Page 14 of Valentine Dare

“I don’t remember.” My voice was shaky, and it was clear that I was lying. So, I cleared my throat to sound more convincing in my lie. “I wrote down the code in my notebook at home. I can’t remember it.”

“The code you gave your dad is the wrong one.”

“You heard her,” Claire said. “It’s in her notebook. You have to find a way for her to get into the house so she can retrieve it.”

“I can’t do that if she doesn’t remember the code!” Russell barked back. I turned to face the chair in which Claire was once sat.

“We can’t help you.”

“Jenny?” he called, before shutting his Mac, putting it in the cover, and then grabbing his case. I’d never seen Russell angry, but I was scared as my hands started to shake once more.

“You’ll be living on the streets if you don’t try and remember it. I only have two days to get this sorted out.”

Then he stormed out of the office. I felt the door slam shut as he hit it behind him. Neither Claire nor I said a word. I couldn’t move as a tear escaped my eye.

She rubbed my shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll look after you.”

Her words made me want to cry even more. She wanted to look after me, which was a lot more than either of my parents were doing right now.

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