Page 61 of Never Lie
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It’s been well over an hour since Luke has been gone.
I’ve been babysitting EJ this whole time while he sleeps on my sofa. When he gets too quiet, I come over to make sure he is still breathing. He’s fine though. I had been concerned about him waking up too soon, but I’m not worried about that anymore. He’s really conked out. My biggest concern right now is how I’m going to get him home. Luke is not going to be thrilled about helping me, but I don’t think I can do it on my own.
Luke. What’s taking him so long?
I chew on my thumbnail as I contemplate things that could have gone wrong. Maybe Luke couldn’t get into the computer, which is undoubtedly password-protected. Maybe a neighbor saw him entering the house and called the cops. Or possibly most likely, he decided not to go through with it after all and I’m never going to see him again.
Then my phone buzzes. Luke’s name flashes on the screen.
I scoop it up and press the green button. “Hello? Luke?”
“It’s done.”
All the anxiety drains out of my body, and I feel like I’m going to pass out. “Really? You deleted it from his computer?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my God,” I breathe. “Thank you. Thank you so much. Was… was it difficult?”
There’s a long silence on the other line. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay…” I clear my throat. “You’re coming back to my house?”
His voice is a monotone. “Yes.”
“Okay.” I squeeze the phone until my fingers tingle. “Thank you for doing this, Luke.”
“Yeah.”
“I… I love you.”
“I’ll see you later,” he says. And he hangs up on me.
I lower the phone and stare at the blank screen, a sick feeling in my stomach. Luke is pissed off at me. He’s lost respect for me. I’m not sure if he watched the video or not, but I don’t know if it matters. He’s angry that I made him do this.
I did this to get EJ out of my life. But I may have inadvertently eliminated Luke from my life as well.
My eyes fill with very real tears. I don’t want to lose Luke. I’m not sorry I asked him to do this, because I didn’t have a choice. I don’t want to stop seeing him. I don’t want him to empty the drawer I gave him in my bedroom. I want to give himmoredrawers.
I want him to move in with me. I’ve never felt this way before, but I realize it now. I want him here every night. For the rest of my life.
I can’t lose him over this. Ican’t.
Chapter 35
TRICIA
Present Day
The final EJ tape comes to a close. Soon after lunch, I retrieved the rest of the EJ tapes from the hidden room, and now I’ve finished all of them. This last tape is labeled in black, not red like all the other final sessions, but there are no other tapes after this one. And it only goes on for about twenty minutes.
The strangest thing about it is how EJ sounds toward the end of the tape. His voice is almost slurred, but Dr. Hale doesn’t seem the slightest bit concerned. She’s a doctor, for God’s sake. Shouldn’t she be worried that her patient is slurring his speech?
EJ did mention drinking some wine. But if he’s anything like Ethan, even a bottle of wine isn’t enough to get him to slur his speech.
It’s strange.
