Page 61 of The Followers

“Good? Like, how good?”

Liv smile widened, and two spots of pink stained her cheeks. “Like, really good.”

“Yay!” Molly clapped her hands. Liv looked smitten. “We’re going to have a barbecue this weekend. You should come. Bring your guy. I’d love to meet him.”

Liv froze, her fork halfway to her mouth. “Oh. That’s nice of you. I’m not sure, though. He might have already made plans for us.”

“Please come!” Molly urged. “I want you to meet Scott. I’ve told him all about you.”

Liv set her fork down, still not meeting Molly’s eyes. “I’ll let you know, okay?”

thirty-one

You yourself as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection

—Buddhist quote on Molly Sullivan’s refrigerator

Ever since her wallet had been stolen, Liv had felt uneasy. She’d filed a report, and the police had reviewed CCTV footage from the security cameras outside the rehab facility. Clear video showed two teenagers in hoodies breaking the window with a crowbar. The police said they’d keep an eye out, but couldn’t promise they’d catch them.

Liv had considered calling Rasband. But what could he do? He was all the way in Philadelphia, and there was no actual evidence that the break-in was related to Kristina’s murder.

But on the other hand, Molly thought that she was being watched. What if it was the same person, targeting them both?

Liv had pulled up the case file the detective had emailed to her a few weeks ago and reviewed the information again. They’d investigated a drug ring led by a man named Dale McKinley. What if there was something in the safe deposit box that he wanted? This question continued to niggle at her, so she brought it up with Oliver.

He agreed they should do some investigation. They’d spent the afternoon FaceTiming while they searched the internet on their laptops for information about Dale McKinley. It almost felt like they were in the same room, working together, and Liv felt closer to her brother than she had in a while.

“I found a picture of him,” Oliver said.

“Oh, send it!”

When the picture appeared Liv leaned forward, studying it. A white man, probably around forty, with close-set eyes, and a long nose. He had short, cropped brown hair that was shaved on the sides, revealing a scalp tattoo of a hummingbird.

“Oh god,” Liv said, her stomach dropping out from under her. This could be the man who had killed her sister.

“Who knew a hummingbird tattoo could be creepy, right?” Oliver said, his shaky voice betraying that he, too, was unsettled.

It was more than creepy, this colorful, delicate bird against the pale flesh. Longer than Liv’s hand, blue wings with a flush of red at the base curling behind the ear, the long, thin beak reaching to his temple. The tattoo might have been pretty on a woman’s ankle or back, but looked sinister on McKinley, beauty co-opted by evil.

They kept searching, trading links to news articles. McKinley was wanted in the murders of six people, including the family of his former right-hand man who had, apparently, crossed him. That made Liv nervous—this man’s need for revenge, at all costs.

“Wait, hang on,” Oliver said. “This article says that he went to Colombia and joined a drug cartel there. Hasn’t been seen in the United States in about five years. I’ll send you the link.”

He did, and Liv skimmed it. She felt moderately reassured, and yet she couldn’t shake the worry.

“Maybe I should warn Molly,” she said.

Oliver sputtered, surprised. “What?”

“She invited me to a barbecue at her house tonight. I think I need to come clean about everything.”

Liv had started letting herself imagine a life that included Ella on a permanent basis, and that would only work if she was upfront about everything. It would be a relief to stop carrying her secret, to stop deceiving Molly.

“Won’t Scott be at this barbecue?” Oliver asked. “You don’t think he’ll recognize you?”

That’s why she hadn’t accepted Molly’s invitation at first. But now...

“So what if he does? I don’t want to keep this a secret forever. And what if this McKinley guy is looking for Scott?”

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