“What the?—”
More followed.
This all seemed so familiar. She knew who was behind it before she even saw them. But a moment later, Monica and Marissa came into view, having sprung up from behind a row of manicured hedges that lined the property next to the nursery.
“Get them!” Marissa yelled.
More eggs soared through the calm morning air.
“It’s an attack!” Iris warned. It was too late, though. Eggs were splattering on and around them. Some were even hitting the shiny, clean black paint of the Guard van!
For a split second, Samantha realized the irony of being onthis sideof an egging. Her thoughts briefly drifted back to Halloween night when she’d been the one organizing the mean-spirited prank.
“Inside!” Cami yelled, pointing at the gate.
Samantha was the first one there, hurriedly punching in the code and heroically holding it open while her friends ran through it. She was about to step in and close it when the eggs stopped and Monica said, “Don’t you all wonder where Tonya is at?” She might have been talking to Iris and those who’d made it safely inside the nursery’s protected perimeter, but she was staring right at Samantha.
Samantha froze as panic seized her.
How did she know?
Then it hit her. Marissa and Monica! They were the ones who broke into her apartment!
As if on cue, the stolen outfit and wig soared over the high wall of the fence, compliments of Marissa.
“She’s right here,” Monica continued. “Your new bestie. Samantha.”
“How did you…” Samantha couldn’t even finish the question.
Iris, Cami, Lana, and Annika were out now, looking at her with clear confusion in their eyes. Ace was out of the van, watching her, trying to make sense of everything.
“You think I really believed that stupid story about you meeting some guy in New York City?” Monica sneered. “I followed you home that night. To your ratty, shitty little apartment in that dumpy part of town.”
Marissa smirked as she nodded. “And there’s the proof. You’re a fraud. And you thought you could fit in withus. Now you want to fit in withthem.” She shook her head. “You don’t fit in with anyone. I bet you never have. And you never will.”
The world was spinning now. The wrought iron felt cool beneath Samantha’s palm as she gripped the gate, trying to stay upright. Her vision clouded as her eyes grew damp.
It was all coming unraveled. Everything!
Her new family. The nursery. Daddy.
All of it gone in a second.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice quivering as she looked at Iris, Cami, Lana, and Annika. “I’m so sorry.” The statement was barely over a whisper.
She wasn’t sure how, but she became steady enough on her feet to run.
Pumping her legs furiously, she bolted down the street, never looking back.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I don’t understand any of this.”
Kendrick didn’t slow down as he spoke, just paced back and forth in the front living parlor of Athena’s place.
“I mean, why didn’t she tell me? She could have come to me!”
Athena was sitting in a large wingback chair. She took a sip of her wine, stared out the window, and offered, “Maybe she tried. Or she was going to. I don’t know. But perhaps I should have told you.”
