Page 34

“J ust one night?” The hotel clerk smiled wide with lips covered in burgundy lipstick. A tiny smudge of color was on the corner of one of her front teeth.

I looked away, digging through my purse for my wallet. “Yes. Just tonight.”

I’d found the best hotel closest to Sage Hill in another small town called Green Pines.

It was sixteen minutes away. And the perk?

There was great cell service and Wi-Fi here.

After the clerk handed me my key card, I boarded the elevator and watched the digital floor numbers climb.

As soon as I’d made it to my room, I sighed with relief.

I changed into pajamas, washed my face, tied my braids into a bun, then sat on the bed with my purse. I dug through it until I found my phone and Eve’s camera. I wanted to contact the police of Green Pines, but if they were this close to Sage Hill, they probably knew James Reed personally.

I didn’t trust James.

I didn’t trust anyone in that damn town.

Instead, I sent a text to Nico: Anything?

Not yet

I typed up another text, this time to Zoey. Have you gone back to school?

No. Took the day off. I can’t concentrate knowing Eve is gone.

Eve is gone.

Something about those words haunted me. I didn’t want to believe she was gone either.

She could still be out there somewhere, waiting for someone to rescue her.

I chewed on my lip, debating on what to tell her next.

If I told Zoey what I’d discovered so far, she’d panic.

Zoey had really bad panic attacks. If she was alone, no one would be able to console her. I had to let her know the truth though.

Do me a favor and go to my dad’s house. There’s something I need to tell you, and I want to make sure you’re not alone.

Zoey replied almost instantly. WHAT? ROSE! WHAT IS GOING ON? WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT. SERIOUSLY I NEED TO KNOW. NOW

She didn’t even give me the chance to reply. Her name appeared on the screen. It wasn’t a text, but a call this time.

I answered. “Zoey, I’m not telling you anything until I know you’re safe.”

“Why do I need to be safe ?” she asked, her voice laced with apprehension.

“Because I don’t want you to freak out too much and have another panic attack. You need someone to keep an eye on you.”

“Okay—fine. Fine. I’ll go. But—just stay on the phone, okay?” I heard keys jingling in the background and then a door slamming.

“Rose?” she called.

“I’m still here.”

“ ’Kay.”

Her car door closed. I could tell she was driving by the steady whooshing noise in the background.

“Make sure you’re driving the speed limit, Zo.”

“I am, I am.” She released a heavy breath. “Was I right? Was she kidnapped?”

I hesitated before answering. “I’m not sure.”

“Oh Godfrey,” she whined.

“But I don’t think she’s hurt,” I added. A lie, of course. “So don’t work yourself up.”

“Did you guys get into an argument or something?” she asked. “I mean, before all of this? Maybe that’s why all of this is happening. She’s been so sad because you guys aren’t as close anymore.”

I swallowed, swinging my gaze to the dark curtains. “Eve and I aren’t on good terms anymore for good reason, Zoey. I haven’t talked to her in in about three months, so I don’t think that’s why she’s missing.”

“I don’t get why you’re avoiding her,” she said.

“Because she . . . she did something unforgiveable.”

“What could she have possibly done for you not to speak to her for that long?”

I paused before saying, “She slept with Cole.”

The line went quiet. The seconds ticked by, one after another, until Zoey spoke up again.

“She wouldn’t do that,” she muttered, finally.

“Well, I’m telling you she did. I literally saw them with my own eyes.”

“What the fuck,” Zoey breathed. “WHAT THE FUCK!” she screamed this time. “Why would she do that?”

I refrained from crying and instead squeezed my eyes shut. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t get it,” she whispered. “I—I really don’t get it. That’s why she was acting so weird. She kept saying something about how she needed to forgive people for their mistakes because she was always making bad ones.”

I had no idea what that meant, and right now I was too tired to care. “Are you close to Dad’s?” I asked.

“Just a few minutes away.”

