"But you weren't even at the robbery, Laura," Kade said. "Why did my dad's death bother you so much?"

"Because it was wrong. Because it was horrible. And because my sister blamed herself, too. Rachel was a wreck for months. Her anxiety about that night led to her giving up her children. She couldn't live her life because she'd been there when an innocent person had lost his."

Kade's gaze moved from my mother to Rachel. "Did you feel that way? Or is your sister making you out to be a better person than you are?"

"The answer to both questions is yes," Rachel replied. "I was messed up when I met Max. I was stupid and reckless, and I didn't think I had anything to lose, but it turned out I had a lot to lose—my babies, my name, my life. I wish I'd never met Max, never gotten involved with his crew. I had no idea how dangerous he was until that night. That doesn't excuse what I did, but it's part of the story."

"I just wonder if it's a true story," Kade said. "You and Laura appear to be very good liars. And the fact that you kept the jewels for twenty-seven years and never turned yourselves in tells me that you never had enough guilt to want to come clean about everything."

"We always thought the stones were our insurance policy," Rachel said. "That Max could never kill us until he got them back."

"Did you sell any?" I asked.

"Only a couple small diamonds," Rachel replied. "To pay for some things we needed, but we were too afraid to sell more. We thought they might be traced back to us." She paused, her gaze moving to me. "How did you find them?"

"I remembered my mom telling me that she had magic stones that made the flowers grow."

Laura gave me a sad smile. "You caught me one day, and I had to make up a story. I can't believe you remember that."

"I remember a lot of things. This past week, when I met Kade and your students and your friends, I got angry, Mom. I resented the fact that you were there for so many other people, but not for me or for Dani. You were nurturing other peoples' dreams, but not ours."

"I shouldn't have told the nurse to call you. I just had this feeling I was going to die, and I wanted you to know that I loved you, that I was sorry. It was selfish of me to do that. When I left you, I should have cut the ties completely, but I kept going back to punish myself with glimpses of you and your sister and your dad. I got your number from a flyer at a music school where you gave violin lessons, and I put it into my phone, pretending we still had a relationship."

"Why didn't you put Dani's number in there?"