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I had a feeling James was going to reach out to Alex and Damian after seeing me. Call it a hunch, but it would likely be the case. He realized I was on to him. He knew I was searching for answers and only those men had them. Now was the time to send his warnings and get his ducks in a row.

I drove quickly, making sure to get a good distance away from James’s neighborhood before stopping in the lot of a closed grocery story and sending the photos I had to Kennedy.

Afterward, I typed in the address for Twilight Oaks in Maps.

Once I had it, I put the car in gear and drove in that direction.

My phone went in and out of service to the point of frustration.

There was an email from Nico with an attached document that I couldn’t open because the server kept failing. The photos I sent to Kennedy failed.

I should’ve gone straight to the diner and used the Wi-Fi.

Instead, I wanted to get more proof that James and the Reed brothers were hiding something.

There was only one person harmless enough to feed me more details.

It was now or never. I took the rocky, winding path that led to Twilight Oaks but didn’t park at the house.

I decided to park along the main path, wedged between a line of trees just out of sight.

It was about a minute walk to reach the Reeds’ house from there.

I collected my gun and attached the holster to my waistband, my phone, tossed my hood on again, and marched along the gravel.

It wasn’t until I’d neared the house that I asked myself exactly what the fuck I was doing.

Why was I breaking into houses and sneaking onto people’s property for a woman who’d betrayed me?

For a friend who likely wouldn’t have been doing the same for me if she suspected my life was in danger.

In all reality, I should’ve stayed in Charlotte and waited until Kennedy contacted me to say she’d found a body or something. Yes, it’d have been horrible to know there was a body at all, but at least I’d have been safe.

Instead, I was doing this—reckless acts that made no sense. All this for answers. All this so I could prove I wasn’t crazy. All this while hoping I would never find a body—that I’d find Eve safe and sound instead, tucked away in some hotel and ruminating over all her stupid life choices.

I walked along the edge of the woods, studying the Reeds’ house. I wasn’t sure which window belonged to Rory’s bedroom. I kept a good distance as I ventured around with quiet steps. A motion light flickered on, but it shone the opposite way, so I took that opportunity to move closer to the house.

The first window I came across revealed their living room. A large body was sprawled out on the couch, one hand on the floor, head thrown back over the arm of it. Damian. I could hear him snoring through the window.

I walked to the right, ducking to keep my head below the windows.

The next window revealed a small kitchen with a four-top table.

The walls were made of dark paneled wood, the fridge looked a decade old with magnets all over it, and there was an open laptop on top of the table.

Familiar stickers decorated the back of the laptop.

I stifled a breath.

Eve’s other laptop.

Someone passed by the window, marching so hard their steps sounded like thunder.

I ducked. A door creaked open then slammed shut.

Footsteps thudded along the pavement on the front side of the house.

I kept my back glued to the side, hidden in the shadows.

Then I peered over just a bit to see Alex opening the door of his truck and leaning in, searching for something.

While he was occupied, I made a dash for the back of the house.

Two windows were here. One window was closed and curtained so I couldn’t see a thing, but another window was partly open at the bottom, revealing just a sliver of a bedroom.

This room was painted teal, the bedspread gray, white, and pink.

A pink rug covered the center of the carpeted floor.

And sitting on top of the bed with her legs crossed and a sketchbook on her lap was Rory.

It took everything in me not to bang on her window and call her name.

Doing that would’ve scared the shit out of her.

She’d have made too much noise and alarmed her brothers.

I couldn’t have that. I lowered a bit and took in the size of her bedroom.

Her door was on the right, closed and hopefully locked.

Drawing in a breath, I took out my phone and tapped the icon for the flashlight. Then I lifted it, waving the light at the window like a small beacon. I noticed Rory’s pencil pause, then she lifted her head with her thin brows drawn together. I gave the window a gentle tap with my finger.

She put down her sketchbook and pencil, uncrossed her legs, and climbed off the bed.

Her eyes expanded when she saw me. She yanked the blinds up by the string before lowering to a squat. “Rose?” she whispered after pushing the window open. She looked at me before her eyes traveled past my shoulder where the lake was in the distance. “What are you doing? You can’t be here.”

“I know. But this is important, Rory. I really need you to tell me everything you know about your brothers and Eve.” She blinked at me, panic seizing her features.

“I—I can’t. I’ve already told you too much and now Alex is pissed.

He said he’s glad you checked out ’cause you can leave us alone now. ”

Yeah, I’m sure he is . “I know about Eve’s car. It’s in Sheriff Reed’s garage. Why is it there, Rory?”

She panicked even more, her eyes growing wet. “I—I don’t know. I think they agreed to put it there for now.”

“For now?”

“Yeah. Until they can get rid of it and make sure no one finds it.”

“But why? Why would they get rid of it? What did they do to her?”

“They didn’t do anything to her,” she retorted quickly. “Not in the way you’re thinking.”

“So, tell me what I should be thinking then, because right now, your brothers and the sheriff are the primary suspects in Eve’s disappearance.”

She made a throaty, nervous noise while glancing over her shoulder.

“I’m not letting this go until I know what happened to her, Rory.”

She blinked at me, a tear skating down her cheek.

“Just tell me if you think they’re guilty of something. Can you tell me that?” I asked.

“They aren’t guilty. They’re just . . . confused and didn’t know what to do.”

“About what?” I asked with a little less patience now.

“About the body,” she whispered.

My heartbeat slowed in rhythm. “The body ?”

“Yes,” she said as my chest tightened. “ Eve’s body.”