Page 18 of Sinful

“I have a very large trust fund that I’m set to inherit when I turn thirty,” I said. “Orhad, I should say. My father has taken legal steps to prevent me from getting anything unless I change my views and drop my personal investigation into what happened to my mother. He’sthatangry about it.”

Of course, none of that was remotely true, but Trudeau had no way of knowing it.

As I expected, he smiled victoriously. “And there it is,” he said, clapping his hands together. “You outsiders are ruled by money and greed above all else, aren’t you?”

I ignored the jibe. “If I’m able to prove who really killed my mother—and therefore prove your innocence at the same time—my father will have to admit he was wrong and reinstate my inheritance.”

“Money and greed,” Trudeau repeated, shaking his head. Clearly, he’d swallowed my lie hook, line, and sinker. “Why am I not even remotely surprised to hear this?”

“I know how it sounds,” I said, looking him right in the eye. “But it’s not just about the money. I need to find out what happened to my mother, Mr. Trudeau. I’ve spent my whole life thinking about it. Every single day since I was eight years old.”

He let out a long sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. “I can understand that, Sebastian. Truly. And after your explanation as to why you’d like to spend some time here… I can understand that too. But I assure you, there are no answers for you here. At least none that would help you find your mother’s killer. You would only be wasting your time.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then we must agree to disagree, as you outsiders love to say,” he said, shrugging.

Fuck.I was losing him.

“What if I’m right about the notes? What if I can really solve this?” I asked. “Don’t you want the outsiders to leave you alone?To stop harassing you and viewing you as evil killers? Because that’s what would happen if all the murder speculation finally died down. You’d finally be left alone, as you so clearly want.”

Trudeau nodded, slowly stroking his chin. “I suppose that’s true. And you’re right; we are often targeted by outsiders. Hence all the security measures we’ve had to install over the years,” he replied. “Just last year, someone tried to set fire to our front gate. Silly teenage boys from Pinecrest Falls who somehow made their way up here one night, drunk as skunks. They daubed something in blood on the gate before they attempted to light it on fire.Killers.”

“That’s exactly what I mean. It’s been twenty years, and the hatred against you hasn’t died down. A lot of outsiders will always think you’re guilty, unless something changes. Something huge.”

Trudeau slowly rose to his feet and turned to the side, clasping his hands behind his back. “Here’s the thing, Sebastian. We are very private people. We have ways that you outsiders tend to find very peculiar, but they work for us. That is what we seek to protect by shunning outsiders from our village.”

“But you didn’t shun my mother. And you occasionally work with other outsiders too, as you mentioned earlier.”

He smiled faintly. “Your mother was extremely persistent. I suspect that’s where you got it from,” he replied. “You look like your father, but that mind of yours is all Miranda.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said stiffly.

He was silent for a long moment. Then he sighed and looked back at me again. “I truly believe that you will not find the answers you seek here, Sebastian. But I can understand why you think you might, and I can see how important it is for you to sort through all these painful memories of yours,” he said. “If we were to allow you to stay for a period of time, there would needto be ground rules set, and they would need to be takenveryseriously.”

My brows rose. “Does that mean you’re saying yes?”

“For now.” He lifted a hand, eyes narrowing on me. “But if I detect so much as a whiff of impropriety or deceit, I will remove you and ban you from ever returning to Alderwood.”

“Understood. Do you need to confer with the other elders before you give me a final answer?”

He shook his head. “As the governor, decisions like this fall solely on me, and my say is final,” he said. “Of course, I must also bear responsibility if things go badly, which is why I am always so reluctant to accept outsider visits. Even short ones.”

“That makes sense.”

“I presume you will need to come and go, as your mother did?” he asked, brows dipping in a contemplative frown. “To attend to outside business?”

I nodded. “Yes, I’ll have to return to both Pinecrest Falls and Manhattan every so often.”

“That can be arranged. I will give you the number for our cellular phone, so you can let us know your plans and confirm if it works for us too,” he said. “We will do our best to accommodate your schedule, but there are certain times of the year when outsiders are strictly prohibited from visiting.”

“Why’s that?”

“We carry out sacred rituals during those times that outsiders cannot bear witness to,” he said. “You see, it could disrupt the natural order. Therefore, the Entity does not allow it. I told your mother the same thing. I’m sure she would’ve mentioned it in her notes, though as you said, many of those were lost.”

The Entity?What the fuck is that?

I nodded. “I understand. Thank you for agreeing to let me in, Mr. Trudeau.” I placed a hand over my heart for good measure. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

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