Her words, as piercing as they were, only served to confuse Deven even more. “What? You said you haven’t seen her,” she reminded her pointedly. “So have you not seen her, or do you know she is dead?”

Erika shook her head. “You are so damn stupid,” she said with a snarl, her voice oozing with acid. “You and your stupid ass mama. I’m not going to tell you again. Get the hell away from me.” She took care to space out each word like six, isolated, threats that sent a chill down Deven’s spine. Rather than object, she closed her mouth and just watched Erika power walk back to her Mercedes. She probably should’ve been deterred by Erika’s warning, but the woman’s defiance had only heightened her determination. And what did she mean by her and Iris being dumb? Where the hell did that come from?

Deven waited until Erika’s car had completely disappeared before she rushed back to her own. She didn’t need to follow her this time. She had the address. And dammit she was going to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

Chapter Twenty-nine

Chapter Twenty-nine

Just as she hoped, Erika’s Mercedes was nowhere to be found when Deven pulled back up to the house ten minutes later. But she didn’t know how long that would last. If her suspicions were true, Erika may have been keeping Kennedy in the house. The attitude, blatant lying, saying she didn’t know where Kennedy was then saying she was dead, were all telltale signs that she was clearly hiding something. So, if she wasn’t holding Kennedy, Erika damn sure knew where she was. Of that much, Deven was certain.

Instead of pulling close to the house, Deven parked a little way down at the curb of a home that looked (and that she hoped was) empty. Then cut back through the backyards until she came to the wrought-iron fence.

Erika had put some money into the landscaping. A peer through the vertical pickets in the fence’s wall panels showed a large deck overlooking a scenic view of the backyard garden. The centerpiece was a gorgeous cascading tiered fountain that had the ambient sound of pouring water like a soothing hum. Off to one corner of the lot was a shed and Deven figured that was where she would start.

The fence was a little tough to climb, especially having to wade through the bushes that bordered the bottom. But Deven was able to hoist herself up and over. She ended up losing her footing on the landing, sending a ricochet of shooting pain through her body as she landed hard on the ground. Her arm was throbbing, and her cheek burned but Deven picked herself up and stooped into a low run towards the shed. She braced against the pain as she pulled open the door to the shed.