Free The Fourth Victim by Tara Taylor Quinn Page B

What’s wrong, sweetie?” Mom’s hand covered Maggie’s on the table and Maggie turned her hand over, grabbing the softness of her mother’s, and held on. She tried to talk, but she was going to start crying and she couldn’t do that.
    She had to be strong.
    To grow up.
    That was the one thing she knew. Mac was counting on her to be a grown-up. “Kelly’s missing.”
    â€œI know. And I guess that’s scary to you right now, but in the end, it’ll be fine.”
    No. Maggie could hardly breathe. She couldn’t look at Mom. And then she did. Because she had to.
    Maggie leaned forward. “Tell me you didn’t do this,” she whispered.
    Mom leaned in farther and she didn’t smell good at all. Like sweat and cigarette smoke. And her hair was greasy, too. “Do what, Maggie?”
    Mom talked just as low so they wouldn’t be heard.
    â€œYou know, get rid of Kelly.” Maggie didn’t want to think about that. It was bad enough knowing that Kelly was missing. She couldn’t think about her being hurt.
    Or worse.
    Her best friend, Glenna, had been murdered. Kelly couldn’t be, too. Maggie would just die.
    â€œOh, Mags, you’re so young.”
    Maggie gritted her teeth. She hated when Mom said that.
    â€œJust tell me you didn’t do it.”
    â€œHow could I, sweetie? Look at me.” Mom held up her hands that were handcuffed for the visit, even though a guard stood right behind Maggie. “I’m locked in here. You know that.”
    â€œTell me, Mom.” Although why it was so important to make her mom admit something, Maggie wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like she hadn’t lied to her before.
    She had. A lot.
    â€œI’m telling you, Maggie. I didn’t do it. I didn’t do anything.”
    â€œDo you know who did?”
    Mom didn’t say anything. She just looked at Maggie and shook her head, like this was one of those things Maggie was too young to understand.
    But she wasn’t too young. She’d been sold into the drug trade. One of her close friends had died of leukemia and another had been murdered. Her mom was in jail. She was in love with a man who was at least thirty. And she’d had sex. There wasn’t anything left that was young about her.
    Mom rubbed Maggie’s palm with her fingers, and the chains at her wrist clanked against the table. “Listen, Mags, this isn’t stuff you need to be worrying about, okay? I’m going to get out of here soon and we’ll be together again. Just you and me. Like it used to be.”
    â€œThey aren’t going to let us live together again,” Maggie said. If her mother was behind Kelly’s disappearance, which was what Maggie was scared of, then she had to realize it would all be a waste.
    She had to tell them to let Kelly go.
    â€œYou admitted that you allowed Chuck Sewell to trick me into delivering drugs when I thought I was helping sick kids. You’re guilty of child endangerment. They were going to take me away from you no matter what.”
    Mom’s face got stony-looking. “You were never in any danger, Maggie. Not from the deliveries. I made certain of that. And the money was going to pay for you to go to college.”
    So Mom said. “Then why isn’t there more than the couple of hundred dollars I got for my paper route?”
    â€œBecause we were just getting started.” Mom looked her straight in the eye and Maggie could tell how much she loved her. She loved Mom, too. But…
    â€œYou were buying drugs and using them,” she said now. No one had ever told her that for sure, but she knew. She wasn’t stupid.
    â€œI wasn’t doing much. Only enough to get me through sleeping with that Sewell creep so he’d stay away from you.”
    Maggie didn’t want to think about that. Didn’t want to think about Chuck Sewell doing to Mom what Mac had done with her. It