He just gave me a knowing smile. Which made me think…
“You?”
“Of course. That’s the beauty of compound interest.”
“Right… But that takes time. And you’re like half their age.”
“I started investing early.”
“How early?” An image of little baby Tanner popped into my head. He was sitting in front of three huge monitors trading stocks while wearing nothing but his man bun and some diapers. It was adorable. “Wait, were you the inspiration for the E-Trade baby commercials?”
He laughed and opened the passenger door for me.
“Where are we going?”
“Just get in.”
I shook my head. Madison had really gotten into my head about him being a murderer. And him beingsorich was super sus. He claimed it was compound interest. But I was starting to think it was more likely to be human trafficking…
More importantly, though, I couldn’t trust myself to be near him. I was finally piecing my heart back together. I couldn’t risk letting him shatter it again.
“Don’t you trust me?” asked Tanner.
Was he serious right now?
He looked at the car and then back at me. “I promise, I’m just trying to help.”
I slowly exhaled. I needed answers. And if getting in a confined space with Tanner meant I was closer to finding Rosalie…then I guess I could bear it. A minute later we were speeding off through New York City traffic. And his stupid blueberry cologne was invading my senses. I leaned away from him and toward the window, trying my best to avoid his alluring scent.
“So do you want the good news or the bad news?” asked Tanner.
My heart immediately started racing. That meant he had found something…but that I might not like what he had found. “Um, bad news.”
“I couldn’t find the name of the photographer.”
“Really?” Then why had I gotten in the car?
“But I did find some other information. The photo was uploaded to our system three years ago.”
“What month? Rosalie went missing in May.”
“September.”
“Really?! That means she’s alive!” I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to scream and dance and sing.
“Not necessarily. It could have been taken a while before that. Photos can sometimes sit on hard drives for years before they end up on stock photo sites.”
“Oh.”Damn.“So what’s the good news then?”
“Well…when I looked at the photo, I thought that the scenery looked familiar. I couldn’t quite place it, though. But then when I pulled up the metadata, I noticed that the model’s name was listed as Oaklyn Hope.”
“So it’s not her? That’s not possible…it looks just like her. She’s even wearing the bracelets she always wore. Maybe that’s what she changed her name to after she disappeared.”
“I had the same thought. But then I ran the name through the Society database. And bingo…”
Why did he have access to the Society database? But my question fell away as he handed me his phone. The screen was open to a profile on his Society app for Oaklyn Hope. There was a picture of Rosalie that I’d never seen before, a few stats abouther height, weight, and birthday, and the date of her last spa visit: May 18, 2020. Exactly one week before she disappeared.
I had so many questions. How long had she been part of the Society? Why had she never told me? Who had she been dating? But most importantly… “Did you know her?”
