the stairs and to my bedroom.
I dug in the bottom drawer of my dresser, where I’d hidden the lock-picking kit I’d picked up at the hardware store last week. I’d watched at least a dozen videos in preparation for this moment, so I just had to hope I could actually pull it off.
My heart hammering in my ears, I walked down the hall and toward Vincent’s study. A floorboard creaked under my feet, making me jump. It was too quiet in the house now.
I tried the doorknob first on the off chance it was unlocked. It wasn’t.
So, I retrieved the two tools I most likely needed and got to work, Veronica-Mars style. Following the instructions I’d memorized, I inserted the tension wrench into the lock and put pressure on the end before adding what I hoped was the correct pick. I held my breath, pulled the pick out, and...nothing. The knob didn’t budge.
I tried again. Still nothing.
That was okay. I would just start over.
I repeated the process, trying several different picks and having exactly zero luck. The people in the videos had made it look so simple. What was I doing wrong?
“Thea?”
Fuck.
I turned to find Leo paused on the last stair to the second level. “Hey,” I said as I stuffed the tools back in their case and attempted to conceal it behind my back. “What are you doing home?”
“I could ask you the same.” He began walking toward me. “Whatcha got there?”
“Nothing,” I stammered. God, I sucked at subterfuge. Veronica would be so disappointed in me.
He stepped up close and peeked over my shoulder, searching for whatever I was hiding. “I was a little distracted this morning and forgot an assignment I need for my next class. But that isn’t nearly as interesting as whatever’s going on here.” Wrapping his arms around me, he slid his hands down my back and latched onto the case, tugging it away.
Yeah, I was so busted.
Leo opened the case, studied the contents for a few seconds, then looked at me with a smirk. “Do you actually know how to pick locks?”
“I watched YouTube videos.”
He chuckled. “And how is that working out for you?”
“Not so great,” I grumbled.
“You could have just asked me for the key.”
I stared at him, too stunned to even know where to start. Eventually, I asked the most obvious question. “You have a key?”
“Yeah. I stole Dad’s keys last year and made copies of all of them.” His smirk became even smirkier, if that was possible. “How do you think I managed to get my hands on a key to your bedroom?”
Good point. He’d had one the first night I moved in, and I’d never bothered asking him why or how he had it.
“Are you saying you’ll help me break into your father’s study?”
“Only if you tell me why.”
This was it. It was now or never.
Finally tell someone—tell Leo—about my suspicions. Or walk away and forget all of this for good.
Except, forgetting wasn’t in my DNA. I needed to know what happened to my mother.
“Okay.” I glanced around the hall, like I expected Vincent to suddenly appear out of thin air. “But can we have this conversation somewhere else?”
“Come up to my room.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Now is not the time to fool around.”
He grabbed my hand and started pulling me that direction. “I know. But that’s where my secret set of keys is.”
Oh. Right.
Once we were shut in his room, Leo said, “Start talking.”
I rubbed my hands on my jeans. Why was I so nervous?
Maybe because I wasn’t sure if he would believe me. I’d been ten when I overheard that conversation, on one of the most traumatic days of my life. Any reasonable person would assume I’d imagined the entire thing.
Thankfully, Leo wasn’t the most reasonable person on the planet. He followed his gut, and hopefully his gut would tell him I was right about this.
“Remember the day of my mom’s funeral?”
He stilled. “How could I forget?”
“You suggested that I hide in the woods until my aunt went back to Kansas. Remember?”
“Yeah. Except you disappeared without a word.”
“Right.” I stuffed my hands in my back pockets then withdrew them and crossed my arms over my chest. Damn. This was harder than I thought it would be.
“Thea.” Leo moved into my personal space and squeezed my shoulders lightly. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
Okay. Okay, I could do this.
I stared at the zipper on his hoodie. “When I was on the way to my room to