We Are Us

She blinks several times, then smooths down her hair. “Fine. Just tell me where he is, where he really is, and I’ll go.”

Another chip of my composure falls away. “You don’t know?” If Tucker pla

“Poppy, this isn’t a game. The people Tucker—” She cuts off abruptly. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll tell me where he is.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t know where Tucker is. What I do know is that the FBI is investigating Tucker’s money laundering. And they asked about you, too. I might not know exactly how you were involved, but they’re going to figure out your part in his scheme.”

“You’re lying,” she says, but I can see that I’ve struck a nerve.

“Fine. Don’t believe me. You’ll find out the truth soon enough.”

“The truth?” A humorless cackle spills from her bloodless lips. “You inserted yourself between Tucker and me freshman year, launching yourself at him with pathetic desperation, and now look what’s happened. He’s gone, and it’s all your fault.”

Half of what she’s saying is true. From practically the first minute we met, Wren flat out told me that Tucker was off-limits. He was hers. But what did I do the second she looked away? I discounted her completely. I grew to want Tucker, too.

And I got him.

Be careful what you wish for.

“I have nothing to do with Tucker’s business and you know it. Can you say the same?” A long beat passes as Wren weighs her options, a muscle in her jaw twitching as she looks between me and my sister. I add, “If you’re here, trying to make me think that you weren’t in on it with him every step of the way, you’re wasting your time.”

Wren’s expression changes, as if she pulled a shade to hide her emotions. Without another word, she straightens her spine and walks out of Tucker’s office, paper crinkling under her feet.

When the front door closes, Sadie turns to me with wide eyes. “Has she always been this crazy?”

“Probably.” I shrug, glancing around Tucker’s office and resigning myself to cleaning up the mess before going to bed. Another time, I would have stewed over Wren’s performance, trying to analyze her motivation and intent. But right now, I can’t be bothered. I have enough problems of my own without borrowing hers.

I kneel down and start gathering file folders.

“Why don’t I do that?” Sadie offers. “It’s my fault for letting her in.”

“Don’t be silly.” I wave her off, forcing my mouth into what I hope is a reassuring smile. “It won’t take long. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Whatever Wren left behind can’t be very important, but I still want to look through it. I pick up the scattered pieces of paper one by one, sorting everything into its appropriate file. There are the purchase documents and deed for this apartment, his parents wills, our wedding certificate, medical records from my mother’s various rehab stays, legal documents related to her arrest, and a few other i

I’m about to put them all back in the safe when I realize I don’t have the code to unlock it once I close the door.

Just before I turn away to drop everything onto the desk, my eye snags on something at the very back of the safe. Something almost indistinguishable from the steel enclosure. My nerves are already clanging in warning as I reach for it.

But the second my fingertips brush against the delicate silver chain, I know.

I know with a searing certainty that rips into me like a bolt of lightning.

The stack of papers I just organized into neat files once again flutter to the ground as I slide down the wall… clutching Gavin’s moonstone pendant in my palm.