“That Brian was violent.” I remembered Austin’s words.
“Once I said that, Shelly was all-in. You were her mission. She wanted to save your life, whether you wanted to come along or not.”
I glanced at the boxes now. “You were supposed to move?”
“That was the other deal. As soon as we got the adoption papers signed, we were supposed to move. Jace was furious when we didn’t go, but I couldn’t convince Shelly to go. We didn’t want to argue where Mandy and Austin could overhear, so we left. We’d go to a hotel and check in and just fight about it.”
“Those were some of your trips?”
“Some of them. I’d get another reminder from Jace that we had to move, so I would call her to meet me. She didn’t want to move. That was the one thing she put her foot down about. She didn’t want to upset Mandy or Austin’s social lives. She said their well-being was too shaky and she wouldn’t do any more emotional harm to our children.” A hollow laugh came out of him, sounding like it was being dragged from the bottom of his throat. “I told her the truth. Once the adoption set-up came out, I told her most of it.”
“What sealed the deal for her to agree to move?”
“Jace threatened to kill Mandy.”
I felt as if a knife had been plunged into my gut. It was invisible, but it was there. I could imagine Jace being in the room, smiling as he twisted the knife to the side. Hearing the same threat he gave me from Kevin had me breaking out in a cold sweat. I had to ask the next question. “When?”
“They’re already gone.”
My eyes leapt to his. “What?”
His eyes grew guarded. “Shelly took Mandy to Austin’s tournament, but they aren’t coming back. Movers are coming tomorrow, and I’m bringing everything with us. I wanted to take you with us. Shelly was supposed to convince you to come, but I can’t make you go. I’m sorry, Taryn.”
They were gone. It was already done. The knife was yanked out and shoved back into me, but a part of me no longer felt the pain.
“I haven’t heard from Jace for a while, not since his brother was killed.” He paused. “I’m assuming that’s who that was? Your ex-boyfriend? Unless that was a lie as well.”
“No,” I whispered. “Brian died.”
“I’m sorry about that too. I am, but we can’t stay. I believe Jace. I know what he’s capable of. After I leave, none of us are ever coming back.”
I’d never see them again. Then I asked one last question, “Was the adoption real? Am I really your adopted daughter?”
“No.” He didn’t look away. There was no hesitation. There was no doubt. “It was faked for Shelly’s sake. None of the documents are real. There was no real background check. Shelly just thinks it went fast, but it was all a lie.”
I nodded.
I was the lie.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Knock, knock
Tray and I turned to each other. We shared a look.
Knock, knock
“Tray! You in there?”
He ignored him and asked me, “Are you ready?”
I nodded. We had gone to a hotel after I left Kevin. There’d been only one move we could do and Tray pulled out his phone. I watched as he pressed the numbers, and then heard him say, “Chance?”
He had called the DEA. It wasn’t a long conversation with his brother. Chance told us to go to a hotel as a precaution and Tray looked at me. I already knew where I wanted to stay. “We’ll go to the hotel on Sixth Street in Pedlam.”
Tray frowned, but relayed the information. He added, “I’ll text the room number.” Then he was silent for a moment before he murmured, “Got it. Okay.”
As he hung up, I asked, “What was that last part?”
“He told me a code to use in case someone intercepts the text.”
“Does he think that’s a real possibility?”
“I don’t know.” He put the phone down and turned the car towards Pedlam. “He said not to go back home, just to be safe. I think they’re operating under the ‘better safe than sorry’ theory.”
Knock, knock
I was pulled back from my thoughts as Tray’s brother tapped on the door again. Tray went to let his brother into the room, and I stayed by the window.
Chance Evans was an older version of Tray. They had the same hazel eyes, dirty blonde hair, and chiseled cheekbones, but Chance looked more weathered. He was slightly bigger in build as well. His shoulders were a tiny bit broader, but Tray was more defined. After they embraced, Chance gazed at me for a moment. It was direct, as if seeing right through me, with a hint of caution and suspicion at the same time. I felt like I was being interrogated without any questions asked, and I straightened to my fullest height because of it. My eyes narrowed and my chin lowered in a challenge. This was my life. Gray was my friend and I wasn’t going to let a stranger cast blame on me.