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“He’s safe. He’s been with me the entire time. All I wanted was to find you and get him back to you. I owed you that much.”

“You owed me? For what?”

“I should have let you move in with me when you asked. I should have stood up for you when Dad was being an ass. I’m sorry I didn’t. I didn’t realize ... No, I refused to accept how bad it was between you. But he had me believing you destroyed everything you borrowed from me when it really was him. He was manipulating us behind our backs.” Olivia sees that now that she knows the truth about him and Lily’s parentage. The prom dress—Dwight made her believe Lily ruined thedress, but she wouldn’t put it past him to run her dress through the mud. She’d blame Lily, making her feel like a family outcast. He let Lily cut up Olivia’s magazines, knowing they were her favorite and that she’d hate Lily for doing so. Everything he did pushed Lily away and kept Olivia close to him. As if he was afraid Olivia would find out what he was really like. And remember what he’d done. Dwight had been manipulating her for years, and she never saw it.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. And I’m sorry I made you think I didn’t love you.”

“I didn’t hate you, Olivia. You were Dwight’s favorite, and he didn’t like me. He scared me. I wasn’t trying to keep my distance from you. I was trying to stay away from him.”

Josh’s laughter carries to the lake and they look up at the house again. Blaze and Tyler are smiling, a good thing. It’s been a long time since they’ve connected.

“What happened? How’d you get separated from Josh?”

Lily’s eyes brighten with fear. “Someone is after me. We were on our way here to hide when I had to pull over. Josh had to go to the bathroom. I was hit when I got out of the car. We were parked on the side of the road. When I came to, Josh was gone. I flagged down a passing car and the driver, a young gal, I think—I don’t remember, it’s hazy—she called an ambulance for me.”

“Geez, Lily.”

She tugs at her shirt. “I’d never been so scared.”

“Was it Dad? I mean, Dwight? Did he hit you? Did he push Josh? Oh, my god, Lily. I can’t believe he’d do this to you. What did he want from you?”

“He wanted to make sure I wasn’t talking. I know things about him. But it wasn’t him. He’s not the one who’s after me.”

Olivia blinks. She falls back a step. “Who is?”

“I don’t know who or why.”

That doesn’t sound good. “He’s still out there?”

Lily nods. She and Josh are still in danger.

“Lil—” Olivia’s chest hurts out of fear for them.

Lily touches her arm. “There’s so much I have to tell you, but ...” She looks back over her shoulder and Olivia sees Lily’s longing plainly etched on her face. She wants to get back to her son, and Olivia doesn’t blame her. Someone is still out there looking for them.

She rests her hand over Lily’s. “Wait ... Before we go back, there’s something I have to tell you. I know about Dwight, that he’s not your dad. I know he ... that ...”

“That what?” Lily folds her arms. “That Benton St.John was my dad?”

Olivia exhales roughly. “Yes. That.”

“I found out the night I left.”

“Mom mentioned that. She said you overheard them arguing. She also said you know Dwight killed him.”

Lily blinks. Her mouth falls open. “Mom told you that?”

“Yeah, it’s horrible, isn’t it?” she asks, confused by Lily’s reaction. Why is she shocked if she already knew?

“My god.” Lily roughly rakes both hands through her hair.

Olivia’s pulse pounds in her throat. Apprehension moves through her, starting at her toes and rising like a sealed room filling with water, threatening to suffocate her. “What’s wrong? Is there something else?” She’s not sure she can handle more revelations about her dad.

Lily stares at her, thunderstruck. “You’ve got it all wrong. Dwight didn’t kill my dad.”

“Then who did?”

CHAPTER 36