“Fiction, Clover,” he says, his voice grim. “That’s fiction. Vivi used her connections to show me the medical records. Proof of Terra’s death. There wasn’t a service, but my aunt showed me the obituary, the headstone in case I ever wanted to visit.”
Proof.
Chief is leaning against the tank, Wrecks sitting at his feet and still looking miserable. Me too, Wrecks. Me too.
When Chief spots us, he straightens. “That bad?”
“Worse,” Valen says. “We need to get to the compound and talk with Roman.”
“Has Roman cleared Roots of Salvation yet?” Chief asks.
“He has, but we need to see it for ourselves now that the power’s turned on in all the buildings. I need to understand what we’re dealing with.” Valen opens my door, then helps me in as though I’m a small child. I’m grateful for the touch, the grounding.
Wrecks practically throws himself into the back of the tank. He can’t wait to get out of here. I’m with him.
“Janet says the woman started to change a year and a half ago,” I say when Valen slides into the driver’s seat. “So why did I only start getting letters six months ago?”
Valen’s hands grip the wheel. “Someone wanted information from you. They wanted to know everything about your life. They?—”
“They weren’t just reading the letters,” I say. “They were using them. A roadmap to all things me.”
The engine starts, and Wrecks whines in the back.
“It’s okay, boy,” Chief says. But it’s not okay. Nothing about this is okay.
As we pull away from the Peachvale general store, I look back one more time.
Fourteen years of my story, of my secrets. They’re the breadcrumbs of my life that led my stalker straight to my front door.
“We have to find answers at the compound,” Valen shouts, slamming his fist against the steering wheel. “We have to.”
I nod, but my stomach is nosediving to my toes.
I’m not sure I want to know what other secrets are buried at Roots of Salvation.
Not anymore.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
VALEN
The drive to the Roots of Salvation compound takes forty-three minutes through increasingly remote back roads. Forty-three minutes of Clover’s silence, of Chief’s occasional throat clearing, and of Wrecks’s anxious panting from the back.
What if Miriam’s dead too?
Clover’s haunted question sits at the forefront of my mind.
Miriam cannot be dead. She’s our only hope of finding answers.
And if she is dead, that leaves us with no leads on who’s terrorizing Clover.
No leads on why Aunt Vivi found me beaten and near death.
Miriam has to give us answers.
Terra Stone is dead. She’s been dead for over a decade. I saw the fucking certificate myself.
So why does my gut feel as though I’ve swallowed a hundred pounds of broken glass?
