Page 106 of Broken Halo

“Quinn, sit down and we can talk this out. You’re an adult now, we couldn’t very much explain this to you when you were twelve.”

Agitated and confused, Quinn roughly swipes at the hurt running down her face. “No. You had your chance. You’ve had years to explain. I just … I don’t even know. I can’t be here right now.”

“Wait—” I start but she doesn’t listen.

And the woman who quickly became my friend, who is Trig’s sister, and also my cousin, turns and runs from the room we’re left standing in—shocked and surprised.

A door slams from somewhere deep in the manor.

Tommie turns to her husband in a panic. “Do something!”

But before he does, he turns to both Trig and me. “Leave our daughter alone. She doesn’t need you, she has us. She was happy and content—do not seek her out.”

Wow. This man really does not know the Montgomerys.

And it seems he doesn’t know Trig either because he expresses my thoughts exactly. “If you think I’m going to let my sister walk the earth and not be a part of her life, you’re out of your mind. You did this and my mother did this. It might’ve been in the best interest for a child, but she’s an adult. You don’t get to make those choices for her and you damn well don’t get to make them for me or the Montgomerys.”

And with that, we’re out the door of the estate faster than any butler could’ve kicked us out, if they had one.

* * *

Trig

I disconnect my call with Pettit, filling him in on the latest drama but told him to hold off telling Kipp and Hattie for now. Everything we know is based on the letters and journals of dead women.

Speeding through the streets of Highland Park to head north, I glance at Ellie, who’s frantically typing away on her phone. “What do you know about her? Where would she go?”

“I don’t know.” Ellie’s almost frantic, as much in shock as I was yesterday when I read through my mother’s memories learning I have a sister. “She told me she didn’t graduate from college, let alone go to Yale. Hell, I don’t even know which way is up.” Her hand lands on my forearm and I look back to her. “But if there’s one thing I know for sure, Trig, it’s that she just wanted to know me. I know I was played by Chloe and Robert’s parents had it out for me, but I don’t believe Quinn has an evil bone in her body.”

I look back to the highway where I enter the tollway to head home until we can figure out where to look for my sister. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree. That wasn’t the face or temperament of anyone with pent-up resentment. If she’s the sole beneficiary of the doctors, she doesn’t need a dime from your family. No offense, but they make the Montgomerys look like Barretts.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s a bit of a stretch, but as much as I hate what you’re saying, I think you’re right. Dammit, she’s not answering my texts.”

“Call her,” I demand. “We don’t know where she would go. Keep calling her and texting until she answers.”

“I can’t believe Silvie had a baby—with your dad. My father is going to go crazy—he loved his little sister with everything he had. He couldn’t save her, as much as he tried. To know that he has a niece that could have been in our lives,” she pauses and I reach over to take her hand. “This is nuts, Trig. Too much. We have to find her.”

“We will, angel. Keep calling. She’ll answer eventually.”

We’re almost home when Ellie’s phone bings with a text through the silent space.

Ellie turns to me full of hope. “It’s her. She says she’s sorry and she wants to talk to me.” She looks back to her phone and reads before sending off a quick text. “She said she doesn’t want me to think that she meant any harm by not telling me who she was. She just wanted to get to know me first. I’m telling her to come to our house so we can talk.”

I veer off the highway. “Good. I feel bad for her but she can’t get curious about our father. We need to make sure she knows she cannot trust Ray Barrett. I can’t imagine what he’d do if he found out his biological daughter was worth what she is. But he’s casing their house. I don’t know how he would’ve figured out Quinn is his, but it’s too much of a coincidence to assume anything else. She needs to protect herself from him.”

“She’s on her way and will meet us at the house.” Ellie leans back and shakes her head. “She said she isn’t far and has been driving around not knowing where to go.”

My phone rings and it’s Pettit. “Hey, I know you’ve been busy at the Toussaints and probably haven’t been watching your dad’s tracker, but he hasn’t budged since this morning. I know it’s a Sunday, but he’s been home ever since circling the doctors’ house. Unless he’s nursing one hell of a hangover, that’s not like him.”

I glance over at Ellie as I turn into the neighborhood with sprawling lots and wooded trees that couldn’t be more different than the mansion we just left but will always feel like home. “No, that’s not like him. Have you seen any action on the property from the cameras?”

“Your uncle’s car pulled out earlier around five o’clock, but that’s it. We haven’t seen any other movement since.”

Shit. I look at the clock as I pull into the garage. It’s almost ten.

I kill my engine and shut the garage door. Ellie jumps out, calling over her shoulder, “I’m going to go in and wait for her.”

I nod and sit in the car to finish my call. “Ellie got hold of Quinn. She’s upset but she’s on her way to the house. I gotta be honest, I’ve hardly paid any attention to Quinn when I’m at the studio. Everything’s been crazy with Ellie, it’s hard to see anything else when she’s around.”

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