“I don’t even want to think about it.”
“You had to live through all that again, didn’t you?”
“Live through what?”
“You…you killed Kyle with an axe.”
“Oh. Yeah.” I look away for a moment. “It doesn’t matter. At least I know what I’m good at.”
“Bishop…”
“Really, it’s fine. I’m fine. The important thing is that you are all right.”
Solo suddenly appears from under the bed and walks up between us, purring loudly. Apparently, he’s been hiding there all this time. Once again, I wonder why I couldn’t have found a nice, big dog.
“She’s gone now, isn’t she?” Seri says as she strokes the cat’s back. She looks up at me with tears in her eyes again. “She’s really gone.”
“Yeah, I think she is.” I reach out and rub Solo’s head for a moment. He curls up between us and begins to purr, and I decide I’m glad he’s a cat.
“Netti, too.” Seri leans against me.
“How did you know?” I ask. I lick my lips and furrow my brow. “How do you know about Netti?
“I think I always knew,” she says softly. “Iris talked to Netti when we were children. I listened sometimes.”
“Do you understand what…what happened to you?”
Seri’s face goes white. For a long moment, she says nothing. When she finally looks at me, her eyes are wide.
“Yes,” she whispers, “I think I do.”
“Seri? What do you remember about that day? I mean, the day when you…when you were hit? Do you remember anything at all?”
“About the truck?” She shakes her head. “I don’t remember any of that. But the river…I remember the river.”
“You mean, you remember when Kyle threw Iris off a bridge?”
“Yes,” she says. “That’s the first thing I remember clearly. I’m a good swimmer—fucking awesome, actually. The river current was rough, but I managed to make my way over to the bank. I dragged myself out and just lay there for the longest time. Two boys came by, riding their bicycles, and they called the police.”
I narrow my eyes at her use of the f-word, but say nothing.
“I couldn’t risk it,” she says. “I couldn’t have Kyle find out I was still alive. Before the police got there, I ran off. I got some clothes out of one of those donation bins they have in strip malls and hitchhiked to Montana. Got a job running a cash register at one of those dollar stores. I thought I’d be all right, but then I saw my picture flash up on the nightly news.”
“Iris’s picture,” I say softly.
“Yes, but it didn’t matter. It was me, and Kyle knew I was alive. As long as he knew that, I wasn’t safe. That’s why I headed north. Never thought he’d come this far to find me.”
“So, now you remember everything? You remember everything that Iris did? Everything Netti did?”
“Yes, I do.”
I rub my eyes and shake my head.
“This is all too much for you, isn’t it?” Seri reaches up and strokes my cheek. “I don’t blame you. I’m sure if you understood what you were going to be dragged into, you would have left me on the side of the road.”
“What? No!” I grab her face with my hands. “Seri, I would never, ever want that! I’m glad I found you. I can’t imagine my life without you now. I love you, Seri. I love you more than anyone in my life.”
“You do?”