Hunter moves in front of me—protecting me again. But he can’t protect me from her words.
It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters.
If she’s telling the truth and Master Abram managed to get Noah killed...
He died because of me.
I’m the reason he’s dead.
CHAPTER 9 - HUNTER
Lacey’s uncle is going to kill me. He’s going to fucking murder me and he’d be right to. I had one task. Make sure she’s safe. And instead, she rushes away from me directly into danger.
I text him again. She’s fine. At the police station right now. She’s okay.
Do we need to go back on our deal? I can hire someone else.
I sink into my chair, glancing at Lacey, who hasn’t said much since we arrived at the police station.
I know you need my help, he adds. It only works if you’re actually really keeping an eye on her. I cut you some slack at the beginning of the school year because you were still texting and your friend kept you updated, but this is not going to work.
I shove my phone in my laptop bag. A laptop bag Mom bought me, even though we’re in so much debt she doesn’t know if my grandparents will be able to keep their house.
She’s one of the reasons I said yes when Lacey’s uncle approached me about keeping an eye on her. At the beginning I told him I’d just do it because I would have done it anyways. But then he said he needed to be kept in the loop. He wanted to know her friends so he could run background checks on them. He wanted to know her schedule to make sure he knew where she was.
I knew then that she wanted to be independent and I convinced myself that it was just protection. He offered me money and all I thought about was my grandma’s garden; how devastated she’d be if she had to let it go. And then he offered me something I felt like I couldn’t refuse.
He’d help me find information about Jane Doe. He’d help me fight the false plagiarism accusations.
So far he only found that the guy who runs the site hasn’t been heard of in several weeks and his parents have reported him missing. And about Jane Doe? He said the police had really done their due diligence when it came to checking the different databases across the country, but they hadn’t found anything. He did manage to get information from a drug dealer that she definitely wasn’t a regular in the area. He said the problem with those types of cases is that the police may not have enough resources. However, he also promised me that I couldn’t hope for anyone better on the job than the one who was currently working it. But without proof that she came from another state, the resources are limited.
When Lacey and I were texting, he just wanted to know what she was doing online and if she had any threats she didn’t report, and he wanted to know if she was feeling better. He insisted that I should step it up as soon as I was back at school and that even before I came back, I should have a friend keep an eye on her for me.
Rafael did.
And I feel like the biggest piece of shit.
“You can go to class, I’ll be fine.” Lacey’s voice kicks me out of my pity party.
We’ve been sitting at the police station closest to campus for what seems like forever, while Detective Barocci goes through some more paperwork and checks a few things on his computer. I’ve met him several times on the job. He’s been serving the community forever. He’s a very nice guy, straightforward.
The room only has a small window and not much light coming through, and it’s not as grey and dark as the office I went to after finding Jane Doe’s body.
I glance at the large metallic clock behind the desk. I’m definitely missing my afternoon class.
“I’m staying,” I reply with a smile. “I texted Branson and he’s explaining it to our professor. It’s all good.”
“Luke is on the way. And I’m fine,” Lacey insists.
“Do you really want me to go?” And I hold my breath because yes, I did make a deal with her uncle but if she didn’t want me there right now, I’d go.
“No,” she whispers. “I don’t,” she adds a bit louder, and my hand finds her. Our fingers interlink and I give her hand what I hope is a reassuring squeeze.
She stares at our hands and, for a split second, it’s like the police station disappears. And I need to reign myself in. We’re holding hands. That’s it. I shouldn’t think of the way her skin feels or how much I wish I could erase her worries and what happened and take her away from here, to the lake she talks about with a smile, or that place in France she said she had dreamed about visiting and feel her skin under my lips.
I clear my throat and shift from one foot to the other. “Your brother will be here soon,” I say, to focus on something else.
Luke sounded calm on the phone but I picked up on his fear and anger because I have the same feelings rippling within my entire body.
Lacey nods. She’s been following what the policewoman told her to do, answered her questions, but her eyes have the same hollow look as the day she asked the police about Noah at the hospital.
“Do you want to press charges?” Detective Barocci finally asks, sitting across from us and folding his hands on his chest.
“I don’t know.” Lacey shifts but continues to sit straight in her chair. “How is she doing? Why...Why does she think Noah is dead? Is he really dead? What happened? Why didn’t anyone tell me? I asked...I asked everyone. I’ve been wanting to know. And then Hailey...this morning. I talked to Detective Martinez. Did you talk to her? She works...where does she work again? But she knows. I have her card.” She closes her eyes for a few seconds, takes a deep breath, and then re-opens her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m nervous. And when I’m nervous, I talk. I talk a lot.”
Detective Barocci frowns. “Hailey? That’s the same name Eve told us about but, as we just explained to her, Noah’s alive.”
“What?” Lacey’s eyes widen and she grips my hand with so much strength I wince. “What do you mean he’s alive? Where? Have you seen him?”
Detective Barocci leans back. “He is alive,” he repeats and before he can add anything else, Lacey jolts up, letting go of my hand.
