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When she said pictures, he leaned forward, his eyes narrowing and shifting froh, threatening Instead it made him look like a rodent

“She fell—” he started

“In the kitchen,” Anna finished for hi tiain Do you reain?”

Nick shifted in his chair, his long legs bouncing in front of hi each other until the knuckles turned white He wouldn’t look directly at her “I didn’t mean to,” he said “It just happened I could try the counseling again, I guess”

Anna cleared her throat, and when he looked at her she stared back until his legs stopped bouncing “No, too late We gave you the anger counseling The church paid for you to go right up until you quit We did that part That part is done”

His expression went hard

“Gonna give ht up to here”—Nick held his hand under his chin—“with that shit Sophia won’t shut up about it ‘Pastor Anna says!’ You knohat? Fuck what Pastor fking Anna says”

“No,” Anna said “No Jesus speeches We’re done with that too”

“Then what are we doing here?”

“Do you,” she said, drawing the words out, “reain?”

He shrugged again, then pushed up out of the chair and walked away, putting his back to her While pretending to stare at one of the diploive a fk what you say, Pastor Anna?”

Anna breathed a quiet sigh of relief Preparing for this , she’d been unsure if she’d actually be able to do as needed She had a strong, visceral dislike of dishonesty, and she was about to destroy so, at least deceit She justified it to herself by believing that the real purpose was to save soh She’d pay for what she was about to do for a long tier would make it easy in the short term

Anna offered a quick prayer: Please helpto kill her if I don’t stop him

“I said,” Anna continued at Nick’s back, “that I would make sure you went to jail for it”