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When Ryan's dying father gives him a sealed shoebox with instructions to open once he's passed, Ryan can only speculate on what's inside. The last thing he expects is for his father to take his own life, or for the shoebox to contain ten thousand dollars cash.

But the money isn't for Ryan; it's for someone named Jamie Norton. When Ryan learns Jamie is an old friend of the family with a shady past, he looks to his mother for answers.

But he isn't the only one looking.

Ryan thought he knew his parents. But the deeper he digs, the more he learns that some families will do whatever it takes to keep their secrets buried.

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I step into the kitchen. Nothing is ransacked or looted. The only sound is the plink of the dripping faucet against the dirty dishes in the sink. I move into the living room, listen again, then make my way toward the bedroom.

"Hello?" I call out.

There's no answer.

I stop just shy of our open bedroom door and peek inside. The bed's unmade and the comforter's halfway on the floor, but everything else is as I remember. I go to the dresser. The shoebox and money are still there along with the envelope.

It isn't like me to be this paranoid, but this damn money has me all turned around in the head. I should just burn it and be done with it, but that would be stupid, and Rachel would never forgive me. In the back of her mind, I know she still thinks there's a chance we might keep it.

I sit on the bed, already hating myself for what I'm about to do. It takes less than a minute to count the money, but all ten thousand is there -- just as I knew it would be. I tell myself I only checked to remove all doubt that someone had been inside our house. That was all. It had nothing to do with the hundred-dollar bill I found inside Rachel's purse.

Nothing at all.
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• Literature & FictionWomen's FictionMystery, Thriller & SuspenseCrime
• Mystery, Thriller & SuspenseCrime FictionMurder

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
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• Print Length: 231 Pages
• File Size: 26 KB