It seemed impossible, like my own personal Everest. I’d have to scale so many things to get there. I took a deep breath. There was only one way to climb a mountain: one step at a time.
I tapped a letter on the keyboard, bringing the screen to life, and signed into one of my many fake social media accounts. There was a message waiting. One with a name. I scrawledBethany Lewison my piece of paper. I scanned the list of names. Eight in total. The girl I was looking for had to be one of them. It was time to start researching.
The hours flew by as I searched old yearbooks and public online photo albums. People didn’t realize how much of their lives they left out for the world to see. How much information a complete stranger could gather with just a few keystrokes. The whole thing made me feel like a creeper.
I stood for a moment, stretching, trying to relieve some of the tension that had settled between my shoulder blades. I checked my watch. One more hour. I could afford one more hour before I needed to head back to Sutter Lake.
Easing back into the desk chair, I typed a new name into the search engine. Too many of the wrong hits. I typed in the name and a location this time. Virginia. Where Garrett and all the majority of these women had gone to college.
A slew of news articles filled the screen. My heart began to beat erratically as I clicked on one.College Sophomore Missing Since Tuesdaythe headline read. I double-checked dates and names. This was the right Bethany Lewis. One of the eight girls Garrett had dated before me. A girl he’d never told me had gone missing.
I clicked back to the search page, my eyes scanning the screen to see if she had ever been found. Another headline jumped out.Bethany Lewis Presumed Dead. My stomach roiled as I read each line of the article.Garrett Abrams, Lewis’s ex-boyfriend, has been cleared in her disappearance. Abrams had been a prime suspect after a report of domestic abuse to the campus police came to light. But, just recently, two fraternity brothers came forward to corroborate Abrams’ alibi.
My nails bit into the palms of my hands as I fisted them. Garrett had killed her. I knew it in my bones. He always had his bases covered. He’d grown up in a privileged family and had connections that had bought him protection from the moment he breathed his first breath. That had only grown as he’d gotten older. The right prep schools, colleges, fraternities, social clubs, and finally a job with one of the most prestigious law firms in DC. One that was notorious for fixing seemingly unfixable problems for the rich and powerful.
Tears of frustration pricked at the corners of my eyes. The girlfriend had been my one hope. The person I knew had been brave enough to speak up before. I had thought there would be safety in us coming forward together now. But Garrett had silenced her in the most permanent way. My gaze fell on a photo of Bethany’s parents. They held a sign, begging for any information on their daughter’s disappearance.
The poster had a large photo of Bethany. I shuddered. We looked incredibly similar. Or weusedto. She was fair like me, had a white-blonde tone to her hair similar to what mine used to be like, and her eyes were light—not violet like mine, but a light blue. I shivered.
My head pounded as if a vise were encircling it and growing tighter by the second. I needed to get out of here. Needed fresh air. Time to process all of this. I hit print on five of the articles and stood, stuffing my paper and pen back into my bag. I grabbed the printouts as the machine spat them out and tossed the change owed for the printing into the dish next to the machine.
I hurried through the stacks, to the entryway, ducking my head again as I exited the building. Sunlight. Fresh air. I was safe. Garrett couldn’t hurt me here. I sucked in air and tipped my head back, pulling off my hat so I could soak in the rays of the sun, uncaring if the people walking by thought I was weird.
“Tessa?”
My body stiffened, and my head jerked in the direction of the raspy tone. Liam. My mind whirled. “What are you doing here?”
He gestured to a building across the street. “I had some legal paperwork to sign.”
My eyes narrowed as my palms began to sweat. “Why didn’t you have it sent to Sutter Lake?”
Liam rubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw. “I’m trying to keep a low profile, and I don’t really want my label to know where I am. I had to get the paperwork notarized, and I didn’t want them to be able to track me through that.”
I studied his face, searching for a lie. All I saw was the truth. Tears of frustration wanted to surface again. I hated the paranoia that seemed to rule my life. Hated that my mind jumped to the worst possible assumptions of people.
Liam had been nothing but kind to me. I thought of the way-too-expensive drawing charcoal he’d bought for me. No one but he had even picked up on the fact that I drew.
Liam stepped closer. “What about you?” His eyes traveled to the library behind me. “Picking up a book?”
I drew the pile of articles I was holding to my chest, but the movement was too quick. A few sheets of paper fluttered to the ground. I let out a curse and crouched to pick them up.
Liam’s hand shot out to grab one the wind had caught. He studied the paper, his brow furrowing. “A missing person’s case?”
I snatched the article from his hand. “It’s nothing. I really need to be going.” I met his eyes briefly, forcing myself not to immediately bolt for the parking lot like I wanted to. That would only be more suspicious. “Good luck with your paperwork.”
“Thanks—”
Liam sounded like he was going to continue, but I cut him off with a wave. “See you around,” I mumbled and turned towards where my car was parked, making myself walk at a normal rate.
The last thing in the world I needed was for Liam to try and figure out why I was looking into Bethany Lewis’s disappearance. Hopefully, he would just think I was weird. Socially awkward. My shoulders sagged. I was exhausted from being on alert all the time, from always worrying that someone would discover my past.
One day.It was a promise to myself. One day, I wouldn’t be forced to have my defenses up at all times. One day, I could let people in. One day, I would know what it was like to be truly free. Not just free of Garrett’s abuse, but free of the burden of constantly looking over my shoulder. One day couldn’t get here fast enough.
8
Liam
“Who would’ve thought? Hollywood here knows how to ride.” Laughter tinged Tuck’s voice. Tuck was Walker’s best friend, and I guess, now a friend of mine. One who currently gave me a whole lot of shit.
