Lies We Tell (Thistle Cove 3)

“Are you okay?”

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

We don’t stop until we’re locked in the car. We don’t speak until we’re on the highway. I tug the wig off my head and lay it flat in my lap.

“What did he say?” Ezra asks.

“He thought I was Rose. He sent me a drink, followed me to the bathroom, tried to bribe me with more allowance and a nicer apartment.”

“Jesus,” he mutters, running his hand through his hair. “What a fucking mess.”

I nod. “She was in deep.”

“Maybe she didn’t just jump off that bridge to get away from Monica Chandler—maybe she was running from someone else.”

I look over at him. “Yeah, maybe so.”

The problem is that every layer I pull back about Rose only leads to more questions. More men. More danger.

The big question is, where does it end?

9

Ozzy

“We need to talk,” Kenley says. It’s just before lunch and instead of going in the cafeteria, she gestures for us to follow her outside. Finn looks as confused as I do. Ezra? The look between them says he’s informed.

Kenley had been quiet on the way to school—and she looked like hell. She took the coffee cup right out of my hands and drank half of it before we got to the parking lot.

She leads us to a picnic table on the front lawn. It’s quiet out here. It’s cold.

“What’s up?” Finn asks, shoving his hands in his purple and gold jacket. A new state champion patch is on the sleeve.

“Last night I found something in Rose’s Eden book. It was the name of a bar in Cliffside. We,” she looks at Ezra, “went out there.”

“For what?” Finn says, looking concerned. “Why would you go there?”

“Because I’m still curious about what Rose was doing before she went missing.”

“Before she killed herself,” I clarify.

Her eyes flit to Ezra’s again and his jaw clenches tight. “If she killed herself.”

“Kenley,” Finn says, running his hand through his hair. “Don’t start this.”

“I have questions. Am I not allowed to have questions?”

“You have the need to stir up trouble,” he replies. “Just leave this. Monica Chandler is in jail. The police are watching her husband. Graduation is a few months away and then we’ll be done with this place.”

Her eyes

flash. “Will we? Because if we never really know what happened to Rose, who she was meeting, where she was going, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to move on.” She takes a deep breath. “Besides, the waitress at the bar said she saw Rose last around Halloween.”

Finn blinks and I feel my jaw drop.

“Halloween?” I ask. There’s no need to mention that was weeks and weeks after Rose went missing.

“Are you sure?”