table and smiled at the pair. “It’s so lovely to see you both again so soon!” she exclaimed.

  “It’s nice to see you again so soon as well,” Daphne murmured.

  “Thank you both for coming,” Kimberly said, meeting both of their eyes intentionally.

  “Thanks for having us again so soon,” Ollie stated.

  “So…” Daphne said, turning back to her mother. “You said you really needed to talk to us.”

  Not that I even knew Oliver was also going to be here. That would have been nice to know in advance.

  Kimberly sighed, tracing a pattern on the wood. “I wanted to pick both of your brains about what Maggie said at Thanksgiving…about trying to take custody of Viola from me.”

  So, indeed, this is another test. Ultimately, she’s asking for us to pick a side between her and Maggie…she would already know where Cy stands, especially since she probably already knows that he’s been arrested for attempting to attack Maggie in her house. Viola isn’t going to be honest about which side she’s actually on, and that leaves Oliver and I that she needs to determine where our allegiances are.

  “Really, Mom?” Oliver asked, sighing heavily next to Daphne. “You want us to pick a side?”

  Kimberly cleared her throat. “It’s not about picking a side,” she replied, waving her hands at Ollie. “I just want to know who I can rely on.”

  That might as well be the same thing. She’s just trying to hide her true intentions.

  Ollie shook his head, looking down at the table. “I don’t think so,” he said. “I think you’re trying to determine who you can expect to help you sabotage her.”

  Daphne gulped, her eyes going wide at the boldness of Ollie’s words. I couldn’t get away with saying something like that to Mom.

  “Oliver!” Kimberly exclaimed, slapping one of her palms against the wood.

  “No thank you,” Ollie said, scooting back in his chair. “I don’t want any part of this. My side is the family’s side. Like you said at our Thanksgiving dinner, family should be there for one another. I don’t want to take your side or Maggie’s side.”

  His chair slid back against the tiled floor as he pushed away from the table to leave. “Are you sure you want to do that?” Kimberly asked in a voice that sounded more like she was trying to scold Oliver rather than ask him a question. “Picking no side is still a side.”

  Oliver paused, studying his mother closely. “Families should not fight the way ours does,” he said. He pursed his lips tightly. “I don’t want to fight with you, or Maggie.” He continued pushing his chair until he ultimately, got up and walked out of the dining room, jangling his car keys as he went.

  Daphne swallowed hard. Now all of the pressure will be on me.

  “God,” Kimberly grumbled to Daphne as soon as Ollie was out of earshot. “I don’t know when that boy is going to learn that sometimes you have to man up and make a choice.” Her eyes met Daphne’s. “What about you, sweetheart? Will you join me in the fight to protect Viola?”

  Sweetheart? Daphne had to suppress the urge to raise her eyebrows. So, she’s trying to butter me up today. That’s a new move. She must be pretty desperate to hide whatever else Maggie may have found.

  “…did you know that Vivian Hawthorne committed suicide?” Daphne blurted out, rather than answering her mother’s question.

  Kimberly furrowed her eyebrows. “Why are you bringing up Vivian right now?” she asked.

  “I, uh, just recently found out how she passed away,” Daphne replied. “I knew she was a gardener who you once really looked up to, and I just imagined the pain you must have felt when she passed on,” Daphne murmured.

  I just blurted out the thing that has been heavy on my mind today. Hopefully she’ll buy my story.

  Kimberly’s face turned somber and she frowned, nodding slowly. “I did always wonder what happened to my friend Vivian,” she replied.

  Daphne’s eyebrows raised. “Y-your friend Vivian?” she asked. “I didn’t realize that the two of you had been friends.”

  Kimberly nodded quicker this time, her eyes glazing over as if she was looking off into the distance. “We were, once, a very long time ago,” Kimberly confirmed. “We met in college.”

  “What happened?” Daphne asked, leaning forward towards her mother.

  “Vivian stole everything from me,” Kimberly replied fiercely, her face darkening and her eyes flashing. “Everything.”

  Daphne shivered at the ferocity of the look on her mother’s face. What the hell?

  Kimberly’s eyes met Daphne’s. “So, I stole it back.”

  Pools of ice were beginning to form in Daphne’s stomach. I have to get away from this woman. My mother is dangerous.

  Daphne pursed her lips. “I see. It sounds like things really didn’t go well between the two of you.”

  “Most certainly not,” Kimberly agreed, her face beginning to return to its usual color.

  “Thanks for indulging my side topic of conversation,” Daphne said with a curt nod. “It gave me a chance to consider how to answer your question about Maggie.”

  “So what do you think?” Kimberly asked, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

  That I need to stay very, very far away from you.

  “I’m going to take Maggie’s side,” Daphne replied pushing her chair back, away from the table. Daphne grabbed her jacket and bag off the back of the chair, and took her first few steps to leave.

  “I should let you know that if you get up and walk out now, I’m never going to give you a second chance,” Kimberly’s shrill voice rang out behind her.

  Daphne paused. So she won’t give me another chance if I walk out now, but I’m expected to give her unlimited second chances? Daphne had to hold back a snort at her mother’s remark. What a hypocrite.

  Daphne continued walking as she said, “I don’t need a second chance from you.”