“ ’Kay. When you get there, don’t tell him what I told you about her and Cole, okay? He doesn’t know but Diana does.”

“Okay.”

She didn’t speak much until she’d made it to Dad’s. I heard him in the background asking her what in the world was she doing home. I heard Diana shrilling, some rustling, and then it was quiet.

“I’m in your old room,” she murmured. “Now tell me what’s going on with Eve.”

I broke it all down for Zoey. Every single event that had happened since arriving at the cottage.

I explained the knock on the door, the purse, and having gone to the sheriff’s office to file a report.

I told her how little I trusted the only sheriff there and explained to her who Alex and Damian were.

The spark plug thing definitely shook her.

“So, you think one of those guys did something to her?” she asked.

“I can’t say for sure, but I do know they’re hiding something.”

“Why would someone just leave her purse on the porch? Who do you think had it?” She was breathing faster, on the verge of hyperventilation.

“I think it was their sister, Rory. I met her when I was taking a walk through the woods and looking for a sign of Eve.”

“Do you think she knows something?”

“I know she does,” I said, thinking about the last thing Rory said before fleeing the cottage. Just keep looking for answers.

“What about Eve’s main phone? Was it there?”

“No. I had Nico track her last location and she was at was a diner in that area. The night before she stopped answering her phone.”

“Oh God,” Zoey moaned. “She’s dead!” She was breathing raggedly now. “She’s dead, Rose! She’s dead !”

I knew this was coming. I sent Diana a text as I told Zoey to calm down and breathe.

The next thing I knew, I was hearing my sister’s concerned voice. She was soothing Zoey, telling her to count down from ten.

“Rose?” Diana called out as Zoey wept in the background. “You okay?”

“I’m okay. I’m in a hotel right now.” My eyes welled with tears. “I don’t know what to do, Diana.”

“Come back home.” Her words were final. “Wherever Eve is or whatever she’s got going on, that’s on her. You did your part, sis. So just . . . come back to Charlotte. We’ll figure things out from here.”

I swiped at my eyes and nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay. Let me take care of Zo. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I hung up and sniffled, wiping my eyes again.

Tears dripped on the bed, some landing on my pajama pants and turning the cotton a darker shade.

I drew my knees to my chest and rested my forehead on them, sinking into darker thoughts about Eve.

If she was dead, what were we going to do?

I should’ve forgiven her. Maybe if I had, she’d have never gone to that damn lake.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat that way, curled over and crying, but when my phone rang and I saw Nico calling, I swiftly dried my face and answered.

“Nico.” I sniffled. “Hey!”

“Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m okay.” I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand. “What do you have for me?”

“I’m at Lincoln’s apartment right now,” he said. “Place is a shit show. He’s got coke everywhere. Pretty sure he’s selling it.”

That didn’t surprise me. “Is he there? Did he let you in?”

“Not willingly. But yeah, he’s here. His lip is busted a little bit but he can still talk. Wanna speak to him?”

“Uh. Sure. Yeah.”

My heart drummed faster as I heard Nico say, “Get the fuck up.”

A deep groan crackled through the receiver. Then came Lincoln’s familiar voice. Definitely the one from the camera.

“Rose, I already told your guy everything.” He groaned again. “I—I don’t know where Eve is.”

“But you were at that cottage with her? In Sage Hill?” I asked.

“Y-yeah I was, but it was only for the first two nights. She said she was staying for two more nights or something. I left the next morning ’cause I had to work.”

“Did she invite you there?”

“Yes. She said she . . . that she wanted me to be there. She said she missed me. She . . . fuck , I think you broke my nose, man.”

“Keep talking,” I heard Nico growl.

“That’s all I know. For real,” Lincoln said.

“Was she drinking?” I asked. “Did you have her doing coke?”

“I don’t make her do lines, she willingly does it.

But no, she wasn’t doing any of that. She kept telling me she wanted to change.

That she wanted to be a better person. I didn’t hurt her, I swear.

