I’d almost run right then, but Zach had grabbed my wrists and manhandled me into the car. He’d started the engine and peeled off, roaring straight through any stop signs.
Now, unless I wanted to leap from a moving vehicle, I couldn’t leave this car. I had to stay calm. If Zach lost control at this speed, it would not be good.
“Does Dillon know what’s going on?” I asked. “Rina said he’s been stressed.”
“He probably knows something is up.” Zach squeezed the steering wheel. “I told him…some of it. Because I had to. But I’ve tried to keep him out of it.”
“Why don’t you take me to my mom’s old house? That’s the last place Danny saw the jewelry box. We can look for it. I’ll let you have it, okay? For free. I don’t even want it.”
“That’s where Grayden lives,” Zach said, eyes fixed on the road. “Did you forget I’ve been there? Do you think I’m fucking stupid?”
He swerved the car in the lane, and I closed my mouth on a scream, grabbing the dashboard.
“No! I think you’re…you’re going through something. Let me help.”
“What I’m going through is your fault, Piper. It’salwaysbeen your fault. First your mother, what she did to my family. Then your idiot ex-husband. If Danny hadn’t?—”
Zach cut off abruptly. The car sped up on the narrow two-lane road as he accelerated.
“What? What did Danny do?”
“Poked his greedy nose where it didn’t belong.”
He’d mentioned my mother. What could my mother have done to the Kirby family? They’d suffered a terrible tragedy, but my mother had nothing to do with it. The Kirbys had beenwealthy and respected. I doubted my parents had ever spoken to them.
The road climbed in elevation. We roared through the foothills, continuing upward through twists and curves.
I had to get away from Zach somehow. And yet part of me also had to know what was behind Zach’s anger. His hatred of me. What had I ever done to him?
Miles later, we turned onto a dirt path. The car bumped over rutted potholes. I had no idea where we were. Forest grew all around us. I didn’t see any buildings.
“Did Danny contact you about this jewelry box?” I asked. “He claimed it was valuable, right? Offered to sell it?” I was going partly off of what Zach had said, partly off what I already knew about my ex. His latest money-making scheme.
“He didn’t just offer to sell it,” Zach spit out. “He blackmailed me. Said I could buy that box from him along with everything inside, or he would make sure everyone in Silver Ridge knew about it.”
Knew about what?I wanted to demand.
“I couldn’t let my mom go through that,” Zach added.
“But it was my mother’s jewelry box. Did she have something of your mom’s?”
He aimed a sneer at me. “Yeah, you could put it that way. Barbara Landry, your slut of a mother, took something of my mom’s.”
FIFTY-FIVE
Grayden
I’d already beento Silver Ridge Elementary a couple of times with Piper to drop Ollie off. My truck’s engine whined as I pulled up, brakes squealing. Ollie stood in front of the school with a young woman tapping her foot beside him.
She headed over to meet me as I jogged toward them. “You’re Grayden O’Neal? I’m sorry, but you’re not on the pickup list. I already called Grace O’Neal, since she’s one of Ollie’s emergency contacts.”
“Grace is my sister.”
Ollie stood there with his oversized backpack on his shoulders. He looked like he was just barely holding back tears.
I crossed the distance between us. “You okay, Ollie?”
“I’m worried about Mom.”
