He’s in a daze, but he nods, and with every bit of adrenaline, I pull his arm around my shoulder and boost him up until we’re both standing.
“Wait, wait,” he slurs and nods back toward the tub. “Grab my backpack. My money and shit is in it.”
Without thinking, I lean back and sling one strap of his backpack around my shoulder. I unlock the door and pull him into the hallway. Stern voices sound from downstairs.
“We’re going to have to hide.”
I shove the bedroom door open to the right of us and drag Danny in.
There’s a huge bed in the corner of the room, and Sean’s passed out face down. Next to him is a closet. Unless I want to throw myself and Danny out a second-story window, we’re about to hide in a fucking closet.
But before I get to the doors, a blinding stream of light hits my back, and time stops.
“Freeze!” A commanding voice fills the room. “Put your hands up and turn around slowly.”
“Danny, you have to stand on your own,” I grit out between my teeth.
Danny doesn’t say anything.
I spin slowly, my hands up, and he stays standing beside me, swaying but sobering up quickly.
I look straight into the eyes of the police officer, but a buzzing glow pulls my attention to the floor right behind them.
It’s my phone, and it’s ringing.
Penny’s face lights up the screen.
She’s calling me, and I can’t answer.
My heart splits in two, bleeding out, and everything after that doesn’t matter.
38
Penny
NOW
Breathing in the crisp winter air, I stare at the swaying pine trees as I walk toward my car.
Am I more like them now?
The woman I was when I entered the prison is miles away. She’s a version of me I will never get to be again, not after learning the truth. But maybe that’s how it’s meant to be.
I feel like I’ve slipped into a parallel world—one where nothing makes sense, where my past isn’t haunting me but suffocating me.
And I want to blame Nan for not telling me, given that she even knew the whole truth. But I’ll never get that answer from her, I know that.
I reopened two decade-old wounds I kept buried, and logically, I know that’s going to take time to heal, to process, but patience is a language I’ve never spoken fluently.
My heart hammers, and I fumble for the key in my pocket and lean against my baby-blue car.
All I can think about is all those years I let the phone ring, skipped visits with Fia and Nan because I thought I was protecting myself. Now I’m not sure I was.
A swell of sobs catches in my throat, and I grip the cold metal of my car door. I clamp my eyes shut, fighting the tears. There’s no way I can drive like this.
Over my shoulder, I glance at the building where Danny’s kept, and my heart pulls in my chest. I feel raw. Flayed open and numb at the same time.
“We go from here.”
