“I think you do. You need to look at this. It could help.” Bella places the paper gently into my palm.
“I—uh.”
“Open it.” She’s so damn bossy.
“Fine.” As slowly as possible, I open the paper up one fold at a time. When it’s all the way open, I can’t seem to make myself look down at the words.
“Do it.”
“Jeez, Bella….”
“Just do it.”
Lowering my head, I read the first three words:
Ryder Chase McNamara
I blink a few times and read it again. “Two out of three names aren’t bad.” I laugh but it comes out as more guffaw than anything else. Also, the pain that shoots through my heart is a little unbearable.
“Keep reading.”
I do. And it hurts even more. “He doesn’t live in California.”
“Nope. At least that’s the most recent information.” She takes the paper from my hand and begins to read. “Ryder C. McNamara, 97848 Canyon Boulevard, Mesa, Arizona.”
Makes sense. He said he liked it warm and sunny. “Hewasvery tan.”
She ignores my attempt at humor. “Former Army Ranger. He spent four years in the service, then received an honorable discharge.”
“That’s good.”
“He’s a police officer in the Phoenix PD.”
“A cop?” I let that notion roll around in my brain for a bit. “I can see that.” He was very bossy. That’s not the part that concerns me. “Does it say if he’s actually single?” I mean, there seem to be lies told by the man, so who knows?
“Finn could probably make some calls and find out.”
“No.” I shake my head. “That’s not necessary.”
Part of me is confused. “He told me he lived in California. Why would he lie about that?” That’s not my only question. “Do you think he was really here on vacation?”
“Vacation? Who said he was on vacation?”
“He did.” Or did he? “And Mona.”
“Ugh.” Bella growls. “That bitch seems to know more about Chase or whatever the fuck his name is. It makes those photos sound even more important.”
“The photos. Right.”
Bella’s rubbing her hands together like she’s plotting something. “We need to get that old hag into a sunless room for a few days and question her.”
I want to laugh at my best friend, but that seems wrong. Right? I guess I should be relieved she didn’t mention a torture chamber. But I suspect that’s what she meant. “It makes me wonder if anything he told me was the truth. Did he go to Stanford?”
“There’s nothing about his education, so maybe. Finn said all of this stuff, including his military service and work as a cop, made it easy to find out who he was. He’d have to dig some if you needed more information.”
I shake my head again. “No. This is enough.”
It’s enough to show me that the man was a liar. He may have been in the service and a cop, but a liar is a liar and I’ve got no room in my life for that.
