Page 106 of Wicked Little Lies

Harry taps it. “Dark Obsession.” Then she points at the earrings. “Soul’s Fire.” She spins. And to round it out, the choker you’re lusting after is called Love’s Slave. The tiara that you want to wear? Queen of Hearts.”

We look at each other, and Harry’s baby blues sparkle. “They all sort of have to do with love, especially when we throw the Heart of Dark Desires into the mix, Lena.”

“Like a story?” I shift those into a line on the board from bracelet to tiara, and we both gaze at them. “And they look like a set.”

“No, they look like they’re made for one person, and they complement each other. That’s different. It’s like a journey oflove from light to dark to completion. Or depending how we arrange them, a journey from love to loss, or…whatever. I don’t think that matters. Point is, we’ve got a journey, a group, a story.”

And…oh my god, the photo. I pull it out and wave it at her. “Harry? Look.”

“I’ve seen the ring,” she says.

“Not the ring, the woman next to her. What she’s wearing.”

Harry takes the photo. “Is that…? Is that your locket?”

I meet her gaze. “It looks like it. But I don’t know what it means.”

“You left it, you know. That’s how I knew something happened to you. Not that you’d leave me, but… You leaving the locket? Never.” She downs her drink, goes and sits on the work bench’s chair, and studies the photo. “Maybe it means nothing? They might have been all over the place back then. It’s not valuable. Yours, that is.”

“So maybe mine’s a knock off?”

“Could be. Or…” She frowns hard. “I don’t get it, and I don’t like coincidence.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I say. “I guess it just freaked me out a little.”

“I can look into your necklace.”

I shake my head. “No. You’ve got enough. So do I. It’s mine, and it’s worthless except in sentimentality, and we’ve got to be smart here.”

“Honestly it won’t take long.”

“Let’s focus on what we need to do.” I fetch her bottle of cheap whiskey and fill her mug.

Harry looks down at it. “Jill’s up there, keeping watch, and I think she’s giving us some private time, but these people, your men, even her, I don’t want to know what side they’re on.”

“Ours.”

Her eyes are heavy when she meets mine, and she turns the mug. “They’re on their side and we’re on ours. We might have a similar goal, but we’re working against the clock because we want to get away. Find the last piece then vamoose, that’s our goal. And if it’s not the earrings—”

“Well…” I pick up a file and flick unseeingly through it, “if the earrings aren’t the last piece, I’m still going to track them and take them like we said because…added bonus. And then I’ll get the last piece. And we go when we’re not being watched. Right after the handover.”

With a sigh, she says, “I’ve got a feeling it’s going to come down to the wire. Shit…I really want to know who these people making you jump for them are. I don’t like being watched.” She pauses. “And as much as I lust for Jill, I don’t like having a babysitter.”

I laugh softly. “Me either.”

She gets up and starts to move things around, pulling out different tools and unset gems. “When it comes down to that wire, will you be able to leave, Lena?”

Her voice is kind. Concerned.

She doesn’t mean physically. She means can I leavethem.

I breathe out, and it’s shaky. The truth is complicated. It’s a tangle over crocodile infested waters. I can do it. But I know it’s going to be hard. For me. I don’t say that, though.

“You and me, Harry. Always.”

“Lena…” She shakes her head. “This might not work.”

“No, it will. It’ll be hard, yes. I have no idea who these people are that kidnapped me, but…they’re just people. We’ve taken on monsters when we were kids. Monsters don’t change. They still rely on their scare tactics. But we’re grown up. We’re survivors. And… We’ll make sure we leave with cash. Everything cash. Okay? We know what to do.”

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