Page 153 of Tear Me Apart

He nods, still clearly in shock. “She really did it?”

“It looks like she did. I need to get the rest of the letters to verify her story. Do you know where this bank is?”

He flashes the small white-and-green envelope that contains the key.

“Yeah. First Bank on Vail Road. I’ll take you.”

The drive is short. Kat sticks her head out the window joyfully, the innocent who saved a child. Zack tries desperately not to think, not to cloud his mind with suppositions.Read the letter. Then you’ll know.

Ten minutes later, Jasper parks in the bank’s lot. They leave the windows cracked despite Kat’s reproachful whine.

“Relax, sweetie. I’ll be right back.”

Inside the bank, he and Jasper approach the first open teller. Zack slides the little white envelope that holds the key to box 615 in it.Strange, he thinks,that’s the area code for Nashville. Another dig? Or a way to remember easily?

“I need to get into my safety deposit box.”

“I’ll need some ID, sir.”

He hands over his driver’s license. A few moments later, the teller hands back his ID and steps from the counter to the cage. He and Jasper follow mutely.

Inside, the teller says, “Mr. Armstrong, I’ll need you to sign the signature card.”

He notices the deposit box is in his name. Clever Lauren. So very clever.

“How long has this box been open?”

She pulls it from the small index file. “Looks like...2005.”

“That’s when we bought the house,” Jasper says.

The teller uses her key, inserts Zack’s into the second slot, then turns them both and opens the small door. She steps away, pulls the door, saying, “Just let me know when you’re done.”

When they are alone, Zack lifts the lid.

The box is empty except for three things. A sheaf of papers, folded into thirds, a passport, and underneath them both, a sealed envelope, addressed to Zack, in his dead wife’s familiar script.

Zack opens the passport first, sees Jasper’s photo.

“Wait, is thatmypassport?”

Zack hands it to him. He opens it incredulously. Flips through a few pages. A tiny piece of paper flutters to the ground. He picks it up, reads it, then shuts his eyes and swallows, hard, like he’s trying not to be sick.

“What?” Zack asks.

Jasper hands over the piece of paper. It is handwritten in a script Zack isn’t familiar with.

It says:I know your secret.

94

Jasper is white, and Zack almost feels sorry for him. The passport is obviously a shock and the meaning of the message clear to him.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?”

“Lauren specifically asked you to make sure I was here when you opened the box?”

“She did. I assume she wants me to know everything, too?”