The Sinner - Molly O'Keefe Page 0,20

to get her breath back. Compose herself.

That spot on her neck I’d wanted so badly to suck, where her heart pounded beneath her skin it was flushed red. Embarrassment, I wondered. Or desire?

Both, probably.

“I have to go,” she whispered.

“Of course.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “Trust me. My pleasure.”

The next morning, Doug from the hardware store delivered the tiller and chain saw.

I met him by the curb and helped him unload.

“I’ll take them around back for you,” Doug said, his bland face alight with morbid curiosity.

“I got it,” I said. I was not bringing this asshole into the house. “Thanks, though.”

Doug peered over my shoulder. “God, look at her,” he said and I spun to see all the O’Neill women standing on the porch, glaring at us.

The only thing missing was a shotgun in Katie’s hands.

“How did someone so beautiful get to be so mean?” Doug asked.

Something inside of me leaped, snarled, wanted to tear this guy apart for even looking at Savannah with that hate and ownership in his eyes, as though he knew everything there was to know about the woman.

“You know, in my experience, men hate a beautiful woman for only one reason,” I said.

“What’s that?”

“The woman is too good for them and they know it.”

It took him a second to realize I’d insulted him and then his eyes narrowed. “They’re trash. Every one of them, from the grandma on down. Why don’t you ask Savannah who Katie’s father is, huh?”

Yeah. That’s it. I’m knocking your teeth in.

I reached out to curl my hand in the neck of Doug’s shirt.

“There a problem here?” Margot’s voice rang out like steel on steel behind me and I dropped Doug’s shirt.

“Nope,” I said, looking Doug square in the eye. “Doug was just leaving. Don’t worry about delivering that sod. Give me a call and I’ll come get it.”

Doug grumbled, cast one more dark look over his shoulder, and finally got back in his truck and drove away, a plume of dust behind him.

I released the brake on the tiller and picked up the chain saw before turning. Margot stared daggers at me as Savannah stepped off the porch behind her.

Savannah lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. “What’s going on?” she asked.

Last night had been a mistake on a million different levels. Fucking a woman and lying to her was a line I never thought I’d come close to and if she didn’t stop us last night I would have crossed it. I needed to find out where Vanessa was or where the gems were before I did something I would regret.

Looking for the safe had gotten me nowhere. It was time to throw some cards on the table and see what these two had.

“According to Doug and his mother, the gossip around town is that some kid named Garrett is behind the break-in.”

Savannah and Margot shared a loaded look. “That’s what we thought,” Savannah said. “Juliette is on it.”

“He also said that Garrett is looking for a wall safe. Rumor has it you guys are hiding gems.”

There was a long silent moment and I held my breath. Come on, I thought, just give me something. One thing.

Savannah and Margot tipped back their heads and laughed.

“Yes, termite damage and loads of gems. Makes perfect sense. Did Doug have anything else to say?”

Disheartened, frustrated, I shook my head and pushed the tiller toward the side of the house. I took a few steps before stopping.

I turned, looked Savannah in the eye. “Did Doug ever hurt you?”

Savannah’s mouth fell open slightly before she pressed her lips into a white line. She shook her head, her eyes bleeding blue. “He’s harmless.”

I swallowed, clamped my teeth together and left before I did anything else.

The next morning, it was barely past dawn and I was sweaty and swarmed with bugs. Frustration ate at me, driving me to swing the scythe harder, faster.

No luck.

Four days. Four. Days.

Most of the vines was gone. The wall was totally repaired, a work of art, actually. I’d unearthed the bench and the broken fountain, and the rosebushes were trimmed to within an inch of their lives—I was an architect after all, not a damn gardener.

But that was it.

I’d searched every room except for Savannah’s, Margot’s and the library, which were all locked. This was so highly suspicious, I couldn’t sleep at night thinking about all they might be hiding in those rooms.

But in the rest of the house, no safes.

Or, frankly, any sign of Vanessa.

Savannah was avoiding me like