“Something wrong?” Ryder joined the party, too.
Perfect. Just perfect.The hits kept coming. I finally got my ass up to stand and face two of the three reasons why I needed to keep my distance from her. Thank God Beth wasn’t physically around to remind me of number three.No, just her name in that file to haunt me. Close enough.
“He was, um, trying to calm me down,” Audrey said quickly. “You know how I get. Panic attack. I, uh, started spiraling, and he rushed over. I owe him one. He kept me from fainting.”
I could’ve kissed her for that lie, but I was distracted by the envelope in Trevor’s hand.
The divorce papers. His grip tightened on it as his jaw visibly tensed.He didn’t know, either?That realization hit harder than I’d expected, and it felt worse, because I had to assume Audrey had been afraid to tell him.
“We have an update?” She stood and stepped alongside me.
Ryder and Trevor exchanged a quick look as Trevor discreetly hid the envelope behind his back.
“Reed took a closer look at the inscription inside Mitch’s ring while you were, uh, calming down my sister ...” Ryder cleared his throat, apparently now realizing how flimsy that excuse sounded. “He figured out the code was incomplete. Don’t ask me how. Over my head.”
“Wait, what about Mitch’s wedding band?” She shook her head, clearly confused.
Right, we’d skipped over that explanation. I’d been too distracted by discussing her panties and the fact we should no longer talk about them to give her the heads-up about the ring.
“There was a laser-etched strip of numbers hidden within his wedding band,” Ryder explained.
“Where does Reed think the other half of the code is?” I asked as Audrey processed the news.
“We think those men were looking for both their rings, not just Mitch’s. Reed believes the rest of the code is in hers,” Ryder answered.
Two halves make a whole. In marriage. In secrets. Heck, in life. Would I ever stop being haunted by the memory of my own vows?
“Where do you keep your band?” Trevor asked her.
Audrey pressed a hand to her chest. “It’s in a different box, not the one you must’ve found. The only other unopened one I have. It’s in the attic, just off to the left side of the folded-up ladder in the ceiling.”
“Reed believes the rings themselves are keys. If they’re scanned together and held up to the right reader, it should unlock something.”
“So you need both,” she murmured. “Takes two to work.” She shut her eyes, her voice becoming smaller. “I grabbed that box Friday night while you were at the movies to go through it. But wait ... does that mean you also know about—”
“Yeah, we know,” Trevor cut in. “We know you planned to get a divorce and that you kept it from everyone.” He waited until she looked at him before adding, “What I want to know is, why?”
Her eyes flicked to mine, and the look of raw pain and regret burned through me.
All I could think was one thing:How do you bring a man back from the dead just so you can be the one to kill him?Because whatever that look meant ... I was going to need to do exactly that.
Chapter Twelve
Audrey
“Not here. I need four walls to prevent Chase from overhearing this conversation.” I started moving, circling my brother and Trevor, who were standing like a barricade to my escape. Jaws tight, fists clenched, and ready to fight battles they couldn’t win. Not this one. Not when Mitch was already gone.
Trevor stepped around me, taking the lead. Presumably to his bedroom, since Reed was probably at work on something ring-related in the office.
Once inside, Trevor tossed the envelope onto his bed, and I went over to the only window, hoping to ground myself in the view of the mountains as the door clicked shut behind us.
“I shouldn’t be here,” Alex said quietly.
“No. Stay.” My words came out sharper than I’d expected. “You’ll find out soon enough anyway.”
He didn’t argue, and Trevor didn’t protest.
“I need to know why you didn’t tell me you were getting a divorce.” Trevor’s voice was gritty but not angry. Well, not with me, at least.
