“You okay, Felicity? I’m sure that felt like a bomb dropping.”

A humph escaped through my strained grin. “More like a nuclear missile. But at least this is something. I just wish Vera would have told me who she hung out with, and that she had a boyfriend. Why did she feel the need to hide so much from me?”

“You act like you were never a kid yourself, Felicity. Didn’t her call log or texting log show their phone numbers?”

“You would think, but no. The police checked all her cell phone records and listed all the numbers for us. Most were to me, Oliver, Marin, Nana, and the friends I knew about. I don’t know how she was contacting these other people.”

“It’s pretty easy to do through all the social media apps now. Almost all of them have direct messaging.”

“You know we can go directly to the source, right?”

Cody groaned. “You’re going to drag me to see what the boyfriend knows, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. I’m sure as hell not going alone. You heard what Blythe said about him.”

I skimmed the directions Blythe had given me, trying to hold the phone while figuring out which turn I was supposed to make next. On the dashboard Cody’s phone lit up.

“It’s Oliver. I’m guessing he figured out I’m with you.”

“Why’s he calling you, Cody? He’s acting like a maniac calling me a dozen times. Just answer and tell him I dragged you with me to pick up…I don’t know. Something big and heavy. A dog crate that got delivered to my store.”

When Cody answered, I could hear Oliver’s angry voice from three feet away. Cody held out the phone for me to take. I exhaled and accepted it.

“He—”

“Where the hell are you?” he yelled before I got my hello in.

“I’m running errands. Why?”

“You forgot to pick up the kids from karate class! Their sensei left me three messages during my Zoom meeting asking where you were because you weren’t there yet and Sydney wasn’t feeling well.”

“What!” I yelled. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I must have lost track of time. I’m on my way there now. I’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”

My babies. I had completely forgotten about my babies. I was about to hang up and freak out when Oliver kept going, anger powering every word.

“You know we have to talk about this later. It’s becoming a problem, Felicity. And I don’t know if I can keep picking up your broken pieces anymore.”