Page 133 of Diem

“So?” I say, looking up.

Penny smiles humorlessly. “Your brother called me Play Pen in kindergarten.”

“That could be a total coincidence. Besides, if he did, then he was purposely telling you who he is, why would he do that if he murdered someone?”

Penny flushes and looks away. “He was threatening me.”

Unsure how to respond to that but knowing I don’t agree I set it aside. I’ll worry about my brother later.

“Do you have any other suspects?” I ask and she shrugs.

“Penny…”

“Fine. Bone. Matt. The Sinners.” She ticks them off on her fingers and I sink in my seat.

“Matt?Bone? The Sinners?”

“You can’t really be that naive, Maeve. Matt and Bone were close to Dixie and the Sinners, they work for the mafia.”

Shaking my head, I push to my feet and approach the window. “Okay, what about proof?”

“That’s what I don’t have. Just these damn messages.” She sighs and rolls to her back, staring at the ceiling. “Dixie knew something, I just wish I could figure it out.”

“She must have something somewhere,” I mumble and Penny huffs, “I’ve checked everything.”

As much as it pains me to do it, I sit down opposite her and admit, “I think Ollie was the one who hit you over the head.”

Her eyes narrow and she slams her palm against the floor. “I knew it!”

“Look, I know you’re not going to believe me, but I don’t think he’s conspiring with my dad. Idon’t,” I say when she raises a brow. “For whatever reason, he’s trying to warn everyone off. I don’t know why, beyond the obvious reasons.”

Thankfully, she doesn’t argue, saying instead, “So, what about the rabbit’s foot? That part doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t know, but we need to find Charming Charlie.”

Cocking her head, she says, “The boat or the man?”

“Both.”

It may be foolish to involve Penny but after my brother proceeded to lie to his best friends and Diem iced me out, I guess I’m building my own damn posse. Penny, at least wants one thing, making her crusade simple. Not so the others, whose hidden agendas would take a trained translator to decipher.

∞∞∞

After my depressing visit with Penny, I find myself home alone. Although I have zero desire to help Hailey, I understand her need to prove the Sinners wrong, which is why I steal the hair from my dad’s brush and hide it in my backpack.

Later, I’m staring at the ceiling when the doorbell rings. I’m so damn tired, I consider ignoring it but when whoever starts pounding next, I roll to my feet with a sigh.

“No way,” I whisper, dropping the blinds. Why is Matt here?

“I know you’re in there,” he says.

Nibbling on my lip, I finally open the door. Matt pushes past me and I follow, saying, “What do you want?”

“I have something to tell you.”

Rolling my eyes to the ceiling, I say, “Like what? How you lied to Diem about me?”

His shoulders bunch and he sucks in a breath before sneering, “Lied? When? We fucked. I made sure he knew. Is that a problem?”

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