Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
“Fine.” She huffs. “What do you want to know?” she repeats, getting us back on track.
“I was just talking to the Matthews before you barged out. They said there was an incident here. What happened?”
She laughs haughtily. “Why don’t you ask that girlfriend of yours? You know she’s Pip, right?”
“How did you know that?”
“You left. I saw her grow up. Saw her after she changed her looks. If you had come back, you’d have known too.”
I ignore the jab and continue my course.
“Why would she know? Was it with Pippa’s dad?”
Her eyes narrow in on me, seeing right through my motives.
I guess someone like her would easily be able to wade through the bullshit to see down to the truth of things. When someone makes it their life’s work to drag dirt up for money, they know the tells.
“Oh, I see. You don’t want her to know you’re snooping in on her life.” She shakes her head, chuckling. “You trying to find out if he hurt her?” She smiles widely, her yellowed, rotting teeth exposed. “Well, that will cost you.”
I throw down another twenty-dollar bill. Maybe that will loosen her lips. She narrows her eyes, readying to ask for more, but I shut her down. “That’s all you’re getting, so get on with it,” I tell her through clenched teeth.
“Nope. He didn’t. He might’ve ignored her, but he never hurt her.”
“He didn’t?” I shake my head, confused.
“Nope.” She pops her p.
My hand lifts to my forehead while my other hand rests against my hip. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“He was harmless,” she says, coughing into a fist. “At least from what I remember. Now the Sawyer boy, that’s another story.”
My head tilts to the side. “The Sawyer boy?”
She nods. “Think his first name was Ace.”
At that name, my back goes ramrod straight. I remember him. The first day I met Pip, Ace had gotten in her face. He had threatened her and me as well.
“What does he have to do with her?”
She snickers. “A whole lot, I’d say.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You wouldn’t now, would you? You weren’t even here,” she chides. “You left that poor girl all alone.”
Something about those words feels heavy. Ominous.
“Why don’t you save us both the time and get to the point,” I bite the words out.
“Not sure what it was about that girl, but she always had the older boys following her. First you…”
“You know it wasn’t like that with Pip,” I snap, unable to keep the anger at bay.
Her unspoken insinuations piss me off. I would’ve never touched Pip. Not back then.
“Do I? ’Cause the way I see it, you’re dating her now.”
“It was never like that back then. She was just a little girl.”
“If you say so,” she says. “But that Sawyer boy didn’t look at her like that. Didn’t touch her like that either.”
My fists clench in my lap. My entire body goes taut.
If he laid a hand on her, I’m going to kill him.
“Where can I find Ace? Does he still live in the trailer?”
She shakes her head. “Hasn’t lived here for eight years… give or take.”
“So where is he?” I ask, growing tired of her games. Because that’s what this is. Give a little, make you beg for more.
“Same place he’s always been…”
This woman. She’s going to make me work for it. “Spit it out.”
“The cemetery.”
47
CASSIDY
“Emma,” I cheer, as I open the door to find my friend on the other side.
“You gonna let me in or…” She smirks, and I move aside to let her pass.
Aiden said he would be gone and to make myself at home. Being as though it’s been too long, I called up Emma and made arrangements for her to come see me. I’m just glad it worked out, and she could slip away for the day.
She pulls me into a hug. “It’s so good to see you, Cassidy.” She steps back, taking in the place with a whistle. “This is…nice.”
I chuckle. “It’s perfect. Not too ostentatious. It suits Aiden,” I say, glancing around the space that’s all him.
She narrows her eyes at me. “Something’s changed. You have this whole gooey look to you.” She motions toward me. “Are you in love, Cassidy?”
She has a pinched expression, but the way her eyes twinkle tells me she’s messing with me. She doesn’t find the idea of love to be disgusting, which I know already. Emma is a sap. She loves a good rom-com and has her wedding planned for one day when she finds Prince Charming.
“Things have shifted a bit for Aiden and me.”
Emma purses her lips and walks toward a seat, patting the cushion next to her. “Care to explain?”
I do.
I tell her everything, spilling my guts about every last piece she wasn’t clued in on.
From the lie about dating him to help with his rituals, and all of that coming to light, to our past and how I knew him before.