Page 86 of No More Secrets

The venom in her voice stuns him. “What are you talking about?” Then he remembers the article he read about Lily inLuxe Avenue. Lily hadn’t seen their mom either. “Where’s mom?”

“You need to ask Lily.”

His eyes narrow. He doesn’t like the sound of that. “Tell me.”

“Lucas, you’ve missed a lot. There’s so much you don’t know.”

She pulls at the ends of her hair, and something catches the light. His chest tightens. “Like that ring on your finger?”

She holds her hand out to look at her ring.

“Blaze?” he asks, and she nods. “I’m happy for you.” He’s pleased they reconciled. They belong together. Lucas has thought that since they were kids and spent their summers at the lake with the Whitmans.

“I’ll catch you up later.” Her gaze swings to the door. “Listen, time’s almost up. Stop worrying about Dad. You didn’t do it, and leaving me to deal with the burial and the police was totally uncool, but I get it. Right now, you need to focus on getting your charges dropped. Lee thinks Shiloh’s mom has a weak case. Let’s hope he’s right.”

At the mention of Shiloh’s name, his head lifts. “How is she?” He’s been frightened on her behalf.

“You shouldn’t even be asking after her.” Lucas glares, and she rolls her head. “Fine. From what I’ve heard, she’s fine. Sophie’s gone to check on her.”

She’s the last person short of Ellis who should be anywhere near Shiloh. So much had been going on at the time he was arrested that he almost forgot what he’d overheard. “You know Sophie’s a bounty hunter. Did you hire her to find me?”

“Lily did. She—”

The door swings open. Officer Toth fills the doorway. “Time’s up, Carson.”

38

Shiloh jams a knife into the toaster to wrangle free the sliced bagel she forced into the slot. She’s home, and Ellis is gone. When her mom realized Shiloh ran away, she filed a missing person report and a restraining order the same day. Harmony says she isn’t using anymore, and in her quest to make it up to Shiloh, she cleaned the apartment from floor to ceiling as soon as the police sent word that they’d located her daughter and were bringing her home.

Shiloh can’t recall the last time their place has been this clean, or if it ever was.

She’s relieved but worried, happy yet sad, hopeful but wary, and grateful yet bitter.

Hair bundled in a topknot, she wears athletic shorts and a thick hoodie. She wipes butter grease off her fingertips on her sweatshirt, which makes her think of the sweatshirt she’d worn two weeks straight and threw away in the hotel room after Lucas bought her clothes at Target. They told her he was arrested for kidnapping, trafficking, and unlawful confinement of a minor. Her mom believes he planned to sell her for sex. Shiloh told the police Lucas saved her from an assault, and that she was with him willingly. She ran away from home because her mom was an addict and her live-in boyfriend attacked her. Shiloh chose to stay with Lucas. It wasn’t the other way around. She even wrote a ten-page statement detailing why she ran and why Lucas had taken her to the Grove. She wanted to go. Jenna Mason was her idol.

When she asked after him, they told her Lucas was still in jail, the charges pending. She hasn’t heard anything in two days.

She again tries to free her bagel, roughly stabbing the bread with a knife.

“You’ll electrocute yourself.”

“Like you care.” She glances at her mom over her shoulder. Harmony is wrapped in a terry robe. Her hair is brushed and eyes are clear. Yet Shiloh can’t help holding her breath. This isn’t the first time her mom has quit using on her own, but it never lasts long. Her resistance will eventually fade. Shiloh fears now that she’s home and Harmony’s no longer working closely with the police to find her, her mom will revert to her old habits of drugs and men.

The bagel slice pops free and pinwheels across the counter, leaving burnt crumbs in its wake. Shiloh catches her breakfast before it drops into the sink. Then she dusts the crumbs off the counter. Might as well keep this place clean as long as possible.

“I care,” her mom says softly behind her.

Shiloh turns to face her. “Why didn’t you believe me about Ellis?” She’s been home two days, and her mom has yet to apologize. He would have raped her if she hadn’t kneed him and ran. But by that time, his hands had already been all over her, leaving her sickened with the memories.

Her mom’s mouth turns down. She twists the robe’s sash. “I should have, and I’m sorry.”

And there it is.

Shiloh waits for the apology to sink in, to make up for the hurt her mom caused. She told Lucas she wanted him to take her home to her mom, but she wanted her mom’s apology more. That she’d forgive her mom in a heartbeat if for once her mom put her first, before the men and drugs.

But she can’t force herself to believe everything will suddenly be better. Whatever she intended to say to absolve her mom is stuck behind her ribs. She rubs her chest bone because the pressure is causing aches.

She’s heard her mother apologize before, and nothing changes.

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