I turn back to the car and lean in again, pulling the bracelet from the gear shift. I hold it up and inspect it and find the engraving. “Mirror, mirror. My heart to shield.”
“Mirror, mirror. My heart to embolden.”
“What did you say?” Dash asks after I whisper the words I know are engraved on the other bracelet. My heart slams against my chest as I realize what I’ve remembered. Surely Dash knows about these pieces of jewelry. This was important for me and my sister.
“Where’s the other bracelet?” I ask in a rush, showing him the one in my hand expecting him to have the answer I need.
“I don’t know. The apartment maybe?”
“I’ve got to find it,” I say anxiously as I run my fingers through my hair with one hand and hold the precious metal tightly in the other.
“Okay. Calm down. We’ll go back there and look together, babe.”
“It’s important. It’s something we used to say to each other. One was meant to protect Lennon, the other was to encourage bravery in London.”
I squeeze the metal in my palm once we’re back in Dash’s car headed to the apartment. I know this is important. If I see them together, it might trigger something else.
7
We search the apartment from top to bottom and come up empty. Just when I’m about to spiral, Dash takes my face in his hands.
“Take a deep breath for me, babe. We know London was a chef. There was nothing she couldn’t do in the kitchen. But we also know she was writing a recipe book. Does that mean anything to you from London’s point of view…or Lennon’s?” he asks.
Then it clicks. The desk I kept gravitating toward before. There’s a nook beside the kitchen. It’s actually part of the kitchen. I rush over to it as fast as my cane allows and sit in the chair. I feel around and then open a drawer to my right as if I know exactly what I’m doing and what I’m looking for. The bracelet shines up at me from on top of a notebook.
It says exactly what my memory told me it did.
“Good. You found it. What do they mean again?” he asks as I embrace this small victory.
I hold them side by side. “They mean we were with each other in spirit doing the things we loved so we could remind each other of what we would say in moments of doubt or need. One is forprotection for obvious reasons; the other was about being brave enough to chase dreams.”
“And what does the mirror, mirror part mean?” he asks.
I close my eyes and smile. “Mirror, mirror is because we’re twins. Just a play on words because we are…we were the perfect reflection of the other.”
“Wow. I don’t know what to say. Y’all had a very special bond, which I knew, but seeing something like this is just…wow.”
“I need to read the accident report, Dash. Can you take me to see the car?” I ask turning to face him.
Before he can answer, a knock sounds on the door.
“Expecting someone?” he asks with a raised brow.
“No, I don’t think so.”
Dash opens the door and Hendrix strides in.
“What’s going on here?” he asks as his gaze pings between us.
Dash just crosses his arms but stays silent, so Hendrix focuses on me.
“London?” he tries again.
“Nothing. I’m just searching for answers and trying to remember.”
Hendrix shoots Dash a glare before walking to where I sit. He crouches down in front of me.
“I don’t think you should be pushing yourself like this. It could?—”
