She peeled away from Steve going so fast he couldn’t keepup and turning at a place she normally didn’t to get away from him. Then she changed her wig quickly and drove to the designated meetup spot with Hope to switch cars and pick up her burner phone, along with cash for gas and food. She handed Hope the nanny-cam teddy bear and Matthew’s water bottle and took off, all the way to Door County, Wisconsin. Faith had none of her clothes from the apartment, not even her toothbrush. Everything had to seem normal to investigators. Hope took Faith’s car to the secluded spot where she was allegedly strangled so the car would be towed and inspected as part of the investigation, and then Tom picked her up and dropped her at her apartment. He was back with plenty of time for the eleven o’clock news.
Around Gary, Indiana, Faith called Hope on the burner phone to compare more notes. She told her about meeting the intern in the parking lot and handing the intern the note. Hope said it was all good except for one thing: not having an envelope.
“Incredibly stupid, Faith,” Hope said. “Who was this intern? What if she looked at the note?”
“No intern is going to disobey the orders of talent,” Faith reassured Hope. “No way in hell. She’s just a baby-faced college kid. Don’t worry. Plus, she wouldn’t have a clue what it meant even if she did.”
“I am worried, that was reckless of you,” said Hope. “We have to think ten steps ahead for the rest of our lives. I think we’ll need to keep tabs on this intern. What’s her name?”
“Uh… Olivia, I think.”
“Uh… Olivia, I think? That’s your answer? You have to pay attention to damn details, Faith. This isyourdisappearance and I’m wrapped up in it too, so is Tom, so are two policemen, possibly an ambulance driver, and the medical examiner. Don’t playgames and don’t be foolish. What the hell else do we know about this intern who you just handed a very weird piece of paper?”
“Wait, I remember,” said Faith, not liking the feeling of being admonished by her older sister as she had been so many times as a child. “Yes, it was definitely Olivia and she told me she had an aunt who is a major fan of mine and is in the Fair-Weather Friends Fan Club. Carol Henning was the aunt’s name. I remember because Olivia had me autograph a picture for her and Carol’s husband, Jim. I also remember that Olivia said she tells her aunt everything and that they’re super close.”
“Well, now we’re getting somewhere,” said Hope. “I’m going to google Carol Henning, Detroit, and see if I can find any pictures of her, like maybe from wherever she works or something. Then I’ll go to the vigil they are sure to plan in your honor and look for this woman. If she’s there I’ll cozy up to her and try to get some info. I can tell when people are lying so I should be good at this. You’ll see it all through the teddy bear camera. Sound good?”
“Sounds good.”
“You have to be way more careful, Faith. We have everything on the line here.”
“I know…”
Faith hung up but felt angry. No intern was going to look at a note, it just wasn’t going to happen. Even if the intern did, what was the worst that could come of it? It was all good.
And it seemed to be. Faith drove all night, arriving just as the sun was starting to rise in Gills Rock. She checked to see if there was anything official out in the world about her, but other than a “Where’s Faith?” Reddit and some speculation on X there was nothing. She fell into bed and slept more deeply than she had in months. When she woke, news of her “death”was just getting out. Smiling as she made a simple breakfast with ingredients Hope had stocked up the previous week, she took a mug of coffee outside and sat overlooking the bay, thinking,It’s done, it’s all done now. I am a free woman.Hope was going to plan the fake funeral for family and say that she had Faith’s body cremated immediately.
It was all going perfectly.
For two days.
But then Tom began to gum up the plans.
It started that Monday night after the disappearance. Faith’s burner phone rang as she came out of the shower. She had left it on the side of the sink. She jumped, thinking it was Hope. But the number was Tom’s.
“Hey, everything OK?” she asked, grabbing for a towel as she juggled the phone against one ear.
“Yes. Are things good for you in Gills Rock?”
“It’s like heaven here, the most beautiful little house in the woods on a cliff that overlooks the water. A big backyard, a fire pit. It’s amazing.”
“Sounds like paradise. How’s it going for Hope? She’s still here in Detroit, right, keeping an eye on things?”
“Yes, all good for Hope. She’s headed to a Fair-Weather Friends Fan Club meeting tonight. She’ll take a teddy bear with a camera in it so I can see what’s going on if I want to, and she’ll keep using her fake name of Heather and changing her voice and posture so no one can ever put two and two together. She connected with the aunt of this intern who handed you a piece of paper. Are you absolutely sure the intern didn’t seem like she read it?”
“No way, she was just a kid delivering something. Nothing to worry about there.”
“Thank God. So what else do I need to know? I saw the pregnancy push alert earlier.”
“Yeah, that’s blowing up, great idea as sympathy is absolutely pouring in. Listen, Faith, I do have something important to talk to you about, though.”
“What is it?”
“Honestly… this is awkward… so I’ll just come out and say it. This whole thing is a lot more than I bargained for.”
His voice had shifted, taking on a stronger and darker tone. Her throat tightened up.
“I wanted to help you, as a friend and a colleague. I really did, Faith. And I did my part. I did everything but, quite frankly, the stress of this has been overwhelming. More so than I envisioned. I actually had to take a sick day today.”
