She stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on my lips. Nothing about her reasons for leaving, or that kiss, felt right.
Not a damn fucking thing.
“Take Wolf with you,” I said.
“Don’t be silly. I’ll be really quick, no one is looking for me at the fabric store,” Dre said, darting out the door.
I stood on the porch and watched her pull out. She was really adorable if she thought she was going somewhere unprotected when a threat could still be out there. We’d eliminated everyone on the list we’d made but since we couldn’t be sure we took out the person responsible for trying to get to Dre, it would always be in the back of my mind. Which was why Wolf was still standing guard at the house.
“You want me to follow her?” Wolf asked.
“Nope,” I said, watching the taillights disappear around the corner before I pulled out my keys.
“You gonna let her go alone?”
I was halfway to my car when I answered.
“No fucking way.”
Dre
I didn’t know what I’d find when I drove to the address listed on the legal documents. Mostly, because I didn’t really know what I was looking for.
Never in a million years did I expect what was waiting for me there.
NEVER.
When the front door shut behind me I walked down the driveway back to Kevin’s car in a daze. I shifted my now much heavier purse and fiddled with my keys only to drop them when a voice out of nowhere scared the shit out of me.
“You’re a terrible fucking liar, Doc,” Preppy said, his voice laced with anger and something else that made me cringe and my stomach drop.
Hurt.
“I’m sorry but I wanted to check it...”
“Whose house is that?” Preppy asked, uncrossing his arms and standing up straight.
“It’s...I came here to see your mom.”
“My mom?” Preppy asked, taking a step back then looking up at the house. “Why the fuck would you want to come see my mom, and more importantly why the fuck would you lie to me about it?”
“I’m so sorry. I just didn’t want to get you upset if there was nothing to be upset about. I wanted to check things out for myself first.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Preppy asked, looking as confused as I felt.
I pulled the legal documents from my purse, the ones I’d printed off from the county, and handed them to Preppy who scanned them over. “What the fuck,” he whispered.
“She took out life insurance policies on you and on Kevin. She’s also been collecting disability and social security off both you since you were practically infants. Scamming the system left and right,” I started, bouncing from foot to foot. “I think...Preppy I’m pretty sure she was the one after me or who hired someone to come after me in order to get to you. I mean, the woman collected a hundred grand based on the fact that you were dead and I think she wanted you to stay that way before she either got arrested or they wanted their money back or both. It was just a matter of time. So she used me to get to you.”
Preppy lowered the pages and looked at me. “That doesn’t answer why you came here to see her. Why you DIDN’T come to me first.”
I took a deep breath. “I knew if you got to her first I wouldn’t exactly have the chance to talk to her and I wanted to look in the eyes of the woman who denied love to the most amazing human being I’ve ever known, mother to mother. I wanted to see her so I could better understand your pain. Better understand you before I told you all this and you got to her first.”
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Preppy asked.
“No. Not exactly.”
“What? She wasn’t home?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t say that,” I said, pulling out the box Nancy’s husband had given me from my purse.
“What’s in that?” he asked.
“Your mom’s remains.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Preppy
The sun beat its afternoon rays down on the top of my head as I stood in our driveway holding a small square of cardboard in my hands. I turned it over, examining every side. The box was no bigger than a toaster. Inside of it was all that was left of the woman who, by DNA only, was my mother.
I thought of a lot of different words when I thought about her and ‘mother’ in any form was not one of them. Cunt was usually the first word that crossed my mind.
“You sure you don’t want me to come?” Dre asked. She bit her plump lip. Awe, she was nervous for me.
I shook my head. “Nah, I’ll be quick about this shit and I’ll be back before Bo gets home from school. Besides, the bitch doesn’t need even more people wasting their time on her than we already are.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Like she didn’t know if she could believe me. I didn’t know what else I could do to convince her that I really was fine. That this was more of a disposal than anything else. My gaze shifted from Dre’s when I caught her staring over my shoulder. I turned to see my younger, and not nearly as handsome, brother stepping out of the house, a navy backpack slung over one shoulder.
“What’s up, Kev-ster?” I asked, pinching his shoulder.
Kevin smiled and tugged away. “Stop calling me that, man,” he ground out.
“Okay, I’ll work on another one, but Kev-ster is for sure nickname plan B.”
“She in there?” Kevin asked, pointing down to the box.
“That’s what they tell me,” I answered.
Kevin squinted as if he were trying to see what was inside without opening the lid. “Seems kinda small.”
“You boys behave yourselves,” Dre said, turning to go back in the house.
“Wait,” I said, pulling her back. I kissed her on the lips and she deepened the kiss, pulling me close until Kevin cleared his throat and she pulled away, wiping her fuckable lips.
“Cock-blocker,” I mumbled. Dre giggled.
I caught Kevin staring at her ass as it swayed up the steps and disappeared into the house. I smacked him in the arm. “Ow,” he said, rubbing his shoulder. “Sorry, man. It’s not my fault. She’s got a great ass,” he said, his apology not sounding the least bit apologetic.
It’s not like I could blame the kid.
Dre’s ass really was epic.
When the screen door slammed shut Kevin turned to me. “You ready to do this?” he asked, shielding his eyes from the sun.
I gathered the box under my arm and Kevin followed me to my car. He got in on the passenger side, flinging his backpack into the backseat. I passed him the box to hold on his lap while I drove. “Why exactly do we have the bitch’s ashes anyway? Didn’t you say she was married to a rich guy?”
“Yeah, Mitch. Apparently he told Dre that he found out she had a secret account she was hiding from him. He said she admitted that she was saving money so she could leave him.”