I should let her go, the way I should let go of Dolly. But I can’t seem to release either of them.
“What’d you want to talk about?” I ask the curtain.
“You said you’re sure your cousin is still alive,” she says. “Why?”
I close my eyes, burrowing down into the pain of the needle piercing my skin over and over. “He said goodbye to us,” I say. “He took money from his trust fund. Some guy sold them a car for cash outside a liquor store.”
“Zephyr’s dad,” she says, sounding excited.
“When Mr. Dolce offered a reward, the guy told him, but they never found them, so he wouldn’t pay up. There were some others like him, and they were going to try to sue. My uncle paid off everyone who was making a stink about it so they’d drop the suit.”
“Why?” she asks incredulously. “Didn’t you want to find him, too?”
“No,” I say. “We wanted him to be happy, and the sooner Mr. Dolce stopped looking, the safer they’d be. So we paid off everyone who was going to keep pushing it, and they took their money and shut up.”
“You have no idea where they are?”
“I know where they are,” I admit.
“How?”
“My… friend,” I say. “She went out to California about six months after that, when she graduated. She was trying to land a record deal, and it wasn’t going so well. And then suddenly she got a call from Nyso. When she was recording one day, she swears she saw Devlin from the elevator. She’s sure that’s why the record company called. He put in a word or put her demo in front of someone there.”
“Do you think you could find him?” she asks.
“Probably,” I say. “But I won’t.”
“Why?” she asks, sounding more perplexed.
I shake my head, even though she can’t see me. “Are you fucking serious? Look at me. Look at my family. You think they’ll let Devlin live a single minute once they find him? He’s my cousin, and I want him to be happy, even if it means I never see him again.”
“Fine,” she says. “But Crystal’s not your cousin, and if we want this town to survive, we need to find her.”
“They’ll follow you and find Devlin.”
“They’re in New York right now,” she points out.
“You think they don’t have trackers on your phone? They’ll know where you are.”
“You’re paranoid.”
“You’re naïve,” I say. “I guarantee that Royal knows exactly where you are at this very moment.”
“They deserve to know she’s alive,” she says.
“They deserve a firing squad.”
Harper sighs. “If you want them to leave your family alone, we need to find Crystal. It’s great that Devlin’s happy, but shouldn’t the rest of your family get that chance? You told me to find my sun. I want that for you, too, Preston. For everyone in your family to be free, not just Devlin. Magnolia’s fourteen. She shouldn’t have to hide away in fear for her life.”
“Then why don’t you try calling off your boyfriend?”
“You’re really going to let your hatred for Royal ruin this town when you can stop it?” she asks. “I thought you knew when it was time to put your pride aside.”
“I don’t think you realize the extent of what he’s done,” I say, bitterness sharpening my words. “You might forgive him, but I loathe him to the fucking depths of my being, and that will never change.”
“None of us can change the past,” she says. “But maybe we can make the future better for all of us. Not just Royal, but your family, too.”
“Why should I help him?” I ask. “He’d gladly watch me die. In fact, he’d be the one holding the knife that made it happen.”