Page 78 of Trouble Comes in Threes

“He wanted to. I think he was trying in his own way, but my way worked first.”

She sat up, threw her arms around me, and started to cry. I held her tightly and stroked her head as she sobbed into my shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, Ashley,” I said. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through so much at such a young age. It’s not fair.”

“Life’s not fair,” she said, her voice muffled.

“I know, but I can still feel sorry that you’ve had to endure it.”

She leaned back and looked up at me. Her tear-streaked face broke my heart. “You protected me when my dad didn’t.”

“I love you and Mikey as much as I love Hope and Liam. I would do anything to protect and save you. You have to know that.”

“I do.”

I cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead. “The kids at school will forget this soon enough and move on to tormenting someone else.”

Her eyes hardened. “I think you’re right, Aunt Rose.”

I wasn’t sure what her response implied, but I couldn’t help thinking she had a plan to move them along faster. I started to tell her that encouraging them to be mean to another victim was unkind, but Ashley would never bully anyone else, which could only mean she had another plan for Oliver.

“Whatever you do, just don’t hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve it,” I said. “And make sure no one else becomes collateral damage.”

“What does that mean?”

“Just don’t let anyone else get hurt.”

“Like Dad?” she asked, her voice low.

She’d always called him daddy, so hearing the switch made my heart hurt. “Yes, like your dad.”

“I won’t, Aunt Rose. I swear it.”

“I know you won’t.” I gave her a tight hug, kissed her forehead, and tucked her in.

As I stood to walk away, she said, “I love you, Aunt Rose.”

“I love you too. I love you so much.”

I walked out of her room, cracking the door, then headed downstairs to make a cup of tea while I waited for Joe. By the time I sat down on the sofa with my tea, I realized it was close to ten p.m.

What was taking him so long?

I turned on the TV and started watching a movie, but I was exhausted and quickly fell asleep.

I was in the warehouse with a man I didn’t recognize. He looked to be in his forties and had dark hair and eyes. He was wearing a silky pink button-down shirt and a pair of black pants. He barked orders at people who scurried around doing as they were told, and when he was done, he turned to me and snarled, “This is all your fault.”

My heart raced. He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward a doorway, but I resisted.

“Come on, Selena,” he grunted, giving me a vicious pull that made my teeth clatter. “I don’t have time for your bullshit games.”

“Don’t kill her!” I pled through sobs. “I’m begging you! Please don’t kill her.”

He stopped and gave me a hard look, then dragged me to the back corner of the warehouse, where a woman with long dark hair was sitting on the ground, her hands tied behind her back. She looked up at me, and I realized she was the woman from my previous vision. Her eyes were hazel, and her dark hair hung loose in tangles. Pieces of it were stuck to her face. She shot me a worried glance before glaring up at the man next to me. “Let her go.”

He laughed. “You’re both so concerned about each other it’s kind of sweet.” Then, without warning, he pulled out a gun and shot her in the forehead. She fell backward, blood spilling out onto the concrete floor.

I screamed and screamed, then my eyes flew open, and I realized it had been a dream. I was sitting upright on the sofa, actually screaming. I wasn’t surprised to find Ashley at the bottom of the staircase, terror filling her eyes as she gaped at me. Muffy, who had gone to bed with Hope, was sitting on the staircase next to Ashley’s feet.

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