“The police took my mother’s phone,” she said, as the last of the light disappeared and someone inside the facility waved at her. She wasn’t allowed out here after dark, even now. “They took her laptop, too. But my stepdad told me they haven’t gone down to her office yet, and if we sneak in there tonight, we can search her computer for suspicious emails. Maybe someone sent her a threat—”

“We?” Jack asked, her brow furrowing. “Are they letting you out?”

“My stepdad’s on his way to get me. He and Raven had to stop by the mall first, because apparently my mother got rid of Raven’s clothes after he left town. She threw them in the trash or something. Can you believe that?”

“She… what?” Jack wrapped her jacket around herself, pushing out a laugh. “She really wanted to erase him from that house, didn’t she?”

“She succeeded,” Lily said, eyeing the blush in Jack’s cheeks. In the weeks before Raven went to boarding school, Jack had started blushing at the sight of him. Or the mention. “But Raven’s back now, and as soon as his wardrobe issues are taken care of, he and his dad are coming to get me so I can help plan this Saturday’s funeral. That gives me six days of freedom.”

“Do you have to come back here after? If your mom locked you in this place, maybe—”

“It’s up to the doctors.” Lily pushed to her feet, straightening her loose-fitting sweater. Even now there was a part of her that wanted to stay hidden. Unremarkable. The opposite of pretty. “I just went through a review last week, and they seemed really happy with my progress, so… keep your fingers crossed.”

Jack nodded, glancing at the back window of the facility. “Maybe I should break into your mother’s office alone. If you get caught, you’ll end up back in this place, no matter how well you’ve been doing. Or you’ll end up at that detention center with Belle.”

Lily’s breath fluttered at the thought. Her stomach tightened. “Who says we’re breaking in?” she whispered, pulling Jack to her feet. “I know where my mother keeps her key.”

After that, the two walked into the facility together, where Jack signed out. A boy named Cade was working the front desk. Lily knew him well. He smiled politely as Jack scribbled her check-out time in the visitors’ book, and watched in silence as Lily led her to the door. It wasn’t until Lily returned to him, resting her elbows on the counter, that he spoke.

“How’d it go?” he asked with a conspiratorial smile. Cade smiled easily. Laughed easily too. Lily had always liked him, and she was going to miss sharing these moments together. He’d been like a brother to her, a stand-in for the family she’d wanted for years.