When I reach the door, he calls after me, “Stay gone or I really will find out the cost to tidy you away, once and for all.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
MADDOX
“We should take the boat out,”Wilder suggests, and I can’t work out whether he’s joking.
We’re at my house, having decamped from Zane’s the moment his father showed, choosing my place instead. “There’s a raver on Parson’s Beach tonight. We could anchor in the bay and talk a variety of girls into coming on board for a sleepover.”
As though she overheard, Dahlia texts me from the gate, demanding entry. I buzz her car through, feeling the uptick in my mood that always comes from seeing Evie.
Except, when Dahlia walks inside, Evie is nowhere to be seen.
“She didn’t make it back yet?” Her eyes sparkle with amusement. “Guess she got a taste for it after you chose that dress. She was like a wee mouse until then, scared to buy a thing.”
The scenario amuses her but I’m less concerned with Evie’s shopping patterns and more concerned with where she is. “You left her on her own?”
“I did not. I left her in the exalted company of your credit card.” When Dahlia reads my expression, she fidgets. “I got an urgent call away. She said she didn’t mind.” There’s a pause during which her expression grows guiltier and guiltier. Her voice comes out in a tiny whisper. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
She hooks her finger, beckoning me into the hallway. “Had you explained to her about the fire and how she wasn’t meant to talk about it?”
My nerves seize on the question, delighted to have some reason to feel as jumpy as they do. “I had not.”
Dahlia’s normally impeccable façade crumbles further. “I might have let something slip,” she admits, voice growing tinier by the word. “But I thought she knew.”
“And when did you let this something slip?”
“Not long before my friend called, and I had to leave.” I check my phone but already know there aren’t any messages. Not since I last checked a few minutes ago. “I’m really sorry, Mads.”
Her face is twisted, on the verge of tears.
“Don’t worry. I should’ve done it long before now.” She nods but her expression doesn’t change. “Get your dress sorted?”
A hint of colour comes back into her face. “Yeah. I grabbed a few options, just in case.”
“You should get in there,” I say, jerking my chin towards the entertainment room. “Wilder’s about to take a boat and go trawling.”
She rolls her eyes and I frown as she hurries inside to join him.
I head to my room, opening my laptop and initiating the tracking program installed on Evie’s phone. Although it’s been on there from the beginning, I haven’t started it until now. It takes a few minutes to run through the sign-in screens, saying no to every offer until it reaches the location map.
After a few moments, the pin circles her neighbourhood. A few clicks later, it’s zoomed in on her old flat.
She’s probably collecting something she left there. Considering I moved her with no prior consultation, a lot of her belongings were left behind. No reason to be worried.
But I want to talk to her sooner rather than later after hearing Dahlia’s news. Evie obviously played it down when it was mentioned, otherwise her friend’s query just now would have held more concern.
It still should have come from me.
I should have spelled it out for her weeks ago. Even better, I should have done it on the first day.
I’m still mulling over the wording for my message when the entry gate buzzes. Optimism flares as I walk upstairs to press the release but it’s Vale; by the time I get to the panel, he’s already punched in the code and driven through the gate.
A shiver races down my spine.
Please don’t let these events be connected.
