You'll Be the Death of Me(74)

“So you killed Boney?” I say. “Or had him killed? Which is it?”

Lara lets out another short, humorless laugh. “That’s what you think? Really? And here I thought you knew me, Cal.” I stare at her, wordless. “Whatever your sneaky little friend found in my planner—it wasn’t mine.” She gestures toward the plastic bag still dangling from my fingertips. “And those aren’t mine. But you bought into it, didn’t you? You thought they were. Which is exactly what he wanted you to think.”

“Who?” I ask. “Dominick Payne?”

I take a step back and wait for her reaction, almost eager to see how stunned she is that we figured it out. And she does look shocked, but not in the way I expected. “Dominick?” Lara asks, almost choking on the name before her mouth settles into an incredulous half smirk. “You think Dominick Payne is some kind of drug lord? How do you even—no.”

“No?” I hate the uncertainty in my tone, but I’m not ready to give up on Dominick Payne. Partly because he fits so well, but also because…who the hell else is there?

    “No.” Her lip curls. “So you’ve been playing detective, huh? I’m disappointed, Cal. I would’ve expected a better guess.”

“Why?” I ask, frustrated.

Lara zips the top of her bag and fixes me with a disdainful look. “Because the answer is right in front of your face.”





IVY


Gravel crunches beneath my tires as I turn left onto a private way. “Arrived,” my GPS informs me, and I’m confused. Why would Daniel and Trevor be here? There’s only one house that I can see. It’s lit up, but there’s no car in the driveway. Ahead of me, parallel parked on the side of the road, is another car with its headlights on. Beyond that, everything looks deserted.

Unease flutters in my stomach, and I pull out my phone to text Daniel. I’m here. I think?

His reply is near instant, and the headlights flash on the car in front of me. I see you.

What are you guys doing here?

Trevor needed to drop stuff off for a friend, but they’re not home, and now the car won’t start. We think it’s the battery.

My nerves fade as I text back, I’ll get the jumper cables.

Park closer first, OK? I’ll pop the hood.

OK, I reply, before dropping my phone onto the seat beside me so I can inch the car forward. Trevor has his brights on, and I can’t see beyond the glare. I stop when I’m a few feet away and shift into park, leaving the ignition running as I open the door.

    “Is this close enough?” I call as I step outside, but the other car’s doors haven’t opened. I wait a beat, tapping my foot on the gravel. Daniel doesn’t answer, probably too busy laughing it up with Trevor about something inane, and all the sibling resentment I pushed aside earlier starts to trickle back. That didn’t last long.

“Don’t rush. I’ll do it all myself,” I mutter, spinning on my heel to head for the trunk. Then I make a concerted effort to tamp down my irritation. I am a good person, doing a good and helpful thing, I chant to myself as I open the trunk and start moving all the blankets and recyclable shopping bags aside. I am a good person, doing a good and helpful thing.

If I weren’t such a good person, I’d probably be annoyed that nobody comes to help before I finally unearth the cables. It’s more than a little galling that my inaugural selfless act benefits a couple of lazy ingrates like my brother and Trevor. “Found them!” I call, stepping beside my car and waving them at the still-blazing headlights.

And then, finally, the other car’s door opens. The driver’s side, not the passenger’s side.

“Trevor?” I ask, squinting into the lights. It’s definitely not my brother; the shape isn’t tall or broad enough for him. “Where’s Daniel?” He doesn’t reply, and as he gets closer, I realize it’s not Trevor, either. The lines of a face finally emerge, and I blink in confusion when I realize who it is. “Hi,” I say. “What are you—”

His hand reaches out, lightning-quick, yanking the cables so hard that I go sprawling at his feet. “Ow!” I yell as sharp pieces of gravel bite into my palms and my knees. “What is the matter with you?” I try to stand up then, but a hand reaches out, shoving me back down, and I realize I shouldn’t be angry. I should be scared.

    I open my mouth to scream, and a hand clamps over the bottom half of my face. Suddenly it’s hard to breathe, and panic floods my entire body as I’m hauled roughly to my feet.

“Sorry about this, Ivy,” says a familiar voice in my ear. “I really am. But I didn’t have much of a choice.”





MATEO


Gabe tries to fight back, but there’s no point. I’m a lot bigger than him, and a lot angrier.

I duck all of his badly aimed punches and throw him flat on his back, straddling him and pinning his hands until all he can do is struggle helplessly like a trapped bug. “How did you know?” he wheezes.

I didn’t, for sure, until I heard Gabe’s signature greeting coming from the number that texted the security code to Boney. But right before then, when I zeroed in on Gabe’s picture among Autumn’s collage, I remembered what Charlie had said in Ivy’s living room: You probably got on their bad side, if they switched your name out with your cousin’s. Don’t antagonize the Weasel, man! There’s only one person who hates me that much—and, I guess, cares about Autumn that much—while also being someone who’s at every party, and somehow had the money to buy himself a show-off muscle car despite not having a job. And that’s the guy pinned beneath me.