Page 34 of Ask for Andrea

But it didn’t matter. She was looking for me. She thought the shoe might be mine. Someone knew that something bad happened. Which meant that for the first time, I wasn’t alone.

“I’m here,” I screamed. I knelt next to the skull and ribcage in the dirt as if I could dig them free, to show her where to look.

She moved to a crouch and turned in a slow circle, ducking her head to see the small clearing from a different angle.

As her gaze crossed my pathetic pile of bones, I cried out again. “Look, please look at me.”

She stopped scanning and stood up. Stopped again, squinting her eyes a little. Then walked with purpose to where I lay prone across my own bones.

I watched her expression harden into one of recognition and then determination as she bent to see the top of my skull.

20. BRECIA

Salt Lake City, Utah

1 year before

They stayed in the back booth of the cozy pub until last call at eleven.

By that time, her eyes were getting glassy. She made a comment about the room being too warm as she fumbled with her jacket and took a sip to drain her tainted glass of red wine.

“Can I take you home? Or do you want to come to my place to get sobered up?” he asked her, managing to look concerned instead of eager. “We can leave your car here. I’m sure it happens all the time.”

“I took an Uber,” Meghan replied, slurring slightly.

He made his eyes wide. “Okay, then I am definitely going to help you get home. Don’t you listen to any true-crime podcasts? You’re never supposed to get into a car with a stranger if you’re tipsy.”

No, I said firmly in her ear. No. He’s the stranger you need to worry about. You don’t really know him. He put shit in your drink. Do not leave with him.

Meghan’s eyes widened as well, and he laughed. “I’m sure you’d be fine. I also just want to spend a few more minutes with you, and we can’t stay here.” He smiled shyly.

She took the bait and smiled back, her whole face lighting up at the compliment. She tugged at the scarf around her neck and leaned closer to him. “Okay, but can you take me home? I think I just need to get some sleep. I’m such a lightweight.”

I leaned as close as I could, knowing from too many other dates that she was lost to me now. She’d made up her mind to go with him. And I couldn’t stop her, even if I turned off the power to the entire restaurant (not that I was strong enough to do that).

Meghan leaned against his shoulder as they walked out of the bar to the parking lot. He gently stroked her shiny chestnut hair. He winked at the waitress closing the place down and said, “I can’t believe eleven feels so late! This means I’m old, right?”

The waitress smiled at him and shook her head. “Nah, I’m about to crash, too. You two have a good night.”

I tried with the waitress, too. “It’s not what it looks like,” I cried in her ear before hurrying to follow him into the night. I looked back to see the waitress still watching through the glass door for a moment. Then she went back to wiping down countertops.

Meghan mumbled something about her phone as she reached the car. As she unzipped her purse and opened the bag wide, the phone tipped out along with a tin of mints. The phone landed with a quiet thud on the ground by the car. She didn’t notice.

He glanced at the phone for a moment then reassured her it was in her purse as he guided her into the passenger seat.

“Do you need my address, yeah?” Meghan mumbled. “Oh my god I’m so tired.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got it, you texted it to me when we were leaving a second ago,” he soothed.

I felt heavy and numb as I climbed past her into the backseat and he turned on the car.

As we pulled out of the parking lot, I stared out the window at the dark rectangle just visible on the blacktop under the street light.

She’d been texting her friend Sharesa about the date earlier.

Someone knew she’d been here. Here with “Jimmy Carlson”—who would disappear like a ghost as soon as he blocked her on MatchStrike and created a new profile.

What he planned to do in the app likely depended on what he planned to do tonight.

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