“My house? What could you possibly want that I would have?” I live in a two-bedroom shack and the most valuable possession inside that house is my great-gran’s urn.
“It’s not something of yours. It’s something of your stepdad’s. It’s a brown wooden box about as big as a Bible with a biblical scripture on it. ‘But if you do not forgive others for their sins. Our father will not forgive you for your sins.’”
I side-eye him with a raised brow. “Rick used to say that to me all the time. How do you know that verse?”
He ignores my question completely. “It would be hidden. I want you to go there and find it.”
I shake my head. “No. I can’t ever go back there. I just can’t. Why can’t you go?”
Standing up, he screams, “You will go and you will find it!” His words cause my body to wince in fear.
“Why can’t you go find it?”
“I’ve been there three times and came up empty-handed each time. You’ve lived there for years and should know every crack and crevice in that place. I’ll be watching to make sure you’re safe.”
“But Rick will see me. He’ll turn me in.”
“Rick won’t be there. You’re going tomorrow during the morning service.”
It seems that I have no choice. But I do have some leverage, and a way to leave Lars out of it. “If I do this, I want enough money to leave Redwood and never come back.”
“Deal,” he spits out, like it’s nothing for him to hand over a hundred grand.
“I didn’t say how much. I need enough to last me for a while. Like, thousands.”
“You get me that box and if you still want to leave come Monday morning, I’ll give you the money to go. In fact, I’ll even book your flight. But there’s one more thing. Don’t you dare open that box. If I even suspect you’ve tampered with it, it’s also game over.”
Curiosity is really getting the best of me. I can’t even try to guess what this box could have in it that Zed wants. But, if this sets me free, I’m on board. “Ok. I’ll do it.”
“Good.” He smirks. “Now that we have that taken care of, whose baby are you carrying in there?” He points to my stomach. “We both know it’s not Josh’s. Is it the pastor’s demon spawn?”
Completely taken aback, my eyes pop wide open. “What?”
“You don’t have to answer me. I just hope that one day the memories escape you. Holding that shit in can really fuck a person up.”
I don’t say anything at all. I’m not sure how he knows, but he does. I’ll never admit it to anyone. I’d die first.
“You’re a good person, the baby will turn out just fine.” He begins to walk away from me, leaving me strapped to the chair.
“Hey, Zed?”
Glancing over his shoulder, he looks at me.
“Don’t tell anyone. K?”
He zips his lips up and tosses the invisible key into a hole dug in the cement slab of the floor.
I shouldn’t believe him, but I do. Something tells me that Zed has secrets of his own.
20
My mind is completely blown that these guys are putting together a party right now. Talon paces back and forth in front of the fireplace with his ear pressed to the phone. “Yep. Just bring friends. That’s all we ask. See ya then, man.”
It’s true that Talon throws a few annual parties, but when they are this forced, it can only mean one thing—someone’s planning on fucking some shit up and needs an alibi.
The Halloween party was the night that we were trying to frame Marni. Now, here she is, making calls and helping these guys throw this thing together at the last minute. She’s still pissed at me for telling her dad the truth, but she’s also relieved that he’s no longer implicated. She said they had a talk and she told him that she’s ok with waiting for her trust fund until she’s married. I mean, why wouldn't she be ok with it? Talon has enough money to buy the entire town. She’s set for a while.
“Lars.” Tommy angles his head to the door. “You’ve got company.”
My feet carry me quickly to the window and I look outside and see Madison walking up with a fucking basket of cookies. She’s wearing a pink dress that barely covers her ass and heels as long as my cock when it’s hard. “Great.” All eyes shoot to me, but no one says a word. “I’ll be back,” I tell them.
Pulling the door closed behind me, I stand under the neon glow of the porch light. “What are you doing here?” I sigh.
“Baked you some cookies.” She hands me a basket and I snatch it from her hand and look inside at the perfectly rounded cookies and there is no way in hell that Madison made those.
I drop it down at the side of my foot. “You need to leave.”
“Listen Lars, I know things have been weird lately, but it’s going to get better soon, I promise.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that with Willa gone, we can finally be together.”
My heart jumps into my throat. “Willa's gone?”
“Yeah. She’s gone for good. At first, I thought that maybe you and I could raise the baby together. I mean, it’s a part of you, so I thought that I could love it no matter what. But then I realized, I’ll never be able to love a child that was conceived between you and another girl, so I let him get rid of her.”
My legs buckle and I lean back against the door to brace myself. Get rid of her? “What are you talking about?”
“Zed. He came to me and told me that he would take care of
