The fourth guy comes to stand with the doppelganger and places a hand on top of—what did doppelganger call him?—Jay’s shoulder.
Ryder sits down on the floor, bringing me with him. “Elizabeth, I know things must be confusing for you right now. It’s the same for us. You act like you don’t know any of us. We’ve been searching for you for over a year.”
“I…I didn’t know. I don’t remember.” I turn in Ryder’s arms to look at the other guys. “I don’t know who any of you are.I don’t remember.” All four men’s eyes widen in disbelief and what looks like pain.
The doppelganger sits beside his look-alike and leans forward. He places a hand on his look-alike’s knee and squeezes. “Liz, whatdoyou remember?” doppelganger asks me.
I refuse to answer. I don’t know these guys, and right now, I’m scared out of my mind.
Ryder gently turns my chin with his finger so our eyes meet, and I get lost in the warmth of the golden brown color of his eyes. A snapshot of one of the memories from earlier clicks into place.
“You make me happy, Ryder.”
I find myself telling him, “I remember waking up. I was in a coma.”
“We know,” Ryder speaks softly to me. “But you just disappeared. We were with you almost every day when you were in the hospital. And then you just vanished.”
I hesitate once more before answering, “I was in Seattle.”
“How? Who took you?” the guy Ryder called Jay asks me, his face hard and threatening.
“Look, I don’t know you. I don’t know any of you. How do I know I can trust you?”
Ryder takes out his phone. Showing me what he’s doing, he opens a folder called Elizabeth and clicks on a thumbnail. A picture with me in it pops up. I’m standing with him next to a black Dodge Challenger Hellcat, his arm around me, my arm around his waist. His head is tipped back in laughter and I’m smiling up at him. We look happy. I drag my fingers down the screen, trying to infuse the image into my being.
“That looks just like mine,” I remark.
“What does?”
“The car. Mine is red.”
Ryder pulls back, shock on his face. “The red Hellcat parked outside is yours?”
A small grin tips my mouth when I think about my car. “Yep.”
“I’ll be damned.”
“Liz,” the doppelganger says to get my attention. “Do you remember me at all?” I shake my head no. “I’m Julien.” As he’s speaking to me, I’m swiping from one picture to the next on Ryder’s phone. I stop on one.
“Is this us?” I show him the picture.
“How can you tell?”
“The hair.” I keep swiping. I come to one of me on a swing. A huge tree is behind me and so is the mad intruder, Jay. I hold it out. “And this is you?”
“Yes.” He tries to get up once more, but Julien holds him in place.
I look at the fourth guy. “And who are you?”
“Elijah,” he simple states.
I turn back to Ryder. “You said today you’ve known me since you were nine.”
He reaches over and pushes a lock of my hair behind my ear. Jay growls, yes, fucking growls, but doesn’t move from the sofa this time. “We met in third grade. You’ve known Jay and Jules longer. You guys have been best friends since you were all six. We lived on the same street, Fallen Brook Drive. We all grew up together.”
“You weremygirlfriend, Liz,” Jay interrupts, his tone angry. Now it’s his turn to show me pictures from his phone. Because Julien hasn’t released his hold on Jay, Elijah takes the phone and hands it to me.
I don’t know how long I sit there looking at pictures. There are hundreds. Some of me alone. Some of me with Ryder, Julien, and Jay. Most are of me and Jay. Intimate ones. Us kissing. Us holding each other. Selfies of us snuggled in bed. I ask Julien to see his phone. His has as many pictures of me as it does of him and Elijah.Oh. They’re a couple, I realize.
