Page 176 of The Stalker

Tatiana felt as though her skin was crawling with her need to do something to find Hayden, but there was nothing to be done, and she hated that fact more than anything she’d ever hated in her life. She needed Hayden back with every fiber of her being.

They read news articles about Hayden’s disappearance, watching the press conference online, and eventually ordered room service for dinner. They were sitting around the table eating it when Gabriel frowned over at Tatiana, where she sat across from him.

“That picture is bothering me. Can I see it again? I swear she seems familiar,” he said.

“Sure.” Tatiana nodded, unlocked her phone, and pulled up the picture before turning it to show him again.

As he took her phone off her, Ariana gasped loudly. “Oh my god, I know her!”

Everyone sitting at the table whipped their heads around to stare at her.

“She was there the night we played pool on the Cards Have Been Dealt tour. Remember, Gabriel? You brought those women over, and I was really upset.”

His mouth went slack and his eyes widened. “Yes. Shit, you’re right. Her name was…fuck. I can’t remember.”

“Sarah,” Ariana said without hesitation. “Her name was Sarah. She followed me to the bathroom and wanted to make sure I wasn’t involved with Hayden. It was literally the first thing she accused me of when she thought I was with one of the band members.”

“Holy shit,” Heather breathed out.

There was silence for a few moments after that, and Tatiana processed what Ariana had said. The band had been on that tour over five years ago. Was it possible that a chance encounter on their first world tour had sparked an obsession that led to this? She considered her profile of Sarah and knew that the answer to that question was very much a ‘yes.’

“Give me my phone,” she demanded as she looked at Gabriel.

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