Page 49
“Are you certain?”
“Death certificates are impossible to forge. If one is issued, there is every reason to believe that person is dead.”
My heart hammers. “I know his name.”
“Tell me.”
“Nick,” I stammer. “The Archer’s real name is Nick Cross. He’s the one that abducted me.”
Silence. Then, “Is this some sort of joke?”
My heart shatters. “What?”
She’s silent for an unnerving amount of time. For a moment, I worry she might have hung up. “I’ll investigate it. Meet me tomorrow, and I will tell you everything I know about Nick Cross. Do you think you can sneak away to meet me at the Lighthouse Pub?”
Butterflies churn in my stomach. Hearing his name on her lips makes him feel real. “Yeah. I think so. I’m not on house arrest or anything. At least not yet. I just can’t give my mom a reason to suspect anything.”
She snickers at that comment. “Okay. Meet me at three PM. Don’t tell anyone you’re meeting me.”
I know the place. Can’t say I’ve ever stepped foot in there. It’s a dive bar in town. “Wait, Sarah. Don’t hang up.”
“What is it?”
A calm sense of dread fills me. “What if he kills me before then?”
She’s quiet for an agonizing length of time before she says, “If he hasn’t killed you yet, he won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“He hasn’t gotten what he wants.”
She hangs up, and I delete the call history and turn off my phone entirely. I run my fingers through my hair, pulling it at the roots. “Shit,” I bite out. I shouldn’t have called her.
The house shakes, startling me. The garage door opens, and Beth and Jake walk in, followed by Regina. I’m still gripping the knife like it’s a security blanket, shaking in my boots.
Beth stops dead in her tracks as blood trickles down my arm. I don’t remember cutting myself, but clearly, I did. “Layla, what on earth…” Beth says.
Jake runs up to me and ever so carefully takes the knife out of my hands and grabs some paper towels, leading me to the sink. “Goddammit, I knew we shouldn’t have left her. Layla, what happened?” he asks me, and I snap out of it.
The blood stained on the floor causes my head to spin. “Nothing…you just scared me. I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. I thought someone was breaking in.”
Beth and Regina exchange worried glances, and Beth says, “Everything’s going to be okay now. Regina’s here.” Everyone’s in town now. Regina, Sarah, Beth, and Nick.
Looks like everyone is home.
Chapter 22
We settle into the living room. Regina disappears to make us some tea, and my mom comes back with bandages for my cut.
“Regina’s staying in town for a couple days to watch over you,” she says, wrapping gauze around my hand to stave off the bleeding.
I wince at how bad it is. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
She looks at my cut and frowns. “Apparently, you do.” She pulls the gauze off and finishes it with a bandage. “You’re lucky you don’t need to go to the hospital.”
“Where did you and Dad go?” I ask, easing my hand away from her.
She lets out a tight breath. “Someone broke into the lumberyard. It’s the second break-in we’ve had in a matter of days. I’m sorry, we should have been here.”
