Page 88 of The Truth in My Lies (Secrets of Suburbi 1)

My exciting news died in my throat. “What do you mean nothing’s there?”

“I mean the office is vacant. There isn’t any record of her ever being here. Her office isn’t even listed on the directory in the entrance.”

“I was just there last week. Office 215. It’s on the second floor. Right next to a podiatrist. God, what’s his name?”

“William Antony?” Ben asked.

“Yes, that’s it! Dr. Antony. He’s this small balding man.”

“Yeah, I talked to him. And the owners of several other neighboring offices as well. They all said that office 215 has been vacant for years.”

“Talk to Dr. Antony again. He’ll be able to tell you where it is. You must just be walking past it.”

“It’s not an issuing of finding 215! I’m literally standing outside of it.”

I swallowed down the lump in my throat. The box had started shaking in my hands. I didn’t like when people yelled at me. Angry tears welled in my eyes. “Don’t talk to me like that.” I was surprised by the venom in my voice.

“I’m sorry, Addy.” His voice was soft. “I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just frustrated. And I am standing outside of office 215. There’s a vacancy sign hanging in the window. I can see in. There’s nothing there. I don’t know what to tell you, Addy. It’s just not here.”

“And I’m telling you that’s not possible.” He’s losing faith in me. I was holding a letter from Dr. Nash in my hands. It’s not like I made her up. I had been forced to see her for years. Dreaded it for years. And now the psychopath was following me and my husband to Florida. Florida!

“Ben, my husband convinced her to move with us. She probably already packed everything up. Maybe she’s already in Florida. That would explain everything.”

“The neighbors would have remembered her being here then.”

“Not if they were paid to stay quiet. They must have paid them. They’re covering their tracks.”

“Addy, it didn’t seem like they were lying.”

“Of course they were lying! Don’t you believe me?” My voice cracked. Maybe there was some other clue in the box. Another letter or something. I sorted through the images. Anything. Please.

“I do believe you, Addy. But I…I believed them too. We’re missing something. I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re going to figure it out. I’m on my way home now. We can talk about it when I get there.”

“I’m not at home. I’m in the woods.”

“What the hell are you doing in the woods?”

Dr. Nash warned me not to tell. What if she was right? What if her advice was finally worth taking? Ben clearly didn’t believe me. Would he believe these notes? Believe the evidence? My fingers stopped and I lifted up one of the images.

It was growing dark, but I could still clearly see that it wasn’t a picture of me. It was an image of a young woman, probably in her early 20’s. She had bruising around her neck like someone had tried to strangle her.

“Addy, where are you?”

Darkness had surrounded me. “I don’t know, Ben.” I stared at the image. She looked so familiar.

“Stay right where you are. I’ll come find you. Did you go straight into the woods from your backyard?”

I was transfixed by the picture. “I don’t know.” Maybe it was her eyes. They held the same pain as mine.

“Addy, it’s a simple question.”

No, it was more than just her eyes. I knew her. But I had no idea how.

“Addy?”

“Ben, I don’t know.” My vision was starting to blur. I closed the lid of the box and stared at the darkness around me. I had told Ben about my past. I had told him everything. So why was I scared to tell him about this? Why was Dr. Nash’s warning stuck in my head?

The proof is in the images.

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