#Chapter 194: Seven Years Ago

Agnes Elijah had been gone all day, still at the prison with Olivia, and my anxiety was getting worse by the minute. I knew if I didn’t distract myself soon, I’d drive myself crazy. Or maybe even burn the hotel down; in fact, my palms had been itching all afternoon, warmth sparking through me like fireworks. I had dunked my hands in the hotel ice bucket more times than I could count. “Hey,” I said, turning to Thea, “how about we have a girls’ night? Just you and me.” Thea looked up, momentarily distracted from her stuffed pig. “What would we do?” “Well, I saw the hotel has a nice pool. We could go swimming, then maybe order room service and watch movies. What do you think?” Her face lit up. “Can we get ice cream from room service?” “Absolutely,” I promised. “And we’ve got those face masks and nail polish from the mall. We’ll doll ourselves up for when Daddy gets back.” Twenty minutes later, we walked into the hotel’s indoor pool area. It was ne