“I need ya to bring it in. We’re in the middle?—”
“Hells no. I’ve got a friend I need to drop off who’s already late. If you’re not down here in one minute, your coat is coming home to Boston with me. And good luck ever getting it back after that because it’s a nice coat, and I’ve got a cousin and buddies who are gonna be in my backseat this week.”
“Ashling.” His surly tone doesn’t seem to make an impression, because her smile doesn’t fade. “You have five minutes to come the fuck in. I’ve got a present for you.”
“I love presents. Bring it down.” Then she swipes, ending the call. A second later, her phone rings again. She sends Crosby to voicemail and gives the phone a voice command to set a timer for four minutes.
Cocking my head, I eye her. “You’re diabolical. It’s a really concerning quality.”
She smirks and winks at me.
In the final minute on the timer, she starts the car. Ten seconds later, the front door of the fraternity house bangs open, and the stocky power lifter jogs outside. He’s wearing jeans and a tight sweater and carries a small box.
Behind him, I spot my pseudo brother as Brad opens the storm door for a young woman to emerge. She’s buttoned up in a green, plaid wool coat and shiny black boots. After a second, I realize it’s Clare Duffy.
My body stiffens as I watch her. Why was she with Brad? Are they joining forces against me… maybe to get my acceptance to the Briar Club rescinded? No, if Clare wanted to sabotage me, she’d have done it before.
Stop being paranoid.
Crosby approaches the driver’s door and holds out the box. “Here you go, beautiful.”
“Thanks,” Ash says, taking the box and dropping it in her lap. “Here’s your coat. Happy Thanksgiving.”
With one hand he takes the coat, but with the other, he grabs the steering wheel. “Come on. You have to open it now.”
She slaps his hand. “I told you I don’t have time.” As if to punctuate the statement, her alarm goes off. “But I will make a video of me opening it and if I love the present, I’ll send the video as a thank you. Fair?”
“Yeah.” He releases the steering wheel, and his fingers detour to stroke her face as he withdraws his hand. “Text me when you get to Boston, so I know you got there safe.”
“Nope. Not playing the girlfriend game. Now back up before my Camaro dents your foot bones.”
A tap on my window causes my head to jerk toward it. Clare Duffy stands right next to the door.
Jesus.
I roll the window down halfway.
“Heard you got in. Congratulations.” As she holds up her hand, I see what she wants me to see. There on her bony wrist is my mom’s vintage Briar Club bangle.
What a fucking bitch.
31
JAMIE
When I see the name Allendale, everything stops. The world narrows down to a sense of dread.
I search the net for Sawyer’s photogram account. Once I locate it, I start scrolling.
Years of searching for Jude’s kidnapper ends with a single picture on her page. It’s Sawyer’s high school graduation. The asshole brother stands a couple of feet away, trying to get out of the frame. Next to her, with an arm around her shoulder and a smile that causes my guts to knot, is the man from the top of the hill. He’s older, so there are deeper brackets around his mouth, and his hair has gray strands woven through it that weren’t there in Ireland. But the eyes and face are still familiar. A whole lifetime passed in the time between when I locked eyes on him and the moment he grabbed Jude.
Thinking back, trying to compare every detail, my muscles contract in protest. I don’t want to relive those moments. But I have to.
Some pieces are vague or lost. I can never remember dropping the fishing pole or scrambling up the hill. Time skips, like a rock across the surface of a lake. The parts I remember vividly never change… I see the intent in the man’s expression as he looks at Jude. It starts an adrenaline rush of fear and dread inside me. He grabs my brother. In what seems to be an instant later, I am standing on the roadside, watching the car speed away.
I chase, following it with my eyes until it turns and disappears.
Bits of the long run are still with me. How quiet the road was. Praying for help. Praying I would get there in time. Or that I’d find Jude hiding on the side of the road because he’d jumped from the car to escape and was just waiting for me.
