Chapter 15:
I said it again because my brain couldn't hold it.
"Pay up."
Colleen had her hands over her face.
"Mom."
"I didn't know," she said. "I swear to God, Ella, I didn't know."
"Didn't know what?"
"I didn't know it was him."
The kitchen was dead silent. Kael was standing by the counter with his phone in his hand. Sierra was in the doorway. Marisol had come in from somewhere and was standing by the sink with her arms crossed.
"Start at the beginning," Kael said. "Slow."
Colleen wiped her face with both hands. She looked like she'd aged ten years in ten minutes.
"I bought the house eight years ago," she said. "With the money. I bought it outright. Cash. In my name. A little place on Tuller Street. Two bedrooms. A garden."
"How much?" Kael said.
"Ninety thousand."
"And the
