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“Is she out in San Francisco? I’m sure she would like it here if she came. Or they could split their time.”

“It’s not anything like that. Their mother is dead. Her last wish was for them to go to a private school out in San Francisco.”

Kerry’s eyes went wide. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t . . . Are they going?”

“As soon as my apartment is fixed.”

“I see. Does Jade know?”

“She knows about the school . . . but not the reason why it’s so important. I don’t want to make this any harder than I have to.”

Kerry slowly nodded.

“I know you love gossiping, but this will make it so much worse if we fight over this. I don’t want things to end the way they did last time. I’m trusting you, Kerry. Please don’t tell anyone.”

Her face crumpled and she looked like I was holding her at knifepoint in order to keep a secret.

But she nodded. “Okay, but this is going to kill me. You know that, right?”

“I’ll find a way to pay you back.”

“It better be good.”

“Trust me.” I gave her a tight smile. “I’m really good at paying people back.”

53

JADE

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Marjorie Brown: Listen to me. Don’t trust the birds. They’re listening too.

Comments:

Kerry Winsor: What??? I don’t understand this code.

Jade Clark: Uhh, me either. Marjorie, what?

Marjorie Brown: DIDN’T YOU HEAR ME? DON’T TRUST THE BIRDS!!!

It wasn’t hard finding both Kevin and Toby. Ever since they discovered they could sell us out, they were surprisingly present.

Kevin’s car was parked in front of town hall and he was still sitting inside it. I darted across the street and slapped the printed-out email I’d received from the county clerk’s office onto his windshield.

“Eat this, asshole!” I yelled.

Kevin jumped out of his skin and nearly dropped his phone. When he realized what had just happened, he frowned and slowly got out of his car.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

“You can’t take those trees down,” I said. “They’re historical.”

Kevin rolled his eyes and took the paper. He read it once. Twice. Then three times.