Page 110 of The Forbidden Note

That makes two of us.

“It shocked me when she said she was moving back and teaching there. She wasn’t really treated well in high school. And that horrible tragedy with her friend, well, it traumatized her. Both of us, really. I thought she’d run far away.”

“What happened to her friend?”

Marian’s lips clamp shut.

I tilt my head, flashing her a charming smile. “It’s okay. You can tell me. I won’t tell anyone else.”

She glances back and forth as if someone bugged the house. Finally, she crooks her finger in my direction.

I drag my chair closer to hers.

“I’m only saying this because you’re family. Gracie made me swear not to talk about it with anyone.”

I nod, leaning in.

“Her sophomore year, she met this other scholarship student named Sloane. Sloane was a bit of a wild child. Wore lots of short clothes and piercings. She reminded me too much of those ladies in our old neighborhood.” Marian makes a face. “But Gracie was lonely and Sloane was the only one who’d talk to her. They got very close.”

“What happened to her?”

“She was murdered.”

My eyebrow twitches.

“The attacker was Sloane’s boyfriend. That’s what the police said, but Gracie swears there’s more to the story. She thinks there’s another reason Sloane got murdered and she thinks she’ll find that reason at Redwood.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

ZANE

Finn jumps into Dutch’s bed and I swat him off.

He glares at me.

I point down. “We know what happens in here. Get off their bed.”

Finn looks unbothered. “If I avoided places because of that, I wouldn’t have anywhere to sit.”

“Hey, I followed the rules. I never brought a girl home,” I say.

Both my brothers give me dull looks.

I clear my throat. “It was one time and I never did it again.”

“What’s with the emergency meeting?” Dutch strums on his guitar. The strings spell C-A-D-E-Y.

I swear, my twin is embarrassing. No matter how in love I am, I’m never painting some girl’s name over my drum set.

“I have an update on dad and Marian.”

Dutch looks expectantly at me.

Finn puts his book down.

“It’s going to be tougher than I thought,” I admit. “Marian thinks dad is her ticket to a new life.”

“We knew that already,” Dutch says, picking out a complicated riff.

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