Chapter 24: RYDER

"It was a setup." I'd barely made it through the door after hours spent running around to get here, and this was mom's greeting.

"What're you talking about, mom? What was a setup?"

"This whole thing, everything. It was all a setup." Being here in front of her, I saw that the panic in her voice was nothing compared to the fear in her eyes.

My mom has this habit of pacing back and forth, waving her arms around frantically when she's stressed. She was doing that now only at warped speed. For a minute, I almost thought she was on something, but this wasn't that look. I know what mom looks like high, and this wasn't it.

She kept rambling about lies and conspiracies and blaming herself for believing the wrong people, and I still didn't know what she was talking about. I was too tired and, frankly, freaked out myself to have the patience she obviously needed.

"You're not making any sense, mom. Now stop pacing and tell me what the hell is going on ."

"Your marriage, your wife, her family, the