Page 109 of Feel It in the Air

“The company is a fake,” I add, staring at Gus. “But how do you prove that?”

“Right, I’ll just see myself out then,” Dustin says, walking back toward his friends at the end of the bar.

“If I still had access to my laptop and Hayes systems, the first place to look would be the accounting records. Tax ID number.”

Taxes.

It all comes back to taxes. And we all know who specializes in taxes.

A zing rushes through me, a whole new energy taking over. I don’t have proof. But I’d bet anything that once we start looking, we’ll find it. In fact, I know we will. Down deep in my bones. The same way I know Gus is my forever.

We simply have to prove it.

“We need your sister.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s the most devious person I know.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Gus mutters, before leaning over around me to angle himself toward his sister at the end of the bar, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Willa!”

“Milo! I need a pen,” I tell him, grabbing a Pour Decisions coaster from the stack in front of me. This is going to take research, and there is no time to waste.

My hand flies across the small piece of cardboard, my heart beating so fast that I think it might break through my rib cage, but I don’t stop. I write as fast as I can, not wanting to lose a single thought.

I might be new to Hickory Hills, but the Hayes family has welcomed me as one of their own. Thanks to them, I’m learning a new game.

Small-town subterfuge.