Page 83 of Crumbling Truth
As I turned onto the road leading out of Spruce Hill, I told him about all of it: the flowers, the phone calls, the email, the box of peanuts, even the nude photos. Alex swore under his breath when I reached the end, rubbing both hands over his face.
“You think it’s all connected to Peregrine?” he asked shakily.
I puffed out my cheeks. “I didn’t until ten minutes ago. No one lives at Peregrine year round. Who the hell would order cupcakes out there in the dead of winter?”
Neither of us had an answer to that.
Even after eighteen years, I remembered the way there, though I couldn’t quite recall whose family had owned the cottage we were at after prom. The area was one of those hidden gems only townies knew about, tucked away off the main road at a turn that non-locals barely even noticed. I wasn’t surprised Esther had trouble finding it.
This stretch of road was poorly lit, apart from the eerie glow of the snow on either side of the black pavement. When my headlights washed over Esther’s car on the side of the road, Ipulled up beside it and hopped out, leaving the truck running. Alex moved to follow me, but I waved him back.
After grabbing Esther’s phone and the purse containing her EpiPen from the floorboards, I jogged back to the truck. I wasn’t sure what the hell we were going to find when we reached Peregrine Cove, but my imagination ran rampant.
Given the nature of those threats, I wanted to be armed with epinephrine just in case.
The turnoff was only a mile from Esther’s car, but the lighthouse came into view first. I forced myself not to slow down as we drove by, though both my brother and I held our breath until we were beyond it. Alex let out a shaky sigh. I wished I could find the words to reassure him, then we were turning into the entrance of the abandoned row of cottages.
The driveway hadn’t been plowed, but there were tire tracks leading straight to a house all the way down on the left.
“It’s like a ghost town,” my brother whispered. “Theo, what’s the plan? We can’t just go crashing in there if someone’s got Esther inside.”
I flipped off my headlights as we crept along the row of cottages, but apparently we were expected. The outside lights at Number Seven flipped on, nearly blinding us, and a silhouetted figure flung open the front door. I couldn’t make out any features, but whoever it was gave a jaunty wave with a wicked-looking knife, as though inviting us in.
“Maybe you should stay in the truck,” I said quietly. “I doubt he got a good look at us. You can send the police in when they get here.”
Alex glared. “You’re an idiot. No way are you going in there alone. The chief should be right behind us.”
“There’s no sense in us both walking into danger, Alex.”
Though he didn’t look any less annoyed, he gave a slow nod. “You go in the front. I’ll wait until you’re inside and then sneak around the back. You’re not facing this on your own, brother.”
“Fine. My toolbox is in the back, find yourself something to use as a weapon. Crouch down so he can’t see you when the door lights go on.”
“What will you use?” he asked, cramming himself in the space between the seat and the dashboard.
I said nothing as I got out of the car. If Esther was a hostage, I wouldn’t give whoever was holding her here an excuse to hurt her, even if that meant walking in unarmed. Without a backward glance at the truck, in case anyone was watching from inside the house, I strode through the snow to the open door.
Whoever had waved me in was no longer standing in the doorway, so I took a deep breath, opened the creaking screen door, and went inside.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Esther
EvenafterTheosteppedinto the little cottage, I was still convinced Drew had simply gone off the deep end because I turned down a date with him four years ago. I didn’t think about why he cared that Theo would come for me—I was just really fucking grateful he did.
My hands and feet were numb from both the cold and lack of circulation. Though I’d stopped hyperventilating when Drew finally pulled me out of the trunk to bring me inside, my entire body still shook with the aftereffects of that panic. The cloying scent of lilies still permeated the air, wafting from my clothes and skin like I’d been doused in perfume.
Theo’s eyes locked on my face as soon as he walked in. They softened with relief as he looked me over, checking for injuries, and under the warmth of his gaze, I felt the tremors begin to fade.
Drew had stepped into a darkened bedroom to Theo’s left after he waved him down at the door, but not before telling me everything he would do to Theo if I gave any kind of warning.
There was no chance I would risk that.
I stayed silent, watching as Theo took slow, cautious steps toward me, trying to understand what was happening.
“Are you hurt?” he asked softly.
I shook my head, afraid to speak, but he only smiled like he understood. Once he was about ten feet from the chair Drew had shoved me into, my captor stepped out of the bedroom, still holding the stupid knife.
