Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“You’re a detective, Mom. You know damned well that she could have put a plan for the messages in place before she went into this medically induced coma.”
“Yes, she could have. But don’t you think it’s more likely that someone else wanted you to know?”
“Who else? She went to a lot of trouble to conceal the fact that she was still alive. She changed her entire identity. Wendy Madigan no longer existed on paper. She became Dyane Wingdam. She even forced Lauren to change her name.”
“Maybe it’s Lauren—or her son—who sent the messages.”
I speak up then. “I don’t think so. I’ve met Lauren and Jack.”
“And I’ve talked to my sister on the phone,” Ryan says. “She’s not behind this. This is all Wendy.”
“You’re sure about that?” Ruby says.
“Yes, baby, I’m sure. You remember her as well as I do. She’ll stop at nothing. She was ready to kill me and my father just so we couldn’t be with the people we love. Just so we would end up with her instead.”
“Except she didn’t die,” Ruby says.
“I’ve thought about that. I believe she was willing to die. And I believe she thought she killed my father. She was ready to kill me and then herself.”
“But she didn’t die,” Ruby says again. “She was clearly wearing bulletproof garments. Clearly had—”
“I’ve thought about all of that, baby. I have. My theory is that she was going to shoot herself in the head after Dad and I were dead.”
“I see.” Ruby nods. “So she was protected if something went wrong. Which it did.”
“Exactly,” Ryan says. “That’s how her mind works. She’s an evil genius. She was ready to meet her maker as long as Dad and I went with her, but on the off chance that something didn’t work out? She wasn’t ready to go yet.”
“This is still a theory,” Ava says.
“A theory, yes,” Ryan agrees. “But it’s a theory based on what your mother and I know about this woman. We know a lot about her, about how her mind works. She stayed alive for a reason. A reason we haven’t figured out yet, but believe me, there was a reason.”
“Then there’s a reason why she reached out to me and not to you and Mom.”
“Ava,” Ruby says. “Dad and I really want you to stay out of this. She’s very dangerous.”
“She’s a comatose octogenarian. Lying on a bed in your heavily secured home. In fact, I’m surprised you don’t have someone other than a nurse watching her right now.”
“We’ve already arranged for that. Her security detail will be here first thing in the morning. For tonight, I’m watching her.” Ryan purses his lips.
I sigh. “Ava, sweetie. We need to leave.”
“Go right ahead. I’m not going anywhere.”
“But your car’s not here.”
Ava pauses a moment, strokes her chin. “I’m going to do something I never thought I would do.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
She pauses again, closes her eyes, and then exhales before reopening them. “I’m going to close the bakery. I’ve been wanting to remodel anyway, and now is as good a time as any to get that started. While that’s happening, I will be devoting myself full-time to figuring out what the hell my grandmother’s doing. Why she reached out to me. And why she’s still here when we all thought she was dead.”
I drop my jaw. “Baby…”
“I’m serious,” she says. “I’ll be staying here at my parents’ house tonight. I will be staying in this room with my father. I will be here when this woman wakes up, and I will ask her, point-blank, why she has gotten in touch with me.”
I inhale.
Ava’s stance is indignant, and her countenance serious. She wouldn’t close the bakery if she weren’t completely sure she needs to be here.
I’ll step back for now.
But there’s something else at work, as well.
Because while Wendy reached out to Ava and not Ryan and Ruby, she also reached out to me.
Chapter Eight
Ava
Saying goodbye to Brendan wasn’t easy. We shared a searing kiss, and I waited outside until his truck was no longer visible driving down our winding driveway. Then I texted both Luke and Maya, telling them I was closing the bakery for remodeling and that they’d be paid for the time off. And no, I won’t be dipping into my trust fund to do so. I have some money saved to use for the remodeling, and it’s enough to take care of my people.
I wish I had my tarot deck. I do have a deck here, but I don’t like to use it. The one I have at home is a simple Rider-Waite deck, but that’s not what makes it special. What makes it special is that it’s wrapped in my grandmother Didi’s scarf.
The deck I have here—which is a fancier deck, no doubt, with intricate drawings of fairies on each card—doesn’t speak to me the way the other deck does. It’s more beautiful, to be sure, but these things don’t always make sense. So even though I want to draw a card, I resist. It will have to wait until I’m back at my place.