Page 64 of My One

“Right.” I sent the text and looked through Denise’s contacts.

“Anything?”

“No, unless she has him as a code name.”

She sat beside me. “Then just send a text to everyone, and if some guy shows up named Avery, we’ll hold him hostage until we get answers.”

We both laughed. “I’m glad you guys came.”

“Me, too.” Brooke smiled.

I sent the text to everyone in Denise’s contacts, excluding Doug. There weren’t that many people, maybe fifteen or twenty. Just as I was about to set the phone down on the nightstand, it occurred to me that there wasn’t an entry formyAvery.

“All right. We have a movie to watch.”

The house was quiet when Brooke and I walked down the stairs. I took that to mean the guys were in the backyard, but we didn’t bother to check. Instead, Brooke followed me out the front door, and we walked across the street. It might be weird to go to a stranger’s house and ask to use their out-of-date VCR, but if Denise trusted Edna enough to be the only one who knew about her will, then we could trust her too. Plus, we had no clue what was even on the tape.

“This is the lady who brought you Avery’s mom’s will?”

“Yep.” I knocked on the door.

Edna answered a few moments later. “Nic—ole,” she stuttered when she saw I was with Brooke and not Avery.

“Hey, Edna. This is my friend Brooke from New York.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Brooke greeted and stuck out her hand.

“You too, dear,” Edna replied, and they shook hands.

“We just came over to see if you had a VCR,” I explained.

“A VCR?” Edna questioned.

“We found a VHS tape in Denise’s safety deposit box.”

“Oh?”

“Doug and Denise didn’t even have a TV, let alone a VCR,” I went on.

“I think I might have one in the garage, but I have no clue where it would be.”

“Would you mind if we take a look?” I asked.

“No, not at all. Let me open the garage door for you.”

“Thank you.” I smiled.

Brooke and I stepped off the steps and walked over to the two-car garage. A few seconds later the big white door started to roll up.

“Take as long as you two need. Would you like some lemonade?” Edna asked from the door that I assumed led into the house.

“Sure, but just lemonade this time,” I replied. Brooke looked over at me with her eyebrows furrowed. “She put vodka in them last time.”

“Oh.” Brooke chuckled. “Yes, just lemonade. We have to go on a burger run soon.”

“Lemonade it is.” Edna walked back inside, leaving Brooke and me in the garage. There was a Mercedes on one side and boxes upon boxes on the other.

“Shit, we have our work cut out for us,” I indicated.