The One Girl Read Online Free Page B

For Winnie...”
    I had to stop for a minute and catch my breath. I closed my eyes, put my hands to my hips, and took a deep breath. I felt four sets of eyes on me, so I worked to collect myself quickly, my throat bobbing with my unvoiced agony. I opened my eyes, raised my head, and made sure my voice was strong. “For Winnie, she didn’t make it out. But you sure as fuck tried to give her the opportunity. If you were the last person she knew, workin’ your ass off fightin’ for her, she’s gotta be feelin’ good. I hope to God, I go out one day with you fightin’ for me too.”
    Talie moved to come toward me, but Kayla grabbed her arm and murmured, “I seriously fucking hate you.”
    Jace and Ruthie were confused because they hadn’t heard any of the earlier conversations between the sisters, but I threw my head back laughing. I looked at Talie as I told her, “Seriously, it’s un-fucking-canny.”
    I shrugged my shoulders at Jace and Ruthie and attempted to fill them in. “Evidently, I’m a great catch.”
    Kayla pouted. “Oh my God. He’s arrogant too? I’m so jealous.”
    At that, we all filled the room with the sounds of our humor. Part of my reason for laughing was the fact that this was taking forever. This was supposed to be a strategy meeting, but it had quickly deteriorated just like I thought it would.
    “Ok. We have to get back on track here. Drew is here, and I don’t know what he’s plannin’. This makes me uncomfortable. We brought Kayla here because we wanna keep everybody we love close. Well, that, and she refused to not come. You two mean a lot to us also, so I figure you should stick together. I’m countin’ on the town to keep an eye on Drew and prevent him from doin’ anything, but you can’t be too careful.”
    Jace jumped in immediately, “Ruth’ll move in with me.”
    Three female mouths fell agape and Ruthie spoke. “Um, what? Are you crazy? I’ll just stay at Tuck’s old apartment. There’s an alarm and everything.”
    Jace’s face held determination. There was no way he was letting this opportunity slide by. He’d been wanting a chance with Ruthie, and I guess he thought this was it. “Nope. You’re movin’ in. It isn’t even up for discussion. I want you safe, and that means you’re gonna be with me. Get used to my face, honey, ‘cause you’re gonna be seein’ a lot of it.”
    I looked to Talie to see her smile, bite her bottom lip, and mutter to herself, “Looks like I’m not the only one Tuck is rubbing off on.”
    I figured I better get talking again before we spent forty-five minutes on this drama. “So that’s settled.”
    It didn’t hurt to help a man out every now and then. Jace gave me a chin lift as Ruth shot me an ice cold glare.
    “Next thing is findin’ the proof of Drew’s guilt. I’d like to be able to prove every dirty dealing he’s been involved in since he left here. We know what he did to Winnie, and we think he might be responsible for my parents’ deaths as well.”
    The room pulled in a collective gasp of air at that statement. I had to push forward though. There was no time to get lost in all of my emotions. “I know that was like droppin’ a bomb, but I’d rather just keep goin’ with the plan than get into it now.”
    I got nods all around, so I continued my speech. “Talie says there should be a safe deposit box in New York with some answers from Jenny. Apparently, Winnie told her about it, said it was in case somethin’ bad happened to her. It’s in both of their names, but everyone still thinks Natalie Dalton is dead and I’d rather keep it that way.”
    Kayla jumped in. “I’ll go to New York. If she’s dead, I’m immediate family so they should give me access. And no one knows I’m here to notice if I’m missing.”
    Talie looked worried so Kayla finished her thoughts with something we both knew she needed to hear. “Nat, Andrew won’t know where to find me either. If he was looking for me, I’d think