“What about Karen?”
“Your moth… Karen,” he corrects, “swears there has been no communication.”
“And you believe her? She doesn’t exactly have a track record for telling the truth. Tap her phones, monitor her accounts, hack her email—do whatever you have to do. Tasha is getting money and support from someone.”
There’s a rustle on the line and the voice of someone in the background.
“Marco?”
“Poppy, where’s Evin?”
“I don’t know.”
“I need to call—”
“Whatever you need to say to him, you say to me. Swear to God, Marco, you have a chance here to come clean, but if you screw it up, I’m done.”
He sighs, muttering under his breath, and hope springs when he says, “Where are you?”
“Does it matter?”
“Are you alone?” The question catches me off-guard and my eyes go to the girls.
“No, I’m with family.”
“Jesus,” he pauses and my heart sinks.
“What???” I whisper desperately.
Ashlyn is at my side in an instant, taking the phone and switching to speaker.
“My man just handed me a report. Natasha cashed in a CD for twenty-five thousand dollars a few days ago.”
“She has money.”
“That’s not all. Natasha shopped her grandparents’ heirlooms. She’s sold most of it.”
All the breath leaves my lungs, and my hand snaps around Ashlyn’s wrist. “No!”
“Baby girl,” he says sympathetically, his voice ragged with emotion.
“We have to stop them.”
“I can’t, it’s done.”
Tears spring to my eyes. My grandmother’s jewels, my grandfather’s coin collection, the priceless trinkets they collected through life and gifted to us. Mine are safely locked away, but knowing she pawned hers breaks my heart.
“How much did she get?” My question comes out more of a croak.
“The estimates so far are around eighty-thousand.”
“But why? She’s not a fugitive. She’s not a criminal running from the law. As far as anyone knows, she went away on a goodwill mission. Why is she hiding? We know she’s here.”
“This is my fault. I was harsh on her after returning from Vegas.”
“Harsh? You weren’t harsh, you were generous. I lived the life of harsh and it sucked. She’s held on to her reputation and social standing, and no one has a clue what she did or the messes she created.”
I’m referring to the string of men she’s deceived. Tony Sanchez is only one in a long line of men she targeted and duped. When Evin finally came clean last night, he was forced to share all the information Scottie had found. While serving different positions during Marco’s political career, Tasha caused lots of scandals, but he could always keep her name clean. Even during my ordeal, the video wasn’t leaked. They kept our attempt at a protection order quiet, and she could leave the country with her head held high.
“She sold all of those irreplaceable treasures to hurt me. She knew I loved everything about our grandparents’ collections,” I go on.
“Poppy, these auctions should give me a lead to where she is. If I can find her, then maybe we can sort this out.”
“She thinks you chose me over her. That makes you the enemy in her narcissistic brain.”
Annie’s car flies into the driveway and Darby groans. “Oh, hell.”
“Marco, we need to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.” My finger hits end right as Annie and Jill pile out of the car with grocery bags in their hands and trample up the porch stairs.
“This looks seriously like a gal-pow-wow without the wits of the group.”
“Mom, not now,” Darby tries.
“Nope, y’all aren’t leaving us out of this one,” Annie insists, producing a bottle of wine from a bag. “We’re angry, too.”
She disappears inside the house, Jill grinning widely as she follows.
It turns out, all the Kendrick and Graham men knew of Natasha’s appearance in Charleston. Evin had confided in them and included Dante in the mix. Outside of Tasha seducing Tony and disappearing the day of his meeting with Evin, there was no more word of her until yesterday. It was stupid and silly but made total sense why I was never alone.
When the women found out, everyone had their own words. Not one man showed guilt. They tried to justify their omission. Darby and Ashlyn had a lot more experience with this from their husbands, but they also had their own experience in hiding things. Their icy attitudes melted much quicker than mine.
I couldn’t believe Evin didn’t tell me Tasha had been in Charleston and attempted to sabotage his business. It was maddening, but it hurt more than anything.
Annie and Jill join us again. Annie hands me a glass of chardonnay before scooting in on the swing.
“Okay, ladies, what have we found out?”
“This woman has over a hundred-thousand dollars accessible to her and is a ghost. She has a ridiculous vendetta against her estranged sister. I don’t like it.” Darby gets to the point.
“She pawned all my grandparents’ priceless heirlooms,” I add broken-heartedly.
“Anyone caught wind of her whereabouts?” Jill inquires.
“No,” I answer, taking a healthy gulp of the wine.
“If she’s in the vicinity, we’ll know ASAP,” Annie declares confidently.
“How?”
“Those men will never learn. They spout on and on about having our best interests at heart but do not know we are the ones that make things happen. One call to my crew and the quest is active. If she shows her face anywhere, we’ll know.”
“Mom! You’re brilliant.” Darby’s fingers fly across the screen of her phone. “Natasha likes high-rolling, and with the new windfall of money, she’s going to want the best. I’m messaging Renee to have the Brasher install security surveillance.”
“Not a total old bat, am I?” Annie gloats.
I smile despite the glum mood. “Thanks for hanging out with me today.”
“My brother made a stupid mistake. That’s on him, not you.”
“Evin hurt me.” The words tumble out of my mouth.
Ashlyn replies softly, “It sucks when our husbands keep things from us.”
“This was more than keeping things from me. It makes me question if I can trust him, and I hate this feeling.”
A silence settles around us, and when I glance around, all eyes are on Darby. Her beautiful amber eyes, identical to Evin’s, grow soft, and she gives me a small, sad smile. “I know exactly what that’s like.”
“Darby, I didn’t mean—”
“It’s okay, but it would be hypocritical to ignore the truth. Evin took a page out of my book by thinking it was best if he handled things on his own.”
“Your situation with Pierce is majorly different.”
“Is it? I kept things from Pierce, destroying us and changing his life forever.”
“I’m mad at myself, too. He didn’t think I was strong enough to handle it. All my crying, the pity parties, the lashing out when this first happened. He thinks it’s too much for me.”