Ignoring the sarcasm, she stuffed the money into her pocket and shifted her attention to the white music box on the shelf behind a pair of boots. The first twangy notes of “Clair de Lune” floated out as she lifted the lid. She removed the velvet-lined tray and found an old Swatch and a silver chain with a tarnished heart pendant. The necklace was cheap, but it was tangled with a fourteen-karat gold bracelet, and Vanessa grabbed them both and tucked them into her pocket. Then she spied what she’d come for—the diamond earrings that had belonged to her mother. Vanessa’s throat tightened as she touched the studs.

Guilt, guilt, guilt—more guilt than she could stand. But she was all out of options.

“Van, we need to get moving.”

“I know.” She removed her cheap silver hoops and replaced them with the diamonds, figuring her ears were the safest place for them. Then she closed the box.

“You ready?”

“Almost.” Vanessa walked around her bed. She crouched beside it and lifted the mattress. Sliding her hand between the mattress and box spring, she found the thin spiral notebook she’d been keeping since June.

“What’s that?” Cooper asked.

“My log.”

“I thought your lawyer had it.”

“Nope.”

Leigh Larson didn’t even know about it. The log was her insurance policy just in case her plan went sideways.

She stuffed the notebook into the back of her jeans and pulled Cooper’s hoodie on again.

He was waiting impatiently in the doorway, a deep furrow between his eyebrows.

“Can we go now? I really don’t like being here.”

“Ready.” Vanessa walked past him.

“Put on the hood, in case we see one of your neighbors,” he said behind her.

Vanessa pulled the hood over her chopped hair.

“Van!” he hissed.

She turned around just as Cooper snagged her arm and yanked her back, pointing at the front door.

Someone was unlocking it. Someone with a key. Vanessa’s heart squeezed as she realized who it was.

Cooper pulled her toward the bathroom just as the door swung open and Kate stepped into the apartment.

Her sister looked up and gasped.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Antonio finished off the last of his hot dog and pitched the wrapper into the trash. He wiped his hands on his jeans and checked his watch as he strode down the sidewalk. The lunchtime line at the food truck had been longer than usual, and he was running late.

Antonio walked into the lobby and spotted Kate on a bench near the reception desk, right where he’d told her to meet him.