Page 155 of It Runs in the Family

It was from Selena.

Iris, I need you. Can you come get me?

My heart kick-started into a gallop. I texted back:

When and where?

Thank you!!! 11:00. At Key Lane Park. I’ll be hiding by the slide. I’ll come out when you get here

Hang on, Selena. I’m coming.

Then I bolted out the front door.

Chapter Thirty-Six

When I tried to call Selena to get more information, she didn’t answer. She texted a minute later and said she couldn’t talk but would explain everything once I got there.

I wasn’t stupid. I knew this could be a trap. I considered calling Garrett, but he’d be pissed I’d left the apartment. I could contact Boone, but I suspected I was the last person he wanted to hear from. Still, I needed to tell him about the newest murder. He needed to be prepared in case it was his brother.

When I reached a stop sign, I sent him a text.

Garrett got called into work. A man has been murdered. I don’t have any other details, but I wanted you to know

I kept driving, hoping he’d text back or call me. When I approached the park, I realized no one had any idea where I was. If something happened, they needed a place to start looking for me. Boone seemed the logical choice.

Selena texted me and said she’s in trouble. You can probably see them on the iPad. She asked me to pick her up at 11 at Key Lane Park. I’m almost there. I’ll let you know once I have her. I’ll ask her what she knows about Cody

There was still no response. Maybe he thought I was making it up. Maybe he’d written me off as a nut job. Or maybe he was asleep.

But I was pulling into the parking lot, so there was no turning back now. I parked at the curb and then grabbed my phone to call her.

I needed more confirmation that my cousin was the one who actually texted me. If I didn’t see her walking across the park, or if she didn’t answer her phone, I was leaving. I may have gotten a hazy vision when I’d asked if I was murdered, which was a major upgrade from a crisp one, but it was still possible.

Her phone rang, and she answered. “Iris?” she said through tears.

“I’m here, Selena. Come out.”

She started to sob. “Iris. Run!”

The line went dead, and fear swamped my head. I put the car into drive and hit the gas. I sped toward the exit, but a man was standing in the middle of the road with a gun pointed right at me.

I considered running him over or swerving around him, but then he lowered the barrel and fired two shots at my front passenger tire.

I wasn’t going very fast, but the car jerked to the right, and I slammed into a tree, twenty feet from the side of the road.

I had a moment of shock. Maybe my earlier vision had been hazy because I wasn’t murdered in a warehouse after all. Maybe I was about to be murdered in my car instead.

A shadow appeared next to my window, and then the glass shattered, raining on my head and into my lap like heavy confetti.

My phone started to ring in the cup holder.

I tried to reach for it, seeing Boone’s name on the screen, but the door was opening and I was being dragged out of the car.

I started to scream, then kick, but more than one man was there, trying to control my arms and legs. Then a sweet-smelling cloth covered my face, and everything went black.

When I came to, my eyelids felt heavy. I was lying on a cold concrete, but my eyes refused to open.

Where was I? What had happened?