There was a trick to waking up but not letting your breathing change, and it was one she’d practiced for a long, long time. Mama was easy enough to fool, Bea slightly more difficult, and Royal, of course, had considered all women stupid and cunning at once.
The dumbshittery of claiming to believe both things at the same time never occurred to Roy. It might have interfered with his absolute conviction that he was the smartest man on God’s green earth, and that, of course, could not be borne.
thatZoe wondered if he’d been able to get to the hospital in time, or if he’d called 911 and paramedics had stopped the bleeding. Maybe these people could tell her—they’d tracked her, which meant they had to know about him.
hadAnd about Bea. Right?
She lay on her side, deep waves of unfamiliar relax
