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“Okay, fine. I was with Kaden.”
“So why lie?”
Abby shrugged. “His dad doesn’t like me, so I guess I figured it was best no one knew we were hanging out.”
Her mother’s expression faltered, caught up in the statement that someone dare have anything against Abby. “Why doesn’t he like you?” sh
e asked, then held up a hand to stop her. “Don’t answer. It’s not important right now.”
Abby waited. Her mother seemed to believe her, but her blue eyes remained on her face, a million questions flickering behind them.
“Am I in trouble?” Abby asked.
“I don’t know...”
Her mother held a piece of stationery in front of her—the same white stationery with pale blue accents GG used. “This was delivered to the house about thirty minutes ago.”
Abby’s heart stopped mid-beat. A letter.
Her eyes widened as she took in the envelope, trying to ascertain whether it had been opened, as her pulse pounded in her ears.
Her palms dampened, as she asked, “Did you read it?”
“I did.”
“That’s against the law!” Panic swelled in her chest like a balloon, making it hard to breathe, let alone speak. Her voice rose like the tide, crashing against the shore of her tattered nerves. “You can’t just read my mail.”
“You’re my daughter. I most certainly can. Now, would you like to explain to me what the heck this is? Is this some sort of game? A prank?” She narrowed her eyes. “Who sent this?”
Abby blinked up at her mother, her mouth glued shut, knowing she needed to give her an answer. One that would make sense. One that would calm her down, explain everything yet nothing at all, but she couldn’t think. A million tiny questions exploded in the back of her head, and all she could think about was what answers might be written on the small square of paper.
“No one. It’s nothing.” Abby snatched the letter from her mother’s hand, catching her off guard.
Her mother’s mouth gaped as Abby catapulted herself around her and launched herself toward the stairs, where she ran like someone was chasing her.
“Get back here right now!” her mother yelled after her, but Abby had already hit the landing and thrust herself into her bedroom.
She turned and locked her door before her mother could catch her. Heart beating in her throat, she listened to the drumbeat of her mother’s footsteps against the stairs, then jumped when her mother started pounding against the door.
“You owe me an explanation!” Her doorknob turned over and over in quick succession as her mother tried to open it in vain. “Abby, you open this door right now!”
With little regret, Abby backed away from the door and held the letter out in front of her. She had no idea how much time she had until her mother found a way to unlock her door. Or bust it down. So, she tore the letter open and read.
Dear Abby,
By now, you should’ve gone to my safety deposit box and found the documents I had there, which means you know Detective Lawson, the man I hired to help me was killed.
He called me before he died.
Abby’s pulse jumped in her throat as the blood pounded in her ears, but she focused, forcing herself to keep reading, hoping GG revealed everything inside the safety deposit box since she hadn’t been able to access it.
It’s my belief Lawson confirmed my suspicions that night. It’s my belief he found concrete evidence. But I will never know because he is gone, and I am an old woman afraid of the truth.
Now you see why this secret is so important. Why you must be sure before you go on and finish this. I give my blessing to stop searching for answers if you so choose.
But remember, people have died for this secret. Many people, in fact. By now, you should be close. All you need is that final puzzle piece. Whatever it was Lawson found.
All I know about the night Lawson was killed is that he discovered something in a storage unit. I assume it was somewhere in the town they discovered his body, as I am sure somewhere there is a key. Somewhere in a unit is all the proof you’ll need. I’m confident of this. Find it and you’ll know, but please don’t despair. You must find a way to live with the truth, to reconstruct everything you know about yourself, about us.
