Chapter 2: Three Words and a Text
Tara didn't move from that spot for a long moment.
Then she set her wallet down on the counter, slowly, like she was making a decision.
"I want to search her room."
Maya flinched.
I felt it through my hand on her shoulder.
"No," I said.
"Marcus—"
"No.
You don't search a fifteen-year-old's room based on a feeling."
Tara's eyes went cold.
"It's not a feeling.
It's $50 that was there this morning and gone now."
I asked Maya to go upstairs.
She hesitated, then went.
The second she was out of earshot, Tara stepped closer.
"You always do this.
You protect her like she can do no wrong."
"I protect her like she's my daughter."
"She's not mine."
Those three words landed hard.
I don't think Tara meant to say them out loud.
But she did, and we both knew it.
I was still processing that when my phone buzzed on the counter.
A text from a number I didn't recognize.
I almost ignored it.
May you like
But the first four words stopped me cold.
*Ask Tara about Derek.*
