Lies We Tell (Thistle Cove 3)

“I wonder if they’re to the same room,” Finn says.

“We’ll have to find out.”

I fan out the cards and a second one catches my attention.

It’s made of shiny, thick, black paper with red lettering and a logo on the front. The Dollhouse.

“Fuck.” Ezra grimaces, but he doesn’t look surprised.

“You knew?”

“About The Dollhouse, yes—kind of. I found a matchbook in his bedroom. I didn’t know about East Point Suites, but nothing about that man is shocking.”

“So you’ve been sitting on both keycards for months,” Ozzy asks me.

“Yes, it appears so.”

He shakes his head. “No more secrets.”

“I promise.”

The boys in the back nod in agreement. I shift the car in gear and press the gas. We’d started this with the goal of finding out who belonged to the suite in the city. We may already know. I glance in the rearview mirror at Ezra, watching him glare out the window. If his father was involved with Rose…well, that turns this whole case upside down.

The East Point Suites are connected to one of the newer developments in the area. It’s mixed use—apartment, condos, townhouses, interspersed with shopping and dining. The Suites seem to be long-term rentals, somewhere between a hotel and an apartment.

“It’s probably not still rented,” Finn says. “If it was Rose’s, I mean. Why would they keep it if she’s gone?”

“That’s the question I guess,” I say, twisting to see him. One question of a million questions.

Ezra opens the door. “I guess we should find out.”

He walks ahead of us, shoulders tense. We started this to find out about Rose, but Ezra may discover information about his dad he doesn’t want to know.

“Ez,” I call, “you don’t have to do this.”

“Yeah, KK, I do.”

We wait at the elevator bank and a woman walks up, carrying a bag from one of the boutiques we passed around the corner. She’s young—maybe college-age—and dressed very nicely. Her light brown hair stick-straight and her sunglasses wide and oval, nails fake and filed sharp. Even wearing glasses, it’s obvious that she checks out the boys, particularly Ezra. He’s oblivious, lost in his own thoughts, and doesn’t look her way.

The bell announces the car and we all go inside. I press the second floor and I look at her.

“Same. Two.”

The ride is quick, and we file off. Suite 214 is to the left. The woman goes to the right.

We walk down the carpeted hallway and stop in front of the door.

“Do we knock?” Ozzy asks.

“Try the key.”

“Which one?” Ezra asks. He’s holding both.

“Rose’s. We’re here to find out about her.”

My heart pounds as he presses the magnetic strip over the pad and a light blinks; first red, then flips to green. Ezra turns the handle and the door opens.

“Shit,” Finn mutters. I reach over and take his hand, to steady him and myself.