Page 85 of The Inmate
He loves me too. Before all this, he was talking about getting married. He wants to marry me, even though I am… me. Ultimately, I am certain he will be disappointed. Mia accepted me for exactly who I am, but I suspect Caleb sees something in me that isn’t there.
More concerning, the deeper he fell in love with me, the more his hatred of Natalie seemed to dissipate. He didn’t talk about her much anymore. He didn’t want to get revenge.It was a long time ago,he started saying. That’s when I knew. We had to do it now, before he completely lost his desire.
“We should hit the road in about an hour,” he says in that same sleepy voice that makes me think he isn’t going to want to get on the road at all in an hour. “I found another motel we can go to about thirty miles south of here.”
“Okay,” I agree.
He props his head up on his elbow. “I thought maybe I could spend the night with you. I think it’s safe.”
“You think?”
He bats his eyes at me. “Let’s live dangerously.”
I can’t very well argue with him after I made the stupid move of calling Natalie from the motel. And Iwouldlike him to spend the night. These motels are frightening after dark.
“I wonder if they figured out that dead body isn’t me,” I muse. “I haven’t seen it mentioned on the news.”
“If they haven’t, I’m sure they will soon,” he says. “I guess they had to do DNA tests since her face was so damaged. That takes time.”
“I guess so…”
He rubs the stubble on his chin. “It’s such a big coincidence, isn’t it? I mean, a girl the same age as you turns up at the exact same time…”
He keeps saying that. He keeps talking about what a strange coincidence it is. But it’s notthatstrange. Thousands of women are murdered every year in this country. It’s acoincidence. He doesn’t need to give me a funny look when he says it.
“How long do you think she’ll go to jail for?” I muse.
“A long time, I’ll bet.”
“You think?”
“Sure. I mean, it’s a murder charge.”
I chew on my lower lip. “But as soon as the DNA tests show that the dead woman isn’t me, there won’t be a body. They can’t lock her away for life if there’s no dead body, can they?”
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about that, is there?”
“I guess not…”
Caleb tilts my head so he can kiss me. My stomach churns as I push away the thought that’s been intruding on my brain for the last month or so, as much as I try not to let it bother me. It’s hard not to think about it though.
He kissed her. He kissed Natalie.
At first, I didn’t think it was a big deal. But now every time his lips are on mine, I imagine him kissing her. Isawthe two of them kissing. And if I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought he was enjoying it. He probably was enjoying it on some level. I’m sure she kisses very well. She’s had lots of experience.
“What was it like kissing her?” I blurt out.
His lips part slightly. “Excuse me?”
“When you kissed Natalie,” I clarify. “What was it like?”
His face darkens. “What do you think? It was awful. I hated it.”
“Really? Because it didn’t look like you hated it that much when you were doing it.” I quickly add, “I’m just wondering. I’m not mad.”
Caleb sits up all the way up in bed. There’s a muscle twitching in his jaw. “This is the last thing I want to talk about.”
“Well, it just seems like you didn’t mind playing the part that much. Just an observation.”
