Page 39 of The Grave Robber

A bubble of laughter escaped her. “Smartass.”

“Sorry,” I said, not sorry in the least. “Go on.”

“We walked deep into the forest to a set of caves I didn’teven know existed. A boy came out. No, a man. He was way older than my cousinwith a beer in one hand and abottle of mouthwash in the other.” Shelooked at me and shrugged. “I still don’t get that part.”

I wasn’t about to tell her. I braced myself for what camenext.

“Anna told me to stay outside, said she’d just be a minute,and went into a cave with the man. Only she didn’t come back out for a longtime. I walked around a little, but it was getting dark, so I went inside.There was no one there. I figured she must’ve come out when I was walkingaround and headed back without me.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? She left you there?”

“It was partly my fault.”

“No, Halle, it wasn’t.”

“I should’ve stayed put like she said.”

I decided not to argue with her. “What happened after that?”

“The sun was setting, and I’d been walking around for hours.I have, like, zero sense of direction. Anyway, a man found me and told me hewas part of a search party. Said the whole town was looking for me. I found outlater that wasn’t true. Worried she’d get into trouble, my cousin told everyonewe got into an argument, and I went home. No one was looking for me. My parentsdidn’t even know I was missing.”

I pulled her hand to my chest and held it there. “I’m sosorry, Halle.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you remember what the man looked like?”

She nodded. “He was huge, like a bear, with a long, darkbeard, thick glasses, and a baseball cap.

Paul Meacham was a big guy, but that was where thesimilarities ended. I’d looked him up on the company website last night. But abeard, thick glasses, and a baseball cap were all perfect articles to helpobscure an identity.

“The man started playing tricks on me as we walked. He wouldtake sticks and pretend I had bugs on my legs or accidentally fall into me and,well, touch me inappropriately. Then he would laugh like it was all a joke.”

An indignant heat erupted as I listened. She was sovulnerable. So innocent. But I had yet to figure out what this had to do withthe Nordstroms’ head of security. Had he been working for them yet? Or did hego to work for them because of Halle? And what did any of this have to do withhim? She knows him. Surely, she would’ve recognized him from the forest.

“He kept asking if I wanted to stop and rest. I kept sayingno. I got a very bad vibe from him and knew pretty quickly I was in trouble.”

Smart girl.

“Finally, he pretended to hurt his ankle and insisted westop, but when we did, he grabbed my arm and tried to push me to the ground.”She was visibly shaking now, and a tear slipped past her lashes. “I fought himwith everything I had in me. Then I kicked him, and he tripped on a limb. Hefell back and hit his head on a boulder.” She swiped at her tears, annoyed withherself. “I took off. I ran until it was too dark to go farther, then I sawlights. I walked to a cabin and asked to borrow a phone. My parents picked meup an hour later. They thought I was staying the night with my cousin.”

“And you never told them what happened?”

“I never told anyone. I was too ashamed.”

“Why?” I asked. “None of that was your fault.”

“For being stupid enough to believe my cousin. For beingstupid enough to walk away when she told me to stay put. For being stupid enoughto believe the man, even though no one else was searching for me. And forkilling him.” A sob shook her shoulders, and I pulled her into my arms. “I justkept waiting for the cops to knock on my door. For a set of handcuffs to belocked around my wrists. But that never happened. And to this day, part of meis still waiting.”

I ran a hand over her hair. “Are you sure he died?”

She swallowed hard and nodded. “There was so much blood. Itsoaked into the rock and pooled on the ground around him.

“That doesn’t mean—”

“Hikers found his body a few months later,” she added,knowing where I was going.

“They found him?”

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