Horrified, I snatched it over my head and tossed it onto the floor, then sat on the toilet and began to cry, trying to muffle my sobs so I didn’t wake Ruth.

I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t face this. I needed to get the hell out of Drum. And not after Wyatt fixed my car—I needed to leave today.

When Ruth took me to Greeneville to see Mr. Chalmers, I’d find a bus schedule and plan a way out of town. But first I needed to get my things out of the motel room. At the very least, I needed my money and brand-new ID. At the moment, I literally only had my pajama bottoms and a bloody cami.

I showered off the grime and remaining blood that had dried to my skin, washing my hair too. I let myself cry through most of it, but as I shut off the water, I steeled my spine and pulled myself together. Either I could flounder in despair or do something to get myself out of this mess. Self-pity could come later.

When I got out, I found the clothes Ruth had set out for me on one of the storage shelves. Underwear and a white lacy bra, jeans, and a pale blue button-down shirt. The bra was one size too big, and the jeans were a little snug in the hips, but I didn’t look like I was wearing someone’s hand-me-downs. Ruth hadn’t just tossed me an extra pair of clothes. She’d put some thought into it.

I didn’t have any makeup to conceal the dark circles under my eyes, but there was nothing to be done about that. I towel-dried my short hair, then headed into the kitchen.

Ruth was sitting at the kitchen table in her pajamas, nursing a cup of coffee and reading a paperback romance. Her face tilted up and she smiled. “Feel better?”

“It’s amazing what a shower can do.”

“A good cry too,” she said sympathetically.

I grimaced. “Sorry. I tried not to disturb you.”

“Don’t you dare apologize,” she said, setting down her book as she got to her feet. “You experienced a major trauma last night. Frankly, I’d be leery of you if you hadn’t cried at some point.”

“It’s just…” Seth’s face popped into view again, and a lump clogged my throat.

Ruth gave me a hug, then pulled back. “No apologies. I’m gonna take a shower, then I thought we’d head into town and grab breakfast from the café. I want to check on Max, and I’m hopin’ we can get your things out of your room. Franklin and I want you to stay with us until your car gets sorted out.”

“Thanks, Ruth. You have no idea how much I appreciate your generosity.”

“Don’t you think a thing about it.” She squeezed my arm, then disappeared into the bathroom. Twenty-five minutes later, she emerged in jeans and a bulky black sweater that looked great with her complexion. She’d taken the time to blow-dry her hair and had put on a little eyeshadow and mascara. “We have to get you a coat of some kind.”

“I’ll be fine until I get the jacket from my room,” I said.

“I should have given you a sweater too.”

I waved her off. “I’m fine.”

“Everything fits?”

I laughed. “You have bigger boobs than I do, but the push-up cups are doin’ wonders.”

She laughed too, but the humor soon slipped from her face and she reached out and squeezed my upper arms. “I’m here for you, girl. Okay?”

My tears were back, dammit. I nodded. “Thank you.”

“Let’s go get some food and some coffee that isn’t thick enough to double as motor oil. Damn. I love that man, but Franklin needs to learn how to make a decent pot of coffee.”

I paid more attention as we made the drive to town. I realized we weren’t that far from Drum as the crow flies, but the narrow, torn-up paved road switchbacked left and right as it descended toward the town, making the journey seem deceptively longer. The snow that had dusted the sides of the roads the night before had mostly disappeared.

“Hank Chalmers’ property is back that way,” Ruth said, pointing to a gravel driveway on my side of the road. Hank, as in Seth’s grandfather. A house stood about seventy feet back from the road, and I could see a couple of deputy cars out front.

“What are they doin’ there?” I asked, my heart in my throat. What if they’d found whatever evidence Seth had hidden?

Her mouth pursed. “Likely lookin’ for drugs or whatever reason he was killed.” She turned to look at me. “He didn’t say nothin’?”

Guilt consumed me, and I had to glance away before I answered her. “He was a scared kid who wanted to make sure his grandfather knew he loved him.”

“So he did say something to you besides askin’ you not to leave?” she asked in surprise. “That’s not what you told that deputy.”

Oh. Shit. I gave her a sheepish look. “I don’t know about you, but a boy’s goodbye to his grandfather seems like a private thing. If I’d told that deputy, he would have put it into the report. If Mr. Chalmers wants me to tell the deputy, then I’ll do it, but not without his blessing.”

Her mouth formed an O and she was so busy staring at me she nearly drove off the road. She righted the course with a sharp jerk of the wheel. “That’s why you want to see Hank. You’ve got a message for him.”

“Please don’t tell anyone,” I pleaded. “For one thing, I could get in trouble with the sheriff, and like I said, it feels private. If I gave my grandmother a farewell while I was dying, I don’t think I’d want the whole world to hear it.”

“I guess,” she said with a slight shrug, holding the wheel with both hands as she studied the road. “You’re special people, Carly. Most folks wouldn’t go out of their way to deliver a message.”

I squirmed slightly. “Maybe they would if they’d promised a dying boy.”

“Maybe.” She didn’t seem so certain.

“Do you have any family around here?” I asked to change the subject.

“Not much anymore. I had a few cousins who got lucky and up and moved to Knoxville. I stuck around to help my momma with the rent, but she started stealing my money for drugs roundabout the time I turned thirty. She had men in and out of her life, but I have no idea who my father is. She had me at fifteen and never said. If he’s anything like the others, that suits me just fine.”

I took it she didn’t have kids. If she did, they could have been living with their father, but there was something fierce and protective about Ruth, and I was fairly certain she’d never willingly give up her kids to someone else.

“I don’t have any kids,” she said, as though reading my mind. “After livin’ with my momma, there wasn’t any way on earth I’d put them through something like that.”

“I highly doubt you’d be like your mother,” I said.

She shook her head. “I wouldn’t lose myself to drugs, that’s for damn sure, but I still live in a hellhole. I don’t want to be raising kids in this mess.”

She didn’t want to have kids if she couldn’t provide for them. I respected that, but I hoped that she’d find a way to have kids if she really wanted them.

The narrow road ended on a two-lane county road, and Ruth turned right. The land was flat on her side, but a cliff butted up to the road on my side. The rock had clearly been cut away for the road.