We had a good time, and she wanted me.” He paused to groan.

“When I left the next morning, I saw someone driving to that place, though.”

“A man or a woman?”

“I don’t know. The windows were tinted so I couldn’t really see. Could’ve been multiple people.”

“Well, what kind of car were they driving?”

“An Aston Martin,” Lincoln answered. “It was like . . . like a metallic red color or some shit.”

The next question I asked was highly unlikely, but I went for it anyway. “Did you happen to see their license plate?”

“No. I—I didn’t really care to look. Please, I promise you I didn’t do shit to Eve! I don’t know where she is! I’ve been calling her for days and she hasn’t picked up!”

I sighed. Lincoln may have been an asshole, but he was a stupid asshole. He wasn’t smart or calculating enough to be behind this. Oddly enough, I believed he was telling the truth.

“Fine,” I muttered. “You can let him go, Nico.”

Eve Castillo journal entry

I miss Rose.

I don’t know how to make things up to her.

I feel like I should reach out to Cole and have him do something to win her back.

Then maybe she’ll forgive me? I don’t know.

Rose is a sucker for romantic gestures. She likes being surprised.

If she restores her marriage there’s hope our relationship can be salvaged too.

It was Ben’s birthday yesterday, but I didn’t get invited. Zoey went and asked if I was coming. I had to tell her I was busy and wouldn’t make it. I hate lying to Zoey. But I’d rather lie than have her find out the truth—that I’m a shit friend who can’t reject her best friend’s husband.

Here’s the crazy thing though. I started seeing a therapist and she thinks I’m envious of Rose.

She believes that, deep down, there’s a part of me that is jealous of her life—that secretly a part of me blames her for my struggles. I couldn’t say that I’ve ever felt that way, but my therapist broke it down for me.

“It’s not blatant envy,” she said. The way she explained it is that I have this friend who has lived a decent life. Meanwhile I’ve lived a shitty one. We became friends at a young age, so I watched her grow with me, year after year, getting better and better while I’d practically remained stagnant.

Rose’s boyfriends were always really into her.

All the boys who were into me only wanted me for sex.

She had loving family members to throw surprise parties for her, or to buy her a car.

I had no loving family other than Zoey and Abuela.

Rose was considered family, but I’d never ask her to throw me a party.

They would cook for me. But as far as having a car .

. . yeah, I had to buy my own and I wasn’t even able to do that until I was twenty.

Rose going to college while I couldn’t afford it. Rose graduating while I was stuck working at H&M. Having a dad who was proud of her every step of the way and not one like mine, who beat me, cursed me out, and made me feel less than human.

Then she married the guy I once had to myself.

My therapist made me question that aspect of it.

She asked me if I had purposely stayed around Cole without Rose being present because, subconsciously, I was upset that he’d chosen her over me.

She also asked if I was harboring anger because he didn’t try harder to keep me.

If I was troubled because he treated Rose ten times better than he’d ever treated me, prior to his cheating.

Was I seeking attention?

Wanting Rose’s life?

Was I truly envious and oblivious to it?

In a way, I wanted what she had. I longed to be loved and appreciated too.

That’s a sad, bitter pill to swallow. Without even realizing it, I was throwing blame on my best friend.

One of the only people in the world to truly love me for me, despite my flaws, my rebellion, my lust. One of the people who would have loved me unconditionally had I not betrayed her.

I silently blamed Rose because I’m miserable. And, according to my therapist, I wanted my misery to have company . . . Even if it cost me everything.

Eve Castillo journal entry

The summer was a whirlwind. My trip to Cali was really good but I’m glad to be home.

I’m getting a little tired of traveling so much.

I like recording videos, but I think I’m burning out with social media.

I might take a break and go somewhere quiet.

Have some me time. I just hope my followers stick around and don’t go anywhere else.

The truth is I need to feel wanted—Loved. I want to be held by someone for hours and hours. I could call Lincoln and have him meet me.

Or Victor.

Maybe both.