“Let’s get a few things straight,” I said, lowering my voice to a trembling and not very convincing stern whisper. “One, you’d have to find proof first, which you never will, I can promise you that. Two, you’ve lost Ash. Again. And three, I’ll make sure it’s permanent this time.” When she opened her mouth to respond I kept going. “We’re leaving in the morning to pick up his things. I suggest you go back to Maryland, too. Go home, don’t come back and don’t contact either of us again.”

I turned and marched to my car, and as I drove off, I looked in the rearview mirror. She stood in the doorway, her cold, hard glare boring into me. No point in believing she would follow my advice. I didn’t want her to, but I couldn’t let her get Keenan on her side. Together they’d be a dangerous combination, and Fiona, too, if she ever told Lily about Dealer Dave.

“One step at a time,” I whispered. “One step at a time.”

When I headed down our road, and as I got to Keenan’s place, I saw him working on his Subaru in his garage, tools laid out, front left wheel on the floor, the car raised with a scissor jack on the old, uneven concrete floor. I parked and walked over. Keenan raised an eyebrow.

“I haven’t done anything,” he said. “I haven’t even seen Ash.”

“I know,” I said, smiling.

“Then why are you here?” he said with a smirk. “My irresistible charm?”

“I wanted to thank you for the info about Lily.” I moved closer. “You were right about her. Ash was so shocked he threw her out. I know you hoped it would hurt him, and it has, but you did him a favor in the long run. She’s crazy.”

Keenan rolled his eyes. “Christ, that didn’t take you long, did it?”

“What do you mean? You didn’t think I’d tell him? I’ve always looked out for him.”

He reached for a can of beer, his fifth or sixth judging by the amount of debris scattered across the floor, and attempted what he maybe thought was a sexy wink. “Yeah, sure you have.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, come on. Everyone knows you’ve lusted over him for years. I sure as hell always did. I knew it the moment I found your notebook with all those cutesy double hearts and that—” he made quotation marks “—Maya and Ash forever shit.”

I let out a gasp. “You found my notebook?”

“Not as much as I took it,” he said with a laugh. “It was right there, on top of your bag. Besides, who else did you think started the nickname brotherfucker?”

“You bastard,” I shouted. “It’s because of you Ash never wanted—”

“You?” Keenan said, laughing again. “You think that’s my fault?”