Page 70 of The Wicked

He cursed under his breath. “The cops should have brought in a trained interviewer. Someone used to speaking with kids.”

“I still wouldn’t have talked. He told me I’d die if I did.”

“He?”

“The monster.”

“He spoke to you?”

“Not that night, not in the car. I was stuck there for hours. The doors wouldn’t open, and even if they had, where would I have gone? We were in a freaking forest. A man found us in daylight.” A kind man. He’d told me everything would be okay—a lie—and stayed with me until the fire service cut me out of the wreckage. The creaking, the groaning, the ear-splittingscreechof tearing metal…it all stayed with me. “They took me to the hospital, and I guess the monster realised his mistake. If he’d seen me in the car, he’d have killed me too; I’m absolutely certain of that.” The sea was blue, the sun rose in the mornings, and assassins tidied up loose ends. “He came to the hospital the next day and tried to suffocate me with a pillow before he got interrupted.”

My tone had turned matter-of-fact now. The more I talked, the easier it got. Now I was narrating my own life, a tale I’d had the misfortune to live, a memoir.Orphan: The Saralisa Story. But as I became calmer, Garrett became more agitated. He rolled out of bed and began pacing.

“It’s not too late. There’s no statute of limitations for murder. Where did this happen? My father has influence in Oregon, and if the cops aren’t doing their job, he’ll sure as hell find a way to make them.”

“Don’t. Please don’t. I’ll be risking my own life if I go after them, and part of me thinks I’m selfish for that, for not going after justice, but I want to live. I have dark moments, but I want to live. And Mom and Dad would want me to live too.”

“But this is an old case. How long ago did it happen?”

“Sixteen years.”

“Sixteen years.” Garrett raked a hand through already messy hair. “There’s a new generation of cops, new investigative techniques. The perp might not even be alive anymore, but don’t you want to try? Don’t you want closure?”

“He’s alive.”

Garrett’s head whipped around. “How do you know that?”

His tone was clipped, almost staccato, and I began to fear he was angry with me. Angry that I wasn’t as brave as him.

“Because that night at the Peninsula, I wasn’t only running from you. I was running from him too.”

“This motherfucker’sfollowingyou?”

“I don’t…I don’t know. He was just there. And don’t suggest interrogating the hotel staff because I have a friend who’s a PI, and she already did that. The only thing we know is that he arrived with another guy in a car registered to a shell company in Delaware. They weren’t guests, and they weren’t there for dinner. It’s a dead end.”

“They were at Hadley’s party? At that dumb fucking unmasking ceremony? I can get a guest list.”

“No, not at the party. At first, I ran because I didn’t want the twins to recognise me, and the monster was outside on the smoking terrace with another man. I figured they were there for me and I freaked out, okay? That’s when I lost my shoe. But Blue—that’s my friend—she says there’s no evidence either way, so maybe it was all some big coincidence? Whatever, as long as he thinks I’m keeping my mouth shut, he leaves me alone, and I just need to bury this. Bury it deep, where somebody with enough power and influence to tamper with autopsy results and shut down a police investigation wants it to stay.”

Garrett was stock still now, his gaze absolutely piercing, and I wanted to hide under the quilt the way I’d hidden in the back of Mom and Dad’s car all those years ago.

“How certain are you that the man you saw at the Peninsula was the same man who killed your parents?”

“I don’t know! At the time, I was sure, but it was a gut reaction, so maybe I got it wrong? The eyes…the pale, pale eyes were the same. But isn’t everyone meant to have a doppelgänger? Please, can’t you come back to bed? I wanted to explain my nightmares, not start a chain reaction that neither of us would be able to control.”

He began pacing again. Great.

“Please?” I begged. “Please? A week ago, my life didn’t matter so much, but then you came back into it and promised me a future that I never thought I’d have, and I just want to live. I want to live with you.”

Finally, he stilled by the bed. “You want to live with me? Guess I’d better clear out half of my closet, then.”

The anger dissipated, and I could tell he was trying to lighten up for my benefit.

“Can we change the subject now? Just fuck me. Tie me up and hold me down and take my mind off this. Take my demons away.”

The energy rolling off Garrett in waves changed. There was still anger, but now he channelled it, and I felt the raw strength of him when he picked me up and threw me onto my stomach.

“You’d better be ready for this.”

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