Page 174 of It Runs in the Family

I smiled. “Okay. I could use a little sunshine and some weeding.” I glanced down at the dress I’d worn to my interview. “Although I’m not exactly dressed for gardening.”

He grinned and shook his head. “As long as I don’t have to weed, I’ll take you out there.”

We got in his truck and drove in silence for a few minutes before I confessed something that had been eating at me since early Tuesday morning.

“Selena sold me out.”

He didn’t seem surprised. “Did she set up your kidnappin’?”

I shook my head. “No, she claimed she didn’t know Voss had set that up.” I sniffed. “But I’m not sure I believe her. Especially after she admitted to lettin’ Voss think I had something they were lookin’ for.”

“What you found in Rita’s garage when you were goin’ through Selena’s things?”

“That’s why Rebecca was killed,” I finally said.

“What was it?”

I hesitated. I should have told the authorities, but there would be questions. Besides, if Boone was working with Agent Crawford, that meant the DEA had it. Right?

“I’m not sure I should tell you, but I know the DEA has it now.”

“How can you be sure of that?” he asked skeptically.

“I just am.” I paused. “Voss thought Rebecca had what he was looking for. Selena claimed Rebecca did have a copy of it, and I know she searched Rebecca’s room in the middle of the night, around the time Rebecca was murdered. But then Selena let him think that I might have it. She insisted she could protect me from Voss’s wrath.” My chin trembled. “But when I tried to escape, and Voss walked in on me trying to break a window, Selena told him she’d tried to stop me.”

Garrett squeezed my hand. “She’s not the girl you grew up with. You need to accept it and let her go.”

I was beginning to finally believe that. “In the end, she tried to help me. When she realized Voss was about to shoot me.”

“Wow,” he said sarcastically. “Seems like the least she could do.”

“It was more than she’d done in any of my visions.”

“That’s sad, Irie.”

“I know.”

We were quiet again. I suspected he was letting me lick my wounds before he started in on something else. I was right, but he didn’t go the direction I’d thought he would.

“I talked to your apartment manager about the break-in at your place. He says there’s damage, and it’s unlivable. And he claims it can’t be fixed before your lease is up in a few months.”

“He’s evicting me?”

“Not technically, but I’m sure your neighbor had something to do with it.”

I had no doubt he was right.

He continued, his voice warm and reassuring, “I know you haven’t had a lot of time to figure out what you want to do, but Monday night you said you were thinkin’ about goin’ back to school.” He shot me a glance. “Granny thinks it’s a good idea. She’s offered to pay for you to go to A&M. Like you were supposed to do before Selena screwed that up too.”

He’d known all along why I hadn’t gone to college. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

I let out a laugh and shook my head. “I already told Granny I wasn’t gonna let her pay for my tuition.” I shifted in my seat. “I was thinkin’ more like community college. Maybe take a class or two this summer.”

He smiled at me. “I think that’s a great idea.”

“But first I need to get a job, and I don’t want to work at Simco with Mary Ellen and Ava.”

“You wouldn’t last three hours there.”