She side-eyes me with reserved optimism coloring her shimmering eyes. “How?”
A shiver runs through me, adrenaline and excitement pulsating from this possibility. If I have Dana with me, I won’t have to bear this on my own. Reed’s been great, but he doesn’t know what this is like for me. Dana does.
I can make her an ally.
After meeting her eyes, I start on my explanation. “I have thisfriend.”
Love of my life? Friend? What’s the difference?
Oh, and he’s listening.Tee hee.
Instantly, she shakes her head to rebuke me before I even get close to the point. “No, we can’t tell anyone. Silas will?—”
“It’s okay. Trust me. Listen for a second.” I pause for a breath before admitting, “The man who was with Silas. I think his name is Elliott. And he’s already been arrested. Silas is next.”
“How do you know that?”
“From my friend. He’s actually Kenzie’s brother. And he’s also...”
“Lila, don’t,” Andrews interjects.
But it’s already on the way out of my mouth. “...?with the FBI. I’m helping them find Silas. We’re gonna stop them so they can’t hurt anyone else. You can join me and?—”
Dana jerks to her feet, sending the chair clattering behind her. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’ll get her killed. You’ll get usallkilled.” Miraculously, she manages to keep her volume low while seething at me. “You need to stop this. We’re done.I’mdone. Icannotbe part of this.”
Her body shakes as she grabs her food from the table, throwing it in the trash. In my flustered state, it strikes me odd that she’s sending areusableplastic storage container and actual silverware on a journey to the landfill.
Dang. Even when I’m not trying to distract myself from uncomfortable things, my conscience does it for me.
Focus, Lila. The only person who knows what you’re going through is fleeing.
Without a plan, I stand and start to follow. “Wait.”
She stops me with a scathing glare. “This conversation never happened. Whatever you tell yourfriend, keep my name the fuck out of it.Please. Or my daughter’s blood will be on your hands.”
No, no, no. What have I done?
My knees quake as I watch her storm away. I don’t know how long I stay frozen in place. I can’t hear anything over the raucous pounding of my heart.
That andoneother sound.
A memory from the past, growing louder as it escapes the darkest part of my soul until it blares as fiercely as the day it happened.
The gut-wrenching sound of Zara screaming as she went over that cliff.
Because of me.
FORTY-THREE
Scurvy and lobotomies
REED
With an irritated groan,I tap the ignore button to send Kenzie to voicemail again. Guess she got tired of blowing up my phone with texts and is switching to calls now.Terrific.
For the last two hours, she’s been relentlessly asking about Lila. I’d call ithoundingme, but even hounds go away when you don’t feed them.
Kenzie:
