Page 104 of Drifting

She smiles sweetly at him, grabbing his hands. “Honey, they’re lying to you. She’s hated me since I first showed up. All she’s trying to do is make me look bad in your eyes, so you’ll kick me out.”

I throw my hands up. “Unbelievable.”

Uncle Brett crossed his arms. “Shelby, do you have any proof that Brenda did these things?”

“Other than my red cheek and what I heard over the phone?” I bite my nail. “No.”

I need to think of something to convince Uncle Brett that I’m telling the truth.

Got it.

“Uncle Brett, when Cin ran away, why didn’t you file a missing person report?” I shoot a venomous look at Brenda, who squirms on the couch.

He leans forward in his chair. “Of course, we filed one. Well, Brenda’s the one who filed the missing person’s report. I don’t appreciate you accusing me of not caring where my daughter was!”

“She never filed a report, Uncle Brett.” I say plainly.

He stands angrily, and Dom pushes off the wall once more, ready to intercede. “Yes, it was! I remember Brenda telling me she went down the next day.”

“I’m sorry, but if that were true, then when we registered for school, an alert would have popped up. It didn’t.”

“Brenda, tell her you filed one,” he huffs out.

Brenda’s head hangs, her hands squeezing each other in her lap.

“Brenda?” he bellows.

“I forgot to file it, and I didn’t know how to tell you.” The words stumble out of her mouth.

“So, you lied to me all those times you said you checked up on it?” He towers over her. “What else are you lying to me about? Where is my daughter, Brenda? You have five second to tell me where she is before I call the police on you and your kids!”

“What did we do?” Lara whines.

“If Jack pretended to be me, then it’s safe to assume you knew what was going on,” Uncle Brett snapped.

Brenda stands. “You wouldn’t dare call the police on your wife.”

His eyes lock with hers. “Three seconds.”

“I don’t know where she ran off to this time,” she claims. “It’s not my fault.”

“Two second.”

“She’s downstairs,” Jack says.

“Jack!” his mother yells at him.

Jack looks away from his mother. “I won’t go to jail because of you.”

“The door is in the kitchen.” I motion to Nick and Mav to go find her before I make my way over to Brenda. “How long has she been down there? Do you even know if she’s alive?”

“We need a key!” Nick yells from the kitchen.

My stomach twists in horror. They locked her down there?

I tower over Brenda. “Where’s the key?”

Brenda’s lips press into a thin line, and her posture is stiff. She’s going to hold onto the key as long as she can.

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