“Crazy to think we’re not kids anymore, huh?” Ruby blurted out, propping her chin in her hand. “Remember that first time you drove me anywhere? You’d just gotten your license, snuck your parents‘ car out to take me for a ride, and ended up driving us straight into the river.”


    The memory felt so close, Theo found himself smiling before he realized it.


    Ruby yed with her hair, acting casual, but every word had a purpose.


    She wanted Theo to remember how wild and free they used to be–wanted to remind him, in her own roundabout way, that he hadn’t always been so careful.


    It’s only when you start missing the past that you want to chase after it again.


    The car rolled to a stop in front of the Martin family’s house.


    Thunder grumbled in the distance, the sky ready to open up.


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    Ruby nced up. “I’m going in. You should get home before the weather gets worse. Drive safe.”


    She swung the door open and hopped out in one smooth move.


    The rain started to fall, big heavy drops, as she hurried up the walkway. Raising her arm to shield her face, she dashed inside and disappeared.


    Theo watched her vanish through the door, her silhouette flickering for a second before she was


    gone.


    It reminded him of a night back in high school when the sky looked just like this–he’d dropped her off, and she’d run inside just the same way.


    For a moment, he felt seventeen again. <fnaadb> Get full chapters from find?novel</fnaadb>


    He drove back to the Newtons‘ ce. Kelly was still up, sitting at the dining table with a bowl of bird’s nest soup she barely touched, just absentmindedly stirring.


    “Did you drop Ruby off?” she asked.


    “Yeah,” Theo answered softly.


    Kelly <i>looked </i>over and let out a sigh. “I get that it’s hard to let go of someone you grew up with, but you have to start thinking about yourself, too. Patricia’s back, and who knows what she’s after. If you keep hanging out with Ruby, people are going to start talking.”


    “I know<i>,” </i>Theo said quietly. He knew exactly what it meant–for him, for Ruby–being this close.


    “Why aren’t you in bed?” he asked.


    “You go ahead. I’m waiting for a call.”


    The wind picked up, rattling the windows. Kelly just sat there, perfectly still, waiting for something important.


    Some things, she thought, could only be settled on stormy nights like this.


    Greg left the gallery and trudged back to his cramped apartment, dead tired. He hadn’t even had a


    <b>10:43 </b>


    Chapter <b>111 </b>


    chance to lie down when a crack of thunder hit and the whole ce went dark.


    He sat there for a minute, not really wanting to deal with it–this cheap ce was just somewhere to


    sleep.


    He checked his phone. Ten percent battery left.


    With a sigh, he grabbed his keys and went downstairs to the fuse box, flipping the breaker.


    Back upstairs, it was still pitch ck. He was sure he’d left the lights on. If it was just the breaker<b>, </b>the power should be back by now.


    But nothing.


    A woman’s words echoed in his mind: You’re going to die. You won’t just lose the money–you’ll lose your life.


    Panic mmed into him. He grabbed his phone and bolted, tearing down the stairs.


    Footsteps echoed behind him, closer and closer.


    Greg burst into the rain, running straight for the busiest street he could find.


    His shoe flew off somewhere along the way, but he didn’t stop. He just kept running, desperate, until


    he stumbled into a police booth and copsed inside, gasping for air.


    “What happened?” The officer on duty jumped up, startled by Greg’s wild entrance.


    Greg pointed outside, breathless, face white as a sheet. “Someone’s trying to kill me.”


    The cop threw open the door and checked the street.


    Nothing. Just darkness and rain. No one in sight.