“Why do you sound so sure? Detective Martinez, this morning, she said...she said she knew it wasn’t his body they found in Maryland...but she didn’t say for sure he’s alive. She never says for sure. She’d have told me. She’d have called me.” Lacey sits back down, glances my way and then back at Detective Barocci like he grew another head. “But...this morning...Hailey told me. And you didn’t call. No one called me. Noah didn’t call me. He’d have called me. I left my email everywhere.”
The terror I felt when I saw Eve hitting her resurfaces with a vengeance. “What do you mean you left your email everywhere?”
“On forums. There are forums dedicated to finding missing people. There are forums dedicated to helping cult survivors. There’s a forum for everything.” She shrugs like she’s not putting herself in danger. Detective Barocci must agree with my assessment of the risks, because he leans forward.
“Miss Simon, you need to be careful. Detective Martinez told us about the threats you’ve received. You have a restraining order against Charlotte’s father. And she told me she has been in touch with the jail your step-father is in, and he has threatened you in the past. She explained that since he’s been on his best behavior for an appeal, he hasn’t threatened anyone recently but somebody could have taken him up on his need to seek revenge.” His tone is serious and my entire body stiffens. What if one of his followers is responsible? How many of them are there?
Lacey flattens her hands on her knees. “He’s been promoting love and forgiveness for the past three months. Detective Martinez told me about those threats when he first got arrested, but at the time he threatened everyone. Now, she said he’s been very calm and a model prisoner. Some of his followers still hate me and my family, but...” She glances down and back up. “But there has been...” It seems she’s struggling to find the right words. “I don’t think it’s him. I really think
he’s building his image back up and that wouldn’t go with the new character he’s pretending to me. There has been other threats. Other messages. Not from Charlotte’s father,” she whispers.
“What do you mean?” We both say at the same time.
“It’s nothing. People online. And other things.” I wave as if it’s insignificant. “People think I’m either a monster for having ruined Master Abram or a monster for not having him ruined earlier.” She curls her hands and relaxes them again and she raises her head, staring straight ahead at the detective. “Where is he? You said Noah was alive. Where is he?”
“Detective Martinez called you while you were on the way here. But with the commotion you probably didn’t hear it. Noah said he’s been sending you messages to tell you he’s okay. He hasn’t had any contact with his father and sister though.”
“I never got any of his messages.” She frowns. “Where is he?”
The detective makes a gesture to another guy who’s been standing by the door.
The door opens and a guy—not as tall as me, but a bit bulkier—enters.
“Noah. Noah, is it really you?” Lacey’s voice is full of hope and tears and surprise.
The guy’s eyes widen and he smiles one of the biggest fucking smiles I’ve ever seen. And I get. Yep, I really get it. I’m pretty sure I only smile that way when I’m around her. And because I promised myself I would be a friend first and foremost, and that I’m not an animal, I don’t growl when she jumps up and into his arms, sobbing.
CHAPTER 10 - LACEY
He’s taller and stronger than the last time we hugged. His hair is cut super short. He almost doesn’t look the same. Maybe that’s another reason why people didn’t recognize him. He looks older. He smells like soap. He feels familiar. He’s alive. “You’re really here,” I keep on repeating in his neck. “You’re really here.”
“I wrote to you. As soon as you created a social media account, I wrote to you twice, but then...” His voice trails off. “I needed to move on. When you didn’t reply, I thought you were doing the same. I’m not on social media. I didn’t know you were posting things on forums until the police told me.”
“I never got anything. Not a word. I thought you were dead, that I killed you.” As I say the words out loud, I turn to search for Hunter’s eyes. He’s staring at us with a frown but when his gaze meets mine, he smiles. His smile is tender but it’s not the smile I’m used to.
Maybe he didn’t realize I could have been responsible.
Noah steps back and I almost stumble. “Who told you that? Why would you even think that? I’m happy. It took me a while but I’m happy, I promise. Getting kicked out was hard, and I was lost. My father didn’t want to hear from me. I made it all the way to Maryland, but he still didn’t want to hear me. So I kept on driving. I found a job at a bed and breakfast in Maine, and I’m going back to school to get an associate’s in culinary arts. I met someone.” His hand touches mine. “I’m happy.”
His words soothe me. All of this time I thought he might have gotten killed, that he didn’t have anything to eat, that he was lost forever.
Detective Barocci clears his throat. “I wanted to give you a minute for yourselves. You clearly both needed it but this might be bigger than expected. Messages simply don’t disappear from computers. And this Hailey contacted both you and Noah’s sister.”
Hunter shifts in his seat. “Do you think she was hacked?”
I frown. “I still get messages. Emails and others.”
“Is your password secure?”
My face flames and I stare down at the floor; it’s gray like the walls. It’s clean. “I think so.”
My gaze zeroes in on Hunter. The inspiration for my password is sitting on the chair with a frown on his face, like he’s calculating how long it would take him to jump in front of me to protect me from whomever could turn out to be a possible threat.
Noah turns to the detective. “I wrote to her twice.” He glances my way. “I found out Cass was doing okay and I knew you were okay too.”
