Page 124 of Gather the Storm

Aloha put a manila envelope on the table and I reached for it as he started talking. “There were a couple of locals near Old Mountain Road on the day your girl got her special delivery, but I put the one that seemed most important on top.”

I withdrew a sheath of papers. The first was a photograph of a black sedan, the driver hard to make out thanks to the angle and the fact that he was wearing sunglasses. The second picture was a close-up of the license plate. The third piece of paper was a document recording ownership of the car to a company whose name I didn’t recognize.

But it was the fourth picture that caused something dark and fearful to settle into my stomach.

It was a closer image of the driver, obviously enhanced to clean up the picture, make it clearer.

“Fucking-A,” Jace said, looking at the picture in my hand. “It’s Calvin Conlan.”

Chapter 68

Daisy

It was a good thing I’d lived in Blackwell Falls my whole life, because I was on autopilot, barely noticing the landmarks that flew by as I navigated the Mustang toward Old Mountain Road.

I didn’t know what I’d do once I got back to the house, I only knew I needed to get as far away as possible from the Beasts and my own complicity in papering over what they’d done to Blake.

Tears streaked down my face as I drove, memories from the night of the party flooding back: Blake lying alone by the river, blood staining his chest, the family ring that had glinted on his finger, his lifeless eyes.

Wolf, Otis, and Jace had been his best friends.

And they’d killed him.

I was on Old Mountain Road, almost to the long drive leading to the house, when I spotted Calvin by the side of the road, standing next to the black Mercedes.

Fuck. Dealing with my dad’s number one goon was the last thing I needed.

I slowed to a stop and he walked over to the driver’s side window.

He wasn’t wearing the sunglasses, and I wondered if Otis’ dig had landed.

“Your father wants to speak to you,” he said.

“I can’t right now. I’m… I have something I have to do.”

Calvin shook his head. “He said now.”

“I don’t care!” I shouted. My hands were shaking, the discovery on Blake’s phone shaking me to my core. “I said I can’t right now.”

The Mustang wasn’t like newer cars, whose doors locked automatically when the car was in drive, and before I knew what was happening, Calvin had opened my door.

“What the— ” It was all I managed to say before he reached over me to unbuckle my seat belt.

He hauled me out of the front seat and shoved me toward the Mercedes. “It wasn’t a request.”

“Are you crazy?” I shouted. “This is insane! I’ll follow you in my car if it’s so important.”

“Too late,” Calvin said.

We were almost to the passenger side door. I was panicking now, my gut telling me that something was very, very wrong.

I had the impulse to run, looked at the surrounding woods and gauged my chances of making it to the house with Calvin on my heels.

But I was too slow.

Calvin held on to me with one surprisingly strong hand, opened the door, and reached into his pocket.

I had the crazy idea that he was going to pull out a gun. Instead he pulled out an innocent-looking handkerchief, the old-fashioned kind my father still used.

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