Page 138

Did someone follow him? Did he come in here by mistake likeme? Or was he here to meet someone, lured here like he was lured to the basement?

Fred’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but is he dumb enough to answer a summons to a secluded locationtwice?

No, so it can’t be that. Whatever brought him here had to be something else.

Personal.

Comfortable.

Because you don’t turn your back on someone you’re afraid of.

A knife in the back. That’s a crime of passion. The knife was driven in deep. It takes a lot of strength to do that unless you know what you’re doing and your knife is very sharp.75

So it’s probably a man, but it could be a woman full of rage.

Who hates Fred that much?

Who hates Fred so much, but that he wouldn’t be afraid of?

Think, Eleanor. Think.

Who, besides Tyler, would be so mad with Fred that they’d want to kill him on his wedding day?

And it’s then that I notice it. His left hand is ringless. Someone stole his ring? Or...

Oh, no.

Oh,shit.

This isn’t Fred.

My heart starts to race and tears spring to my eyes. Because if it’s not Fred, then there’s only one person it could be. Someone else with the same haircut and build who even I mistook for Fred more than once.

My God. My God. Someone finally did it. They killedConnor.

And I’m not sure how to feel about it.

No, I’m lying.

I’msad.

Goddamn it.

I need help.

I wipe my tears away and turn to the door, grabbing my shoes. It’s time to leave and go to Officer Anderson and get the wheels of justice in motion. But if I do, it’ll be real. A world without any Connor in it. Something I’ve fantasized about more than once.

But now it’s happened, and it’s going to change everything.

Shit.

Did I say that already?

Connor’s death has me so upset I’mrepeatingmyself.

I open the door and step back into the hall, ready to raise the alarm, and smack right into something, my shoes tumbling out of my hand and falling to the floor.

Someone.