Page 36 of Hidden Truths

Well shit.

I glare at my dad, who looks at me like he has no idea why I’m mad at him. And I guess it might be my fault. Anytime an end date is brought up, I brush it off since I don’t have one to give. I know he’s asking so he can plan for the future.

I risk a glance at Cal, and he is absolutely fuming. Great. Perfect. Our one day of friendship is over.

“The Internet is trying to figure out who Harlow is,” Jo interrupts.

“What the hell for?” I yell, a little too loudly, judging by how Willa flinches. She’s sitting directly next to me, and I definitely just screamed into her ear.

“Someone got a picture of you pushing a stroller. It’s far away and grainy. Cora can’t be seen at all, but your hair is hard to miss,” Jo says.

“He did say Cal has a type,” I mutter, patting down my hair like it’s wronged me.

Kai snorts. “You’re too smart to be his type.”

“Cal isn’t stupid,” I defend immediately. I’m sick of everyone implying he is. I’m getting a lot of startled and confused looks right now, and it’s making my skin feel itchy.

“Can we get back to the matter at hand, people?” Jo phrases it as a question, but her voice is sharp.

“I’m heading up to Maine tonight to retrieve the phone,” my dad says. “Maverick, let me know when you set up that meeting with your mom and we can go over questions.” Mav nods. “Harlow, try to stay out of trouble until I’m back.”

I scoff, actually offended. “Shopping and walking with a baby in a stroller are hardly things I should be in trouble for.”

My dad ignores me, kissing the top of my head as he leaves.

“I’m going to keep monitoring this,” Jo says. “Harlow, don’t leave the house for now.”

I don’t have time to answer. She just turns on her heel and leaves, Mav getting up and following her immediately.

“Is there something going on there or am I crazy?” Willa asks what I was just thinking.

“Well, she ignores him most of the time. So I’m going to have to say no,” Belle says.

“He might have some sort of mean woman kink because she is not nice to him,” Kai says, shaking his head.

I snort. “You didn’t hire her because she’s nice.”

Willa laughs and then stands. “Let’s go, losers. I don’t want to be here when Cal explodes.”

I hear the three of them leave, but my eyes are on Cal. He’s practically vibrating with rage.

“Uh. I think I’ll just go to my room,” I say quietly.

“Sit the fuck down, Harlow.” Cal’s voice is low, menacing.

I’ve never sat down faster.

“You’re just going to leave m-Cora?” His voice is calm, but like that eerie calm before you’re suddenly hit by a storm that pulls your house off its foundation. His reaction is confusing since I never promised to stay forever. But maybe he’s feeling just as attached to me as I am to him and Cora.

“You want the truth, Callahan?” I fight back.

“Always,” he growls.

“I don’t fucking know!” I stand up and pace the length of the room. “Jo and I have had a dream of starting a true crime podcast. But not like the ones that are popular right now. We want to start one that only goes over cold cases and enlist the help of specialists, like my dad, to try to get closure to families. That’s what I want at some point in my life.” I stop and take a deep breath, deciding the full truth needs to be said. “I initially took this job because I thought our first case could be Ezra’s. That maybe you guys had information we could use to find him or to help in some way while also bringing a lot of attention to the podcast.”

Cal’s frown deepens, and I know I’m just digging myself into a hole that I’ll never find my way out of. So might as well keep digging.

“But the more time I spent with you, with all of you, I realized that approach might do more harm than good. You guys are already in the spotlight, which puts Ezra’s case in the spotlight without any help.” I bite my lip, nervous that he hasn’t saidanything. “And what if this just reopens old wounds for people instead of healing them, like what we intended?”

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