When we got to the third floor, Adam led us to a white bedroom door that had chipped paint.
He gave us an apprehensive look, then swung open the door. Sitting in a rocking chair was an old woman with gray hair.
I let out a quiet gasp. Was Alexander’s information wrong? Was this Kelly’s grandma?
Did she fake her death because she was scared of her unhinged granddaughter?
*Olivia*
“This is my sister,” Adam said, gesturing to the woman. “Sarah Walker. She’s Russell’s mother.”
My shoulders slumped in relief. My mind had been conjuring up images of Kelly keeping her grandma’s dead body in that foul–smelling room in her apartment. Cold fear had flowed through me before I could really look at the woman in the rocking chair. But now that I did, Sarah Walker seemed to be perfectly nice. She smiled tentatively at the three of us and grabbed a cane that leaned against the wall and struggled to stand. I wanted to help her, but I didn’t want to embarrass her.
But then, Ava bumped my shoulder with hers, and she widened her eyes. This made me think back to what I knew about Russell’s mother.
When I remembered, my stomach swooped with surprise. Russell’s mother had supposedly died in a gas explosion. As I stared at the woman who was definitely still alive, it felt like I was seeing a ghost.
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But instead of Kelly’s grandma–who I’d originally assumed this woman was–it was Russell’s mom who hade back from the dead.
Of course, this meant that she had never really been dead at all.
Ava looked at me with a knowing smirk. She had been the one to guess that Russell’s mother might still be alive.
Adam made introductions and then invited us to sit around a wooden table in the center of the room. There was a light blue teapot and matching cups with saucers.
“I hope you don’t mind talking up here,” Sarah said as she used her cane to walk over to the table. “The stairs are hard for me with my arthritis.” Carefully, she lowered herself into the seat. “Something my brother always forgets.”
The siblingsughed good naturedly. That would exin the untouched lemonade and cookie downstairs.
We served ourselves tea, and Sarah lifted a te of biscuits up. “Would you like a biscuit, Alexander?”
Adam shifted ufortably in his seat. “Sarah, you should really address someone as high status as Mr. Green in a formal manner,” he told his sister.
Alexander waved his hand. “Don’t be silly. Sarah, feel free to call me by my first name,” he said and took a biscuit. “Same goes for you, Adam.”
His humbleness made a lump develop in my throat, but then I told myself to snap out of it. I wasn’t here to drool over Alexander.
As I doctored up my scalding tea with cream and sugar, I watched how Sarah and Alexander spoke to each other. They seemed familiar. It
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wasn’t like watching two strangers interact for the first time. Their conversation wasn’t the same as Ava and Adam’s awkward way ofmunicating.
I narrowed my eyes and decided that Alexander had to have visited Sarah before. My stomach jolted when I realized that it was probably the time when Felipe told me that Alexander had gone to visit with a mysterious person.
How involved was Alexander in this case? It seemed like he was always one step ahead of me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
Once the polite small talk settled down, Ava didn’t waste any time. She folded her hands and stared at Sarah from across the table.
“So, the world thinks you’re dead.” she said bluntly. “Why is that? And we want the truth.”
My heart pounded against my chest. I wished that Ava had somehow consulted with me before she had been so blunt. This was Sarah’s brother’s house. He could kick us off his property. They didn’t owe us anything.
Thankfully, Sarah didn’t seem mad about Ava’s assertive approach. She just sighed, and when she looked up, her eyes had a deep kind of sadness in them. A kind of pain that broke you from the inside out.