Waves of nausea-inducing heat rolled over my skin.
“I’m serious. That wasn’t there the last time I went through these boxes.” I looked at Milo, willing him to believe me. “That was a few days ago. I was sorting through all of this after someone broke in, and there was nothing but fabric and sewing supplies and stuff that belonged to Piper’s mother.”
“Someone broke in?” Milo’s tone was skeptical.
“Yeah. Danny Carmichael. Piper’s ex. He ransacked the place looking for something.”
“You suggesting he planted this?” Earl’s voice was flat.
“I don’t know. I went through all this stuff as I was cleaning it up. But…” I ran my hand through my hair, my mind racing. I’d been here almost every day. But not every hour. There’d been gaps.
Could Danny have done this?
Racing into the back bedroom, I went to the window.
“Wouldn’t have been hard to jimmy that lock open,” Milo said behind me. He must’ve followed me in.
The lock on the frame wasn’t latched. I was sure I hadn’t left it like that. And Milo was right. The thing was an old piece of junk.
Of course, plenty of things around this house were fallingapart. Replacing all the window locks was on the endless list of things I hadn’t done yet.
I turned around. “Look, you know I have a criminal record.” I heard how defensive I sounded and hated it. “I’m here to get my life back on track, not wind up in prison again.”
Milo’s expression was uncertain. But finally, he nodded. “I have a cousin who was dealing, and he was throwing off shifty vibes I could sense a mile away. I don’t get anything like that from you.”
At least one of them believed me. But that still didn’t solve my problem.
“Hey, we’ve got company,” Zach called out from the living room.
Fuck, what now?
When Milo and I returned to the front of the house, Zach was peering out the window toward the street. “This ain’t good.”
A Silver Ridge PD vehicle had just pulled up in front of the house.
Icy cold shot through my veins.
My mind worked frantically. This was a setup. It had to be. Danny had broken in before. He could’ve come back, planted the drugs, and then made an anonymous call to the police. It was exactly the kind of move a guy like him would pull.
I can destroy you if I want, O’Neal.
And I was the idiot who hadn’t taken him at his word.
“Wherever that brick of powder came from,” Milo said quietly, “you’d better get rid of it. Right now.”
TWENTY-ONE
Piper
I always felta jolt of nostalgia when I stepped into Silver Ridge Elementary.
Maybe it was the aroma of cafeteria food mixed with that particular smell of construction paper. Or the motivational posters I could’ve sworn had been up since I was in school here.
Hang in there, kid.
“Hi Piper, you brought snacks?” another mom asked, holding the door for me. She was decked out in pristine yoga gear with her hair blown out. Meanwhile, I was pretty sure I had latte stains on my jeans and my hair was half out of its messy knot.
I shifted my tray of mini cupcakes, all gluten and dairy free, to my other hand. “It’s for career day in my son’s fourth-grade class. Our new baker does them.”
