Page 31 of Where Daisies Breathe (Star Meadows #2)

AVA

E llis responds to my text within a couple of minutes.

I tell him what’s happening, and within a minute he’s arrived at the top of the stairway.

He’s out of breath, an indicator that he ran here.

As he reaches the top of the stairway, his gaze descends to the girl on the floor and me kneeling beside her.

He rushes over with his phone in his hand. Then he kneels beside her, his gaze roving over her, and then he presses his finger to her wrist, checking for a pulse.

“The guy that did this took off?” he asks, glancing at me.

I nod but hitch my finger over my shoulder. “He stumbled out from that place.” I look back at the girl. “I’m worried she might not be the only girl that’s been drugged.” Saying the words aloud has me rising to my feet.

“Don’t go in there. I’m calling for an ambulance, and then I’ll go check it out.” He dials a number on the phone.

I peer over my shoulder as Ellis talks to the emergency responder. I need to tell him that I thought I saw Clover come up here—it’s why I did. But what if he thinks I’m insane?

“Okay, they’re on their way.” He pushes to his feet while shoving his phone into his back pocket. “Stay with her while I investigate what’s going on.”

He starts to step past me, but I capture him by the arm. He blinks at me in puzzlement.

“I need to tell you something.” I shove down the impulse to lie. ‘I know this is going to sound crazy, but I thought I saw Clover go into the party. That's why I came up here. I thought I saw her in the bar, so I followed her outside, and she came here.”

A crease forms between his brows. “Ava.” His tone carries pity.

“I know it wasn’t actually her.” Don’t I? “But it felt like the person—whoever they are—wanted me to believe they were Clover. And they were trying to lead me there.” I point at the doorway the girl and guy stumbled out of.

Ellis considers what I said, confusion consuming his features. “Stay here.” He turns and carefully walks down the narrow hallway toward the doorway with his hand hovering over where his gun holster is.

I return my attention to the girl as she lets out a quiet moan.

“It’s going to be okay,” I tell her, hoping I’m right.

But in the back of my mind, Clover’s face haunts me. Pale skin, hollow eyes, shallow breathing, white hair spilled across the concrete floor…

“Clover,” I whisper as I lean over her body. “Don’t leave me, please.”

Her skin is pale, her lips blue, her eyes void of all emotion.

What happened?

How did I get here?

Why is she dying?

She blinks, her chest rising and falling as she gasps for air…

She’s not dead…

“I’m dying,” she whispers, gasping for air again.

I shake my head. “No, you’re not.”

She stares up at me, her eyes glassy, and whispers one final word. “Daisies.”

“Yeah, daisy friends forever,” I whisper back as she takes her final breath.

Daisies. I’d forgotten she said that to me.

At the time, I believed she was referring to our daisy friendship.

But her wallet had a daisy on it, and Camilla mentioned Clover hiding her secrets in the daisies.

Was she referring to Clover’s wallet that she always carried with her?

Or a specific spot where daisies grow? Like, say on that piece of property with the house that Ellis and I are looking into?

It might be a long shot, but what if it isn’t?

I need to tell Ellis this once he comes out of the apartment.

I glance at the doorway that Ellis disappeared through. Sirens are echoing from outside, and the music from the apartment suddenly quiets. Shouting follows. Then a few guys come barreling out of the doorway and run by us.

“Am I going to be okay?” the girl whispers to me, her glassy eyes staring up at me.

I nod, glancing from her to the doorway, then back to her. Where the hell is Ellis?

“Don’t you dare fucking move!” Ellis shouts over the clattering of glass.

A second later, an older man with a scruffy face and grey hair sprints out of the apartment. His face is familiar, but it takes a moment for it to click.

Jerry, the landlord of the trailer that Clover and her mom used to live in.

He skitters out of the apartment, nearly tripping over the loose carpet in the hallway. Then he runs for the stairway, which is right beside me. Ellis stumbles out not too long after and yells at Jerry, who quickens the pace. But as he nears me, his eyes land on me, then the girl.

He misses a beat but then runs faster.

Anger flares through me.

Anger for the girl’s hand I’m holding.

For Clover.

For every fucking girl that’s been hurt in this town.

And as Jerry passes by me, I stick out my leg and trip him.

He falls onto the floor in a heap of limbs and grunts.

His head slams against the wall, and he curses as he rolls over and attempts to push back up to his feet.

Blood trickles from a wound on his hairline.

When he gets his feet under him, he stumbles back down.

Ellis catches him then, shoving him back down on the floor. Then he pins him down and slaps a pair of handcuffs on his wrists.

“Get the fuck off of me,” Jerry growls out, flinging his head back.

Ellis dodges the move, then hauls him to his feet and begins reading him his rights. Then he retrieves his phone and calls for backup.

“Fuck you, man. I didn’t do anything! They wanted the drugs!” Jerry babbles on, high as hell.

Ellis struggles to keep him still and has to move him to the side when the paramedics arrive.

I move out of the way and let them work on the girl.

As I’m stepping away from her, I peer over my shoulder at the doorway that leads to the now quiet apartment.

The sight of the woman with blond hair hurrying in there keeps replaying in my head.

She looked like Clover.

So fucking much like her.

But it couldn’t be her.

I know this.

And yet…

I need to know for myself.

I check that Ellis and the paramedics are still distracted, then I hurry toward the doorway. I take a few measured breaths in an attempt to calm myself down. But nothing could prepare me for what’s inside.

There are about five girls who appear to be around seventeen and are in the room. And all of them look like they’re dead.