I came closer to where he sat. “Did you find anything?”

He hesitated. “No.”

“Are you sure?” I asked quietly, finding it hard to maintain eye contact with him.

Cromwell smiled evenly. My insides went cold. “I’m a hundred percent sure.”

Beyond a doubt, I knew he’d lied. He’d found somethingsomething he didn’t want to share. Cold crept over my skin, leaving little goose bumps behind.

He stood. “Can you follow me, please?”

I was more willing to walk off a cliff, but I didn’t have much of a choice. “Sure.”

Cromwell gave me a look like he knew what I thought, and I’d swear his lips curved into a real smile for just a second or two.

I ended up following Cromwell to his home office clear on the other side of the house. Located in the right wing, a part of the mansion I rarely ventured to, the study seemed sterile and lifeless.

Cromwell went behind his desk while I hovered in the middle of the room, unwilling to get any closer. I couldn’t help it. When I looked at him, I saw my dad smiling at me before he hit the gas and crossed the intersection. A shudder of revulsion crawled over me.

“Cold?” Cromwell asked as he pulled out a ring of keys. “It’s drafty in this part of the house.”

I didn’t answer.

He turned toward the credenza and plucked a key from the ring. “Your sister is convinced this part of the house is haunted. I’m almost positive that Gabe is behind it. He’s quite the prankster.”

I inched closer as he opened up a drawer and thumbed through several files. Craning my neck, my eyes brushed over the name on the first file: “Kurt Lagos.” It was pretty damn thick. So was the file behind his. At first, I didn’t register who it was because I only knew him as Hayden Cromwell. Not Hayden Gray. And then, files marked with the twins’ names, then Gabe’s, and finally, his nimble fingers skimmed over Olivia’s and mine.

Before he could catch me watching, I whirled around and pretended to study a painting on the wall. With its rolling green hills and pastel colors, it reminded me of something I would’ve drawn before the accident, but I didn’t give it any more thought. My brain focused on why Cromwell had files on all of us, and what could be in those files.

A sudden desire overcame me. I wanted to run over there and knock him over so I could get a look at the file. I had a right to know what was in my file, as well as the others. Okay, maybe not the others, but at least Olivia’s and Kurt’s.

And Hayden’s.

“Ember?”

“Yeah?” I turned around.