Her:Did you follow her today? Did she go to see Max?
Jamie:After work, she went and picked up takeout and then went home. Haven’t seen anyone go in or out of her place since.
And another exchange:
Jamie:Please don’t ask me to do this. I could lose my job.
Her:You’re going to lose your job if you DON’T do it. Because I’ll tell everyone what I saw you do.
Jamie:I have a son. I can’t afford to lose my job.
Her:You’re only going to lose your job if you get caught. So don’t get caught. Besides, I have a plan on my end to cover both of us. JUST DO IT.
Jamie:Fine. I’m off tomorrow, so I’ll try to peek at her file when I’m in on Thursday.
Ellie walked up. “Hey. Find anything good?” She put an iced tea in front of me.
“Oh my God.” I slapped my hand to my forehead. “Yes. I think I just found the smoking gun. This girl works for Dr. Quinlan—I think she’s the one who accessed my medical file, and the one who’s been spying on me for Madison.”
“Oh, shit,” Ellie whispered.
I continued to scroll back in time, through Jamie and Her’s text history. I saw an exchange from mid-March.
Jamie:Fine. I’ll do what you ask, as long as you swear you won’t tell anyone about the pills.
Her:Good. We have a deal.
Jamie:What do you want me to do?
Her:My husband was seeing this other woman a couple of months ago. I think she might be pregnant. I want you to follow her. Keep tabs on her. Take pictures of her and where she goes and what she does, and send them to me.
I choked on my iced tea.Husband? Are Madison and Max married?
And, oh my God—the date. It was before I met her.And she was already having me followed.
“What is it?” Ellie asked.
I handed her the phone and let her see for herself. “I think Madison is ‘Her.’ Madison must have something on this girl, and she’s been making her follow me, send her photos. I think she made her look in my medical file.”
“Are you sure ‘Her’ is Madison?”
“Well, I have Madison’s number saved in my phone—let’s see.”
Yep—the numbers matched. “It’s Madison,” I confirmed.
After months of harassment and confusion, I could hardly believe I finally had proof. Real, tangible proof that Madison had been plotting against me.
Ellie scrolled through more of the photos and texts on the phone. “Oh my God,” she said. “Husband? They’re married?”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Max never said he was married. I wouldnothave hooked up with him if I’d known.”
“I’m guessing that’s why he didn’t tell you,” Ellie pointed out. “I guess it makes a little more sense now why Madison is so obsessed with you and your baby. He cheated on his wife.”
I thought back to some of the comments people had made on Madison’s social media posts—in particular, the one about Madison having gone through a rough time trying to have a child of her own.
“I think maybe Madison has fertility issues. So she wantsmybaby.” A feeling of dread started creeping up and down my arms and legs like invisible spiders. I was starting to think maybe Madison’s motivations were even more evil than I had first suspected.
Ellie shook her head, dumbfounded, as she handed me back my spy’s phone.
