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“My sister or the truth,” Cora said simply, her eyes hooded. “Either will do. And until I get what I want, I’m going to start using this.” She wiggled the knife once more.
He stared at it, eyes fixated on the blade. She took a step forward, knife rising.
“Wait!” he yelped. “Okay, hang on, wait! I…I held something back. It was nothing. Nothing at all!”
Cora tensed. She felt a thrill of exhilaration. Goosebumps pawing up her spine.
She’d known it—her sisterhadvisited her ex, and now there he was looking like some poster-boy for a cowboy calendar, playing up all sorts of country bumpkin vibes.
He was shaking his head, though, and spitting. In this light, his eyes were a piercing blue and held an intelligence that didn’t quite jive with the rest of his features. His hair, as curled and unkempt as it was, now sans hat, looked dirty blonde more than dark. And perspiration dotted his forehead as he shook his head wildly, stammering in protest.
“I…I don’t know what you think you know. But I don’t know anything about what happened to Rose! I swear it!”
Cora tossed her knife, catching it expertly and spinning it back into her palm.
He gulped. “I can find out, though!” he stammered. “I swear it. I can find out what happened to her.”
Cora snorted. “Yeah? After all these years, you can just wave a magic wand and—”
“No! No! Listen to me. I’ve been searching too.”
She stared. “What?”
“I’ve been looking for Rose too!” he snapped. “Why do you think I stayed in this derpy little town?”
“Because you can’t get anything but a dead-end job?” Cora felt a strange aside of guilt. Her parents had lived here their whole lives—good people with good intentions. As much as she didn’t get along with them, she also was self-aware enough to know that it was somewhat her fault. Hell, she’d beenfiredfrom her last job for popping pills.
She shook her head.
“Maybe,” Gabe shot back, still doing his best to keep his cool. His lips pressed in a thin, strained line. “But I’ve been looking. And I’m close to something.Realclose.”
“To what?” she snapped. “Also, bullshit. I don’t believe you’ve been investigating on the side.”
Now he scowled at her. There was something genuinely angry about his gaze. “You’re not the only one who cared about your sister,” he snapped, his tone hard.
Cora wanted to react, but she resisted the urge to simply reach out and smack him. He had a point. She wasn’t the only one. But the implication was that Gabewasone of the people who cared about Rose, and Cora wasn’t sure she was willing to believe that just yet.
Still...
“So, what have you found?” Cora demanded.
“I know that one of the investigating cops was in the area two hours before he said he was,” Gabe shot back.
Now, Cora actually frowned, lowering her knife. “Bullshit.”
“No, it isn’t,” he said. “And I have proof. But it’s going to take me a day, maybe two, to get it. The guy I’m paying is a squirrel.”
“A...are you high?”
“No—a squirrel. He’ll bolt up a tree and leave if I try to bring someone or change the location for our meet-up.”
Cora snorted. “How stupid do you think I am?”
He blinked, then muttered, “Want me to answer honestly?”
She slapped him.
“Aw, shit! Fine—not stupid. You’re the genius queen of all the super nerds. Now let me go!”
