Replaced by Nolon King

Author:Nolon King [King, Nolon & Street, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

“I NEED TO GRAB MY COAT,” Jess said.

“Oh my God, hurry up. I feel like we’re in a detective show. A good one. On a streamer.”

“You’re thinking too much about this.” Jess laughed.

She reached for her coat. It wasn’t there. Of course it wasn’t. Because Amber had stolen it. So she grabbed one of David’s instead.

Then she set the new SecureX alarm for the first time, exactly how Stan had shown her.

“And Mason seriously won’t care if we drop Bella off again, even though you were supposed to be coming back home?”

“He only has one showing today, and it’s not until this afternoon. But if it makes you feel better, we can just keep Bella with us. Seriously, your baby came with batteries included.”

“Okay.” Jess smiled, overjoyed with that decision. “Thank you.”

They went back out to Clare’s vehicle and got in.

As Jess put on her seat belt, she felt something crinkle in David’s coat pocket.

She reached in and pulled out a piece of paper: the plane ticket from his most recent trip. She shoved it back in the pocket, then turned back to smile at Bella, who was strapped once again into Evan’s car seat.

“We’re going on an adventure, Bella.”

Bella clapped.

Clare started the car.

“I know you like to listen to that Baby Einstein crap or whatever, but I think it’s more important I don’t put my head through a window in despair.”

“So what does that mean?”

“Right now?” Clare fiddled with the radio. “It means Beatles or Stones.”

“My mom used to be obsessed with The Beatles. Stones, please.”

“Excellent choice.”

“Paint It Black” filled the cabin as Clare pulled away from Longhorn Drive and headed to the impound lot.

Midway into the fifth song on Clare’s Rolling Stones playlist (“Sympathy For The Devil”), they arrived at their destination. Clare killed the engine, cutting the song off.

They retrieved Bella, then head into the cinder-block building. They approached a Formica counter and a heavyset receptionist in uniform looked up at the three of them.

“You again?” Her name tag read MONICA. Jess glanced at Clare. She shrugged. “Let me guess, Ms. Amber Jessica Brown Clarke. You don’t want to pick it up, just look in the back.” She seemed slightly irritated.

“Sure.”

She sighed, got up, and walked over to a board full of keys. She pulled a set of keys and tossed them on the counter. “You remember the stall number?”

Jess shook her head.

“Three-five-seven,” Monica said.

“Thanks.”

“Thank you,” Clare said, providing an extra helping of gratitude to make sure that Monica believed them. Then they exited through a side door and out into the impound lot.

“Jesus,” Clare said as they reached the bottom of the concrete steps and walked into a sea of vehicles. “You must really look alike if she thinks you’re Amber.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“I know, but still, wow, she didn’t even question that you were her for a second.”

“How much Amber Brown looks like me is one of the weirdest things about this whole fucked-up mess.”

“Is it wrong that I want to meet her?”

Jess gave her a look.

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