“The address is on there,” he said. “So’s the door code. It’s a small house, and you just need to get into the bedroom and look in the top drawer of the dresser. She doesn’t have a dog or a roommate or anything, so you don’t have to worry about that. Just get in and get out. She goes to a late-night yoga class on Thursdays. She’ll be out of the house until eleven. Maybe later if she gets a drink with a friend or something, like she sometimes does. But you don’t want to dally. Just get in, get the letters, and get back out.”

“Maybe this woman wouldn’t do anything with the letters,” I said. “Maybe she’s just bluffing.”

“She might be. You’re right. Maybe she just wants to make me sweat. But can either of us take that chance?”

“Why does this have to happen tonight? Why such little notice?” I still held the folded paper in my outstretched hand.

“I just told you, Ryan. The wedding is Saturday. And Jen knows that. So if she wants to stick it to me, she’d do it before the wedding. She’d blow everything up now. And tonight is the only night this week I know when she’s out of the house. You tell Amanda whatever you want to tell her to get out of your house at ten. But do take care of it tonight if you don’t want everyone in town to know about who was really driving that night.”

My hand, the one holding the paper, shook, causing the paper to quiver.

I don’t know if Blake noticed or not.

For the distraction more than anything else, I put the folded paper into my pocket. I couldn’t look Blake in the eye.

I thought of everything I’d done in the six years since college, in the six years since the night of the accident. The one that ruined Emily Steiner’s life. The one that killed Maggie.

The one I caused but didn’t get caught for.

Could that bring everything all down?

Did I intend to find out?

“I don’t ever want to see you again,” I said.

“What’s that?”

Maybe I’d spoken quietly, too quietly for him to hear. So I said it again, making sure he understood.

“I’ll do it,” I said. “But then after I bring you these letters, I don’t ever want to see or hear from you again. Ever. This is the end between the two of us. Do you understand?”

He looked a little surprised but not completely.

He nodded, and I turned on my heel like a soldier and left the coffee shop without looking back.

CHAPTER NINE