Page 62 of Left in the Dark

With shaking hands, I open the folder. The drawings inside are done in crayon. “These look like something my kids would do in class.”

“Precisely. If that information gets into the wrong hands, they won’t bother with it, thinking it’s not very important. Study it when I’m gone. Figure out the clues.” She strokes my hand with hers. “I know you will, Delaney. I have faith in you.”

The look on her face devastates me. Tears roll down my face as I close the folder and set it beside me. “Mom.” I wrap my arms around her, sobbing. “Why do I feel like this could be the last time we see one another?” I whisper.

“Don’t think that. Keep the faith that we will see one another again. It may be a while before we reconnect, but it’ll happen.”

I sob in her arms, clinging to her. I already miss her, and she hasn’t left yet.

We’re on borrowed time, and the clock is ticking down.

CHAPTER 40

Delaney

My heart feels like it’s been put inside a meat grinder, my throat is raw, and my eyes are sore from sobbing.

Twenty minutes ago, I stood in the driveway, waving until I could no longer see my mom’s car. Then I headed back to the porch, grabbed the file folder, and headed inside my house. But I wasn’t able to look at what was inside, so I set the folder on the table and sobbed.

My cell phone rings, and I sit up, grabbing it from the coffee table. Disappointment fills me that it’s not my mom but Callie.

“Hey.” My voice is raspy and weak when I answer.

“Are you okay? You called off work again today.”

“No, I’m not. Can you come over?”

“Of course. Need me to bring anything?”

“Pizza. I can’t eat pot roast right now without crying.”

“Okay. Let me call the order in, and I’ll pick it up on the way to your house.”

“You’re the best.”

Callie barely hastime to set the pizza box on the table before I’m in her arms, sobbing. She hugs me, rubbing my back and rocking me.

When I pull back and brush the tears from my face, she nods toward the couch. “Tell me everything.”

We sit on the couch, and I tell her about the voicemail and unexpected visit from my mom.

I heave out a sigh, feeling drained. “She indicated my dad was into criminal activities that could ruin him, exposing him for the monster he is. But she didn’t say what. Instead…” I grab the folder from the coffee table in front of me. “She gave me this.”

Callie opens the folder and looks through the items inside. “What the hell does this mean? It looks like something the kids in your class would draw.”

“Exactly. It’s a treasure map of clues for me. She told me to use the secrets I kept for her to decipher them, and it would lead me to the evidence.”

“Wow. That’s brilliant. If your father would send any of his goons and they’d find this folder, they wouldn’t think it was anything more than things the kids in your class made.”

“She’s a smart woman.” I stand, heading for the kitchen. “Come on. Let’s grab some pizza.”

While we eat, I tell her about things that happened in Green Haven after she and I left. “Did you know Zayne’s dad was arrested for assaulting my brother?”

Callie nearly chokes on her pizza. “What?”

I nod. “She said Zayne brought his brother home from rehab and tried running the bar while his dad was on trial foraggravated assault. He ended up selling it and moving away with his mom and brother after his dad was sentenced.”

I shake my head, gesturing toward my laptop. “I did some research after she left. That happened so fast. My dad rushed that trial to get a quick conviction so it would help him be re-elected. But I don’t believe Zayne’s dad attacked my brother unprovoked. Mom said she saw Zayne in town two days later, and he had cuts, bruises, and a swollen face like he’d been involved in a fight.”

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