Among the Heather (The Highlands, #2) (86)

“Enough,” I cut in. “Send me the link to that map, Allegra. I’m going to follow her phone. While I’m doing that, you look into this Caitlyn Branch person.” I glared at Wesley. “And I don’t care about goddamn privacy. If I don’t find Aria with her phone, we are calling the police.”

Aria’s father nodded. “Take my car. The keys are in a lockbox in the garage. Code is 5478.”

“The fact that you’re letting him drive your Aston Martin scares the shit out of me.” Allegra looked ready to be sick. “Please find her, North. Please.”

I nodded abruptly and hung up.

Adrenaline pumped through me as I hurried through the mansion. The garage sat on the part of the mountain that faced out toward the road. I didn’t even process the dark red Aston Martin other than to be grateful for the way it hugged corners as I sped toward LA.





Thirty-Nine


ARIA





“I’m tired.” Caitlyn looked weary and her voice was hoarse from all the talking she’d done for the last five hours. There had been moments of silence while she ate a bag of potato chips and then used a Porta Potti in the corner, much to my horror. I was trying not to think about my bladder because there was no way I was peeing in this storage room. “But I can’t sleep because you might leave.”

That panic set in as the walls of the small storage unit seemed to draw closer. “Are you really going to make us stay here all night?”

“Just until we can figure this out.”

She had no idea what she was doing. This impulsive thing she’d done. “How did you know I was in LA?”

“Online photos.” Caitlyn scooted back along the bed until her back was braced against the wall and she handled the gun with both hands. “I guessed you’d stay at your parents’ house, so I waited there all night and followed you into the city.”

“North will be looking for me.”

Her expression turned icy. “We’ll talk about him in the morning.”

“Cai—Ariella—”

“No. He’s a problem for me, okay.”

Confused, I asked tentatively, “Do you see something romantic happening between us?”

She scowled. “No. It’s not like that. But men destroy female friendships. We let them. And it’s so stupid because after the marriage and the babies and we’re older and our kids have fled the nest, we’re back to needing our friends. So many of us get so caught up in the husband-and-babies thing that we push our friends away, and we’re left with nothing. I won’t be that person, Ari. I won’t abandon my friends.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “And I don’t want them to abandon me.” With her free hand, she swiped at her tears, and I saw the scars on her arm again.

In the hours she’d been talking about her life before she met me, there was no mention of self-harming.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing to her arm.

Caitlyn lowered it, looking guilty. “Nothing.”

“Ariella—”

“I said it’s nothing.”

Back in high school, Montana and I had been close friends with a girl named Kelly Goldie. Her mom was an actor and her dad was a plastic surgeon. They were never around, but Kelly behaved as if she didn’t care. She enjoyed her life. Until around fifteen, when Kelly changed from being this bubbly, perky cheerleader to being sullen and angry. She pushed us all away. I tried harder than anyone to get through, but when I saw her covering up cuts on her arms and asked her about it, she stopped talking to me altogether.

And I let her.

I didn’t push.

I didn’t try to find out what the hell had happened to her.

When I was working at Curiosity, Kelly’s death made the news because of who her parents were. She’d committed suicide.

It weighed on me for weeks after and I wasn’t sure why.

Until now, looking at Caitlyn’s scars.

I felt guilty for not trying harder with Kelly. Maybe that wasn’t rational. Maybe nothing I could have done as a teenager would’ve helped. But I hadn’t even tried.

Seeing similar cuts on Caitlyn’s arm made me see her as something more than a bad person who was holding me hostage. I saw Kelly in her. I saw her pain.

So I considered a different tack. “Why … why is my friendship so important to you?”

“Isn’t mine important to you?” Her lower lip trembled with hurt.

I sidestepped her question. “I asked you first.”

She considered this. “I’d met some famous people in LA before you. I looked up to them, admired them, but they were assholes. They thought they were better than me, than everyone. When I found out who you were when we worked at Curiosity, I was so shocked. You were so fair to everyone. I mean, you were a little intimidating because you’re a total boss lady, but I admired that. You helped me switch careers. You supported me. The more I got to know you, the more I wanted to be your friend. You grew up with this amazing family who loved you, and people respected you. And when you befriended me and took me under your wing, I thought …” She brushed impatiently at a tear that fell down her cheek. “I thought that meant I must be worth something.”

Caitlyn was lost. I knew what lost was like, but this was lost on a whole other, extremely painful level. I believed she could find herself again, but she needed help. And she wouldn’t get that help if she went to prison for holding me hostage at gunpoint in a storage facility.