And rattling off one thing to my dad and mom that I can’t make out over the whipping wind.

What the hell is occurring?

I rush into the center, spewing questions. “I’m sorry, who’re you? What’s this relating to?”

They hold reciting issues to my father, however they’re manhandling my mom too. And the grey world spins and shakes. Topples to an upside-down blur. Rex holds me again, which is once I notice I’ve been pawing at these males, trying to garner solutions.

My father shouts to me, “Name my legal professionals, Celeste. And meet us there.”

“The place?” I ask.

Lastly, one of many males turns to reply, handing me a card. “FBI area workplace.”

The sleet blows towards us in a pointed and accusatory method, drenching my styled hair, my violet jumpsuit, my favourite peacoat, and the picture-perfect make-up my mom feared would smear.

However I pay all of it no thoughts, wrenching my shoulders again with the stoic air I’ve been skilled to showcase whereas trying to maintain myself from retching. “FBI? What are they being charged with?”

He shakes his head as if I’m silly for inquiring. “It’s a prolonged listing, however you possibly can inform your lawyer that on the high of the pile is conspiracy to commit homicide.”

I look previous him and yell to my dad and mom, “I’ll be there,” as my mom’s regretful brown eyes discover mine.

Once I hustle again to Doug with Rex by my facet, that FBI agent’s voice rings out by means of the frigid gale. “Hey, Miss Carver.” He pauses till I twist to see him. “You can even let your lawyer know that the important thing to chopping a deal is you. Present up able to reply questions, or your dad and mom can kiss their freedom goodbye.”

LIAM

I’m splattered in blood, painted like a goddamn warrior, when Gage’s voice roars by means of the room, ricocheting off the dank partitions.

“They’re right here.”

Prior to anticipated.

Fuck.

A fast scan of the mess we’ve made reveals the reality. It actually isn’t fucking fairly. We might have been a bit overzealous.

I whip out my Zippo. Resigned.

Snick. Flick. Flame.

“It’s fantastic. I can spin it.”

CELESTE

My father’s legal professionals will likely be assembly us on the FBI area workplace, and Doug is driving like a person possessed. To my data, my father has by no means been arrested or questioned. And my mom? What the hell has she performed, apart from make a greater life for herself after a really tough and miserable childhood?

However the query that’s stirring in my intestine, the one which has Rex rubbing my again as I dry-heave on this godforsaken limo is, What do they need from me?

I used Rex’s telephone to name everybody. Liam, Ivy, Wells, Ty, Gage. Nobody is answering. I don’t have any concept tips on how to method this, however I received’t abandon my dad and mom there. If it had been solely my father, I’d contemplate ready it out till I may observe Liam down. However my mother? She can’t be in jail. She might have grown up in a tough atmosphere, however that was many years in the past. She’d be eaten alive in there.

“Cee, you don’t say a phrase till the legal professionals get there and instruct you,” Rex advises. “Do you hear me?”

“The place the hell may they be?” I ask, blatantly blowing previous his warning. “Do you suppose one thing occurred? One thing dangerous? Is that why Liam didn’t inform me something?”

“I don’t know.” His voice betrays extra irritation than Rex usually displays. He’s a professional at holding his tongue and masking his disapproval—a trait my father requires in his males. “The one info I bought was a textual content informing me that they had been leaving and I used to be to stick with you.”

The tears, the panic, the overwhelm—the untethered breakdown—swarm me. “I can’t breathe, Rex. I can’t fucking breathe.”

How a lot can one individual take?

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