Page 97 of The Complete Truth Duet
River stared at him, incredulous. “You get a two-for-one deal on Penn’s coffin? Because that’s where you’re headed.”
Drew opened his mouth, but I got there first.
“Okay, okay. Let’s take it down a notch. We’re all a little raw right now.”
“Just put the damn computer down!” she yelled at me.
My back shot straight as I stared at her, tears filling our eyes. But before I could even contemplate the appropriate response, she raced back to the bathroom and slammed the door.
“Shit,” I hissed. “Shit. Shit. Shit.” My shoulders shook as I buried my face in my hands.
Drew was at my side in the next heartbeat. “Hey, shhhh.” He rubbed a hand up and down my back. “She’ll be okay.”
“I don’t think the word ‘okay’ is going to be in any of our vocabularies for a very long time.”
He guided my head down to his shoulder. “But we gotta try.”
My breathing stammered. “Why did he leave me and go to the building that night?”
“I don’t know,” he replied.
I sniffled and righted myself, glancing at the bathroom door when the sound of the shower made an encore. River was no doubt crying her eyes out in there. Damn kid was so stubborn that she wouldn’t even let me comfort her.
Speaking of stubborn kids…
I cleared my throat and nabbed my phone off the bed. “I need to try the hospital again.”
“Savannah’s a minor. They’re not going to tell you anything over the phone.”
“Maybe not. But if I could get the right person on the phone, you never know. They might have a heart.”
He moved back to his bed, muttering, “Yeah. Maybe.”
I was searching for the hospital number again when my phone started ringing, my pulse skyrocketing when the word unknown flashed on the screen.
“Hello,” I all but yelled.
“Holy shit, are you okay?” Catalina greeted.
My body crumbled as relief, agony, and adrenaline formed an earth-shattering combination inside me.
“No,” I choked out, slapping a hand over my mouth.
“What the hell is going on? I just saw on the news. Are Marcos and Dante really dead?”
“Yeah,” I whispered.
I had no idea how that was going to go over. She hated them, but they were still her brothers.
“What the hell happened?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Honestly, I have no fucking idea.” I glanced at Drew, who was swirling a paper cup of coffee and studiously pretending not to listen. After opening the drawer, I grabbed a few dollars off the top. “I’m gonna grab a pop,” I told him and then pointed to the bathroom. “Keep an ear out for her.”
He gave me curt nod, and I hurried out.
“Hey, you still there?” I asked, shutting the door, double-checking to make sure the lock had engaged.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Cat replied. “I think I’m in shock though. I can’t believe they’re gone.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I—”
“Sorry?” she snapped. “I’m about to plan a party. Cora, this is huge for us.”
It did feel huge. But it didn’t feel good. It burned like the hottest, sharpest knife slicing through me with methodical timing. Even in their death, they’d managed to punish me one last time.
“They killed Penn.”
She cursed softly.
I swept my gaze through the hall, thankfully finding it empty. “Listen, something’s not right here. It doesn’t add up. Before the fire, Penn got into my safe, left his truck keys and a note that said, One in. One out. And he took down all the stars off my ceiling, Cat.”
“Oh, wow.”
“It gets weirder too. He left the stars in his truck, inside his toolbox, along with all of my pictures and important papers…and the money from the wall.”
“What!” she gasped. “You got the money?”
I laughed, but it broke into a cry. “Oh, honey, you have no idea. I have all the money. Penn left me over a million dollars in cash.”
“Wh… I’m sorry. What did you say?”
I ducked into the vending area when I heard a room door open nearby. I watched a happy couple, holding hands, meander to the elevator too lost in each other to notice I was there.
“You heard me. It was the exact amount, right down to the cent, that I told him I needed to get free of this life.”
“You said he was the maintenance guy. Where did he get cash like that?”
“I have no idea. His brother, Drew, the one that was tight with your father in prison—he’s just as clueless as I am.”
“Don’t you dare let that man try to get his hands on that money.”
“He’s not trying to take it!” I whisper-yelled. “He’s sleeping on a bed next to me like a bodyguard. I have no idea what is going on right now. But something is seriously not right.”
“Shit. Okay, let’s breathe for a second and think this through. There’s got to be an explanation. Maybe he was one of those secret millionaires.”
“This is not a fucking movie!” I snapped. “Jesus, Cat. He had motion sensor cameras in all the hallways. Drew said he installed them almost a month earlier, but Penn never mentioned it to me. I watched the video, and he very obviously carried my money out of the building in his toolbox. But where did the other money come from? It wasn’t in his apartment. He didn’t carry it down. It just magically appeared in the back seat of his truck.
