Page 138 of I Will Find You

“I know.”

“Know what?”

“You have Matthew.”

“Pardon?”

“Can we just skip the denials? I know, okay? You made up the Italian actress. You moved overseas so no one would see the boy. Your family is uber rich, but you’re not gossip fodder, so it isn’t as though paparazzi are dying to take pictures of this son you’re supposedly raising.”

Hayden walked with his hands behind his back. He looked up at the sky and squinted.

“I was able to get the digital file of that photograph and blow it up,” she continued. “The boy in the picture is holding a man’s hand. The hand is yours, Hayden.”

“And you can tell that how?”

“Your ring.”

“Do you think I’m the only one with a graduation ring?”

“Were you at the amusement park? Yes or no?”

“And if I say no?”

“I won’t believe you,” Rachel said. “Whose body was in Matthew’s bed?”

“You sound crazy, Rachel.”

“I wish I was. I really do. David came up with a theory.”

“David Burroughs,” Hayden said, forcing up a chuckle. “The escaped convict you’re abetting.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, I’m dying to hear it.”

“He thinks you were in love with me.”

“Does he now?”

“I saw it somewhat. I mean, that you had a crush on me in college. I figured it was because we bonded over something so awful.”

“By ‘so awful,’” Hayden said, with just a hint of steel in his voice, “do you mean when I saved you from being raped?”

“Yes, Hayden, that’s exactly what I mean.”

“You should be grateful.”

“I was. I am. But we handled it wrong. We should have reported it. Let the chips fall where they may.”

“I would have ended up expelled or worse.”

“Then maybe that’s what should be.”

“For saving you?”

“Yeah, well, if that’s the case, then the powers that be would have understood. But we will never know. Instead, we kept it a secret. And that’s what always happens with the Paynes, isn’t it, Hayden? Your family uses its resources to bury what they don’t want to see.”

“Oh yes,” Hayden said. “The rich are bad. What an intriguing insight.”

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