"Heather and Tristen don’t know either?"
I mumble, "We haven’t told them that I know."
"WHAT? Why?"
My constant slow simmer of anger all of a sudden turns to a boil, and I snap, "Because they lied to me for ten freaking years." A little calmer, I manage, "I’m not ready to confront them."
"Wow. I, um...I’m seriously speechless right now. And that rarely happens."
I smile at her sadly.
All of a sudden, there is a spark in her eyes. "Okay, but wait; why is there nothing about you in the media? I mean, when you researched the case?"
"That’s another thing my nurse told us. Whoever had me was blackmailing my parents, and they never filed a missing person report. That was why it also took so long for the hospital to identify me. They had no idea who I was until I told them. I was in the system as Jane Doe. Madeline helped my parents make me disappear. My real name never showed up in the hospital system. The media knowsofthe first victim, but not who it was. That’s also why some speculate that the other girls are just placeholders."
Den’s entire face scrunches together while she lifts the coffee mug to her lips. "Placeholders for what?"
"Me."
A spray of coffee explodes over the table, and Denielle frantically grabs napkins from the dispenser. People in the café turn at the commotion while we hastily clean the mess. I’m patting my bagel dry when she whisper-shouts, "Are you telling me that this freak is still looking for you?"
"We think so, yes."
She grasps my hand on the table. "Why are you so fucking calm?"
Rhys’s response echoes in my mind. "I am scared, but I’m also not a helpless little girl anymore. Heather and Tristen made sure of that over the last ten years."
She nods in understanding.
My stomach growls loudly, and I finally take a bite of my bagel. We eat in silence, and it’s visible that Den is mulling all the information over in her head. Before I can shove the last piece in my mouth, she levels me. "Can I ask you something?"
I tilt my head to the side. "Sure."
She pauses, so I eat my last piece of bagel. "So, Rhys loves you?"
"Hm-mm." I’m still chewing.
"Why has he been ignoring you for years?"
Ahh, the question I haven’t elaborated on. Yet. Den was there to pick up the pieces and loathe him for me until I got over the hurt and to the loathing stage myself.
I swallow. "Tristen figured out that he was in love with me and made it clear that he could not act on it. He could never tell me. So, Rhys did the only thing he could think of."
She throws her hands in the air and lets her palms smack on the table. "Well, now I can’t hate him anymore for you. I almost feel sad for him."
A chuckle escapes me. "Almost?"
"Well, he still made the choice to date the Wicked Bitch."
"Oh." My tongue suddenly feels like sandpaper.
"Speaking of...what is happening now? I mean, he came clean. Is he going to keep whoring himself out to her?"
I take a big gulp of the now almost cold tea, hoping to get rid of the dryness in my mouth. But it just feels like I’ve swallowed a stone that is now settling in my stomach. I haven’t thought about that. Will he? He lovesme. But why would I care? I shouldn’t, right?
I shrug. "I guess. I mean, no one can know that I know. It’s really his choice."
My best friend doesn’t buy my brush off. "But how doyoufeel about it?"