Page 53 of Girl Betrayed

“The truth.”

Betty scrutinized her. “Then why do you look so worried?”

“Why don’t you? Hayes is dead, Max is missing, and I think Meredith might be a problem.”

“Meredith?” A spark of concern flashed across Betty’s bright green eyes. “I thought that issue was taken care of.”

“Me too.”

Meredith had been a thorn in Claire’s side from the very beginning. She’d almost lost Dana and Jake because of her. There was no way Claire was going to be the reason the deceitful woman wormed her way back into their lives. That’s why Claire had gone to Hayes immediately after Dvita first brought Meredith to Passages.

He’d known exactly how to handle Meredith.

Everything had been working perfectly until … it wasn’t.

Claire closed her eyes again, sucking in a deep breath.

She missed Hayes. If he were here, he’d know what to do. He had a naturally devious mind. One Claire craved. Ironically, she was a genius in her own right, but only because she possessed an eidetic memory. The gift enabled her to recall and recite anything and everything. But she’d come to regard it as a curse. One that forced her to remember things she’d prefer to forget.

Sadie, Fuller, the Grave and everything she’d seen there—even now, the memories flipped through her head like a morbid scrapbook, haunting her even while she was awake. That paired with the crippling depression, courtesy of her parents’ rejection, had made her a prime candidate for addiction.

Claire wasn’t blameless. She knew she’d played a part in everything that happened. And that’s why she’d been trying so hard at Passages. She’d met Betty and Max and Hayes. They made her feel less alone. With them, she’d finally found what she’d been searching for. But now …

Three loud claps echoed through the room making Claire jump. Dr. Dvita’s voice rang out. “Group, let’s gather.”

Betty gripped Claire’s hand tightly, her gaze fearful. “Find me after,” she whispered. “We need to find Max and make sure he doesn’t talk.”

“He’s not going to say anything,” Claire said, trying to reassure her friend.

But Betty shook her head. “I’m not willing to take that risk, and you shouldn’t either.” Then she turned her back on Claire and went to join the group.

37

“I’m telling you,Jake, it was like Jekyll and Hyde. He practically threw me out of there after mentioning Meredith. Something’s off.”

Jake clutched his phone to his ear. “You brought up Meredith?”

“No, Dvita did, but that’s not the point. I wasn’t trying to dispute his competence. I mean we witnessed him break through to Claire on a level I didn’t know existed, but he was so defensive today. He told me I’d need a warrant if I want to see Claire’s tapes. I think he’s hiding something.”

Jake pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d been excited when he saw Dana’s name on his caller ID. He’d take any excuse to ignore the mountain of paperwork that had piled up on his desk in his absence, but Dana hadn’t taken a breath in nearly ten minutes.

“Dana, last night you thought Claire was the D.C. Reaper. Now you’re telling me it’s Dvita?”

“The D.C. Reaper? Did the story break?”

“Not yet, but I got a heads up that the Post has it. NSA issued a gag order, but based on the buzz at HQ, it’s only a matter of time before somebody runs with it.”

“Is Claire implicated?”

“Right now, you know as much as I do, which is pretty much nothing.”

“What about Jenkins?”

“I don’t know. I’m trying to avoid her considering she hasn’t cleared me from leave yet. She’d be pissed if she heard I was still sniffing around this.”

“What else have you learned?”

“Not much. Mostly that I’m not the only one with no love for Hayes. Maybe this was him getting what he deserved. With any luck the DOJ will prove this was an isolated event. The best we can hope for is Claire witnessing it was just collateral damage. If that’s the case, we’ll get her the help she needs to move on.”

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