Hunter crosses his arms on his chest. And why am I noticing how strong his arms are? My mind is looking for a distraction and those arms are clearly it. Hunter’s frown deepens. “Just because she got out too? Why didn’t you go to the police before? You knew she was still behind in that place with those monsters, and you didn’t help her.” Hunter’s voice is icy calm.
Noah lifts one shoulder and he narrows his eyes, shaking his head like he’s not quite sure he’s hearing right. “You think I didn’t try? When I got kicked out of the compound, the Master told me that if I ever said anything negative about them, Cass and Lacey would be punished.” Noah touches my shoulder. “I swear, I still tried. When I got to Maryland though, it was different. People in that group seemed happier. I tried to talk to a journalist but then when she talked to other people, nothing was checking out. You guys had moved and I didn’t know where you were. There was that documentary about Abram a few years before and it showed the group as being happy, wanting to stay away from society. But except for tearing families apart, it wasn’t known to being dangerous. And then...” His shoulders slumped. “I got into some trouble.” He inhales deeply. “I wrote to Lacey once on her email and once on her Facebook. I didn’t have her phone number though. Just her email and her Facebook account. I didn’t push. I thought she got those messages and didn’t want to write back.” He purses his lips. “And I got it. I really did. Because I felt like I failed her. Like I failed again. And she was safe.”
I let out a breath. “I never got them.”
“You should get a notification on your phone.” Hunter sounds frustrated.
“I didn’t.” It took me a few weeks to get used to having a smartphone and I still wonder why people put so many pictures online. I’m not sure if they’re looking for a connection or validation. I’m worried about the wrong people finding me while hoping Noah would have used it to reach out if he was okay or if he needed help. But I know how to use it and check my messages. I even downloaded the apps that shows me I have a message. My phone is in my bag at Hunter’s feet. “Hunter, can you please hand me my bag?” He does and gives my fingers a quick touch with his. A sign of encouragement. I must look as frazzled as I feel. This makes no sense. “My profile is private. You have to send me a message before friending me. I had to do that because I was getting some friend requests from some weird people.” I turn my phone on and log in to my Facebook account. “I have no messages. Nothing.”
“Let me see something,” Hunter says. I slide the phone into his open palm and after a few seconds, he glances up. “Your notifications are off. Did you turn them off?”
“Definitely not.” A shiver crawls down my spine. Slowly. “Do you think someone used my phone?”
“Do you use the same password as for your email?” Hunter and Detective Barocci ask at the same time. I stare at the floor.
I’m probably going to have to tell someone my password is: HunterDream01.
“Lacey?” Detective Barocci insists in a gentle voice.
“Yes. It’s the same one.”
Detective Barocci steps forward. “We need to have someone check your phone. Maybe there’s a bug.”
Hunter taps a few more times on the phone. “Do you mind if I go into your email settings?”
“Please.”
We all stare at him for a few seconds. “Someone put rules up and are forwarding any requests and messages to another email.” He pauses and his face turns paler. He looks at the detective. “The email’s name is [email protected]”
MY HEART CREEPS INCH by inch to my stomach and then drops to my ankles, leaving an uneasy feeling in its wake. “Who would do that? Do you think it’s someone involved with the cult? Maybe Alyssa? She hated me. She’s said she thought I was responsible for the fire because Mom and Luke cornered the Master. Or Charlotte’s dad? I didn’t know she was in the house. She was my age. And she died. Just like Mellie.” I’m blabbering again. Hunter pull
s a chair close to him and I plop down. “I’m bad news, right? I mean what if someone had hurt Noah just to prove a point? Or Lila. Oh my God, Lila. If they want to hurt me, they’re going to hurt someone I love.” I glance at Hunter. “I need to drop out of school. I need to go. Somewhere. Anywhere. Alone.”
Detective Barocci clears his throat. “Let’s not make decisions too hastily. It might be an elaborate prank, but we’re taking this very seriously. We’ll look into your accounts and into the forums. And while you guys were talking, I was talking to my guys to get a location on Mr. Moore, Charlotte’s dad as you know. And as soon as we locate him, we’ll bring him in.” He leans forward on his forearms. “But they said Noah was dead and he’s clearly alive. They want to scare you or rattle you. No one has hurt you or anyone who’s close to you.” His eyes find mine. “What if all they want is for you to not live your life?”
“Do you think it’s the same people who sent me the letters?”
Hunter tenses beside me and Noah cuts in. “Letters? What letters?”
“Ever since I arrived at school, I’ve been getting letters.” I don’t look at him, but I hear him curse. “Some threatening. Some not.”
“Did you tell Detective Martinez?” Detective Barocci asks me, and I hesitate.
“Lacey,” Hunter growls besides me. “Please, tell me you told someone about those letters.”
I sigh. “I did. I did tell Detective Martinez about some of the letters...not all.” I continue before anyone can ask why. “Sometimes I don’t want all of that to be real, okay? Detective Martinez looked at the letters she investigated. Nothing came from it. I wanted to pretend nothing was wrong with me, that I didn’t have any of those issues.” My voice raises slightly and quivers. “I wanted to be normal. Feel normal.” I stare down at my shoes.
Trust Me, Trust Me Not (Gavert City Book 3) Page 7