Page 245 of Soul So Dark

ME (6:03PM): Excuses. Trying to get out of paying me back are you?

BOWEN (6:04PM): Plans fell through. But I have something better. Newly acquired investment. Not as volatile.

I’m sure, I roll my eyes. We’ll see if he comes through with a shred of useful information or if I have to bleach my eyeballs and come up with a different plan.

“I still don’t know how you do it,” Alex comments as I toss the phone back into my bag, “keep talking to him so he’ll trust you and tell you things.”

I gaze out the windshield for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain it.

“Everything else melts away,” I finally say. “Colson found Evie, and he and Mason brought her out of the woods. But everyone needs to know how she got there, and that’s the only thing that matters when I talk to him. Maybe that’s whatIhave to do, and everything else mutes just enough to make it bearable and keep going back to find the answers.”

Alex reaches over and weaves his fingers through mine. “You have more fortitude than anyone I’ve ever met.”

We’ll see if I do by the time we get to where we’re going after Calhoun’s.

I can invest so much time and effort into tricking Bowen, a rapist, murderer, and sociopath, into thinking I’m someone I’m not, but I’m psyching myself out over something that will become routine after tonight.

As expected, Calhoun’s is packed with only standing room by the outdoor bar. But we’re not staying long enough for it to matter. I just need to find Brett and be my cheery and upbeat self. She’s so kind, and I can tell she really wants to make friends, but something keeps her at a distance, like she’s afraid to get close to anyone.

Colson. It’s probably Colson.That jerk-face.

Standing close to Alex, we scan the crowd for Brett until I catch a glimpse of her signature strawberry blonde ringlets at the far end of the patio, sitting at a table across from another girl with long, dark hair. That has to be her best friend, Barrett.

Like I said, she likes her routines.

I look up at Alex with an excited grin and we begin making our way through the crowd. But just before we break through on the other side, a man approaches Brett from behind, swings his leg over the bench, and sits down next to her. I gasp and come to a dead halt, unable to process the scene before me.

No.

Why is Bowen here?

And why is he sitting next to Brett?

Our Brett.

Alex grabs my waist and spins me around, high-tailing it back to the opposite end of the bar before we’re spotted by either of them.

“Why is he here?” I hiss. “What thefuckis going on?”

For the first time, Alex looks like he doesn’t know what to say as he peers through the crowd at Bowen sitting shoulder-to-shoulder next to Brett. She looked surprised to see him, but now she’s speaking to him like she knows him, and I have no idea how. She’s never mentioned him, or any man for that matter. All I can do is drag my hands up and down my face in frustration.

So, this is what Bowen meant.Newly acquired investment. Not as volatile.

“Alright,” Alex sets his jaw and looks down at me, “it’s your call, what do you want to do?”

I can’t take my eyes off of them; Brett with her glowing smile and Bowen in a crisp polo with his slick black hair brushed out of his face, dressed up like he’s not a venomous serpent just waiting to strike. I can’t walk up and start talking to her now, but I can’t just leave. I have to do something.

“I’m going to speak to him,” I utter through clenched teeth. “I’m going to wait for him to leave the table and I’m going to speak to him.” I look up at Alex with resolve. “So that he can see I’m still here.”

Alex holds my eyes and then gives a sharp nod, his expression unchanged except for the slight glint in his eye. Because he understands. Plans have changed, but I won’t let Bowen leave here blissfully unaware.

He’s still walking free—and so am I.

I’m on borrowed time and we can’t stay here long, so I make it count. Propping my phone up on the bar top in front of me, I point the lens straight ahead at their table and zoom in. It would be a lovely candid photo if not for the ghoul sitting next to my future sister-in-law. But I snap the photo, capturing both their faces clear as day.

No sooner do I lower my phone then Bowen rises from the table and heads for the bar. It’s a wonder he doesn’t feel my gaze burning a hole through his temple while he orders his drinks. But this is my chance, I can’t get scared now. I look up at Alex, as if to absorb some kind of residual courage before confronting the chimera haunting my existence.

Alex bows his head and presses his nose into my hair. “I’m here,” he says in a voice that sounds like a distance rumble of thunder.