“This is serious,” Lauren almost whined. “I need to find him, and you’re the only one with the connections. The police haven’t been able to find him. I hired a private investigator. I’ve searched everywhere and exhausted my resources. Anthony is just gone, and I need to find him.”
The worst thing Lauren could do would be to get mixed up with whatever Anthony was in. People who erased their lives had something to hide—something big. Zach hadn’t ever shied away from the dangerous, but Lauren needed to be as far away as possible.
Zach rubbed his hands over his head, forgetting he cut his hair short yesterday and there wasn’t anything to pull on. “Why would you even care about him? I can promise you he doesn’t care about you.”
“I grew up with him. He was my best friend.” Her voice was so soft and sincere. So naïve.
The weight in her plea was not good for either of them. He needed to squash those emotions like a bug. “Things change. Anthony disappeared because he wanted to. Trust me, he doesn’t want to be found by you or anyone.”
“I understand why he wouldn’t want to be found by people like you and your brother, but I think he’d want to hear from me.”
“Nope. He moved on. Let him go.”
Lauren sighed. “He didn’t move on. He made mistakes and fell in with the wrong crowd.”
“It wasn’t an accident. He did all of this on his own,” Zach reminded her. How could she have this picture-perfect vision of her cousin? He’d met the guy, and Anthony wasn’t a saint.
“I know he did. I just don’t think I should give up on him.”
“I’m going to give you permission to do that. You’re wasting your time.”
Lauren reached over and patted his shoulder without looking away from the road. “I don’t need your permission.”
Zach jerked his arm away before the warmth of her hand seeped through his T-shirt. “No touching. I don’t touch.”
Lauren lifted her hand in the air like the police had just told her to stick ’em up. “Sorry. I won’t touch you.”
After a few erratic breaths, Zach relaxed his tight muscles. As much as he hated to admit it, years of abuse made him react like a caged animal every once in a while.
Why did it have to happen in front of Lauren?
He shook off the unease and crossed his arms over his chest. “Listen, you have friends now. You said so yourself. You don’t need Anthony, and he definitely doesn’t need you. Just forget about him.”
“Thanks for the advice. I’ll take it into consideration.”
Uh-oh. Why was her voice so mechanical and flat? Was she toying with him?
“I mean it. Let it go,” Zach repeated. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Lauren could get in a whole lot of trouble if she started snooping around looking for Anthony.
When she didn’t respond, Zach ran a hand over his head and turned to stare out the window. He couldn’t even focus on the trees or the sunshine because Lauren’s stupid request was raining on his freedom parade.
“You know, Anthony had to sit in time-out a lot when we were growing up,” Lauren said after ten minutes of silence.
Zach scoffed. “I bet. The guy’s a nut job.”
Lauren continued as if he hadn’t said anything. “When he would ask how long, my mom would say, ‘Until your heart has changed.’ He would always come back and apologize, and I fully believed he was sorry. Sure, he still made mistakes, but we all do. We don’t have to sit in our mistakes forever. We can choose to get up and try to make things right.”
“You think he cares about getting back on the straight and narrow?” Zach asked. “Let me clear something up. He doesn’t. There’s a reason people like us don’t leave this life. We’re usually born in it, and it’s just who we are.”
“I don’t believe that either, but Anthony wasn’t always like this. I want him to remember that there’s another option.”
“And what’s that? Maybe he got his act together and disappeared to get away from the people he owed. If he used the opportunity to start over, good for him. What kind of options do you think he has?”
“Redemption. Forgiveness,” Lauren said.
Wow. She was good at stating complete fantasies and making them sound like truths. If only Zach had that skill. He might have spared himself the prison time. “You’re insane. That’s a joke, and this is a stupid idea. Trust me.”
Lauren tightened her grip on the wheel and straightened her back. “And why should I trust you? You’ve only been a law-abiding citizen since breakfast! If you don’t want to help me, just say no and leave it at that.”
