Talia speaks before Meera can. “Is Detective Harris available? Or Detective Burrows?”
“Are they—?”
Talia nods, somehow already anticipating what Meera is going to ask. “The officers who came to Townsend’s place to ask about Amanda.”
“I’ll check.” Without moving from behind his desk, the man speaks into his radio, his words mumbled and unintelligible. A moment later, a tall Black woman in a navy suit appears.
“Detective Harris, I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m—”
“Townsend Fuller’s girlfriend, correct?” Harris looks Talia up and down and then glances curiously at Meera. “I remember.”
“Right. Talia Danvers. And this is my friend, Meera Ratnam.”
Harris tilts her head, as though waiting for a punch line.
“You came to question Townsend after Amanda Reade’s sister reported her as missing but ...”
A beat passes. “But what?” Harris pushes.
Talia takes a deep breath and then pushes the words out all at once—and though she only says what Meera already suspects, Talia’s confession still raises goose bumps on her skin.
“She’s not missing, or dead. She’s still alive, and I think she wants to kill me.”
Chapter Fifteen
Talia
Talia is glad Meera pushed her to go to the police.
As much as Townsend doesn’t want to involve them, Talia knows this is the appropriate next move. It’s time for someone—besides Talia, Townsend, and Meera—to know what Amanda is up to. Alerting the authorities would only help protect her.
Once Detective Harris leads Talia and Meera back to her office, Talia recounts the series of threats: the emails from “Amy Stake,” the slashed tires, the ominous note. She even hands over her phone so Harris can inspect all the evidence for herself, which she does in silence with a furrowed brow.
At last, Harris says, “I understand why you’re shaken. But can I ask what makes you believe these messages are coming from Amanda Reade? Her sister hasn’t heard from her in months. So why would she contact you?”
“She’s sending threatening messages to Townsend too.” Talia gestures to Meera. “We both saw them. They sound just like the emails I’ve received.”
“She’s been contacting Townsend through Cuff,” Meera explains.
“Cuff?”
“It’s a dating app,” says Talia. “It’s how they met. And it’s how Townsend and I met.” Though it doesn’t really seem like Harris’s business, Talia adds, “Meera and I work there as engineers.” Perhaps it just feels good to mention this, that she’s an engineer, a woman in STEM. Someone to be taken seriously.
Still Harris looks skeptical. “Townsend didn’t mention these messages when we spoke to him.”
The last thing Talia wants is to get Townsend in trouble, especially when he’d been so reluctant for her to approach the police. “He didn’t want me to know about them. He thought he could handle her himself.”
“Handle her?”
Shit.“Well, no, not handle her—that’s not what I meant to say. He just wanted to ignore her, hoping she would leave us alone. But clearly that isn’t working.”
“And what are you hoping I can do?”
“Protect us!” Talia didn’t mean to raise her voice, but she does, and she instantly regrets it. Seeing the look on Harris’s face, she takes a deep breath before continuing. “She was outside my office. She slashed my tires ...” Talia runs a hopeless hand through her hair. “I know her sister led you to believe that Amanda is in trouble, but I’m telling you: Amandaistrouble.”
“All right.” Harris nods. “We’ll look into the vandalism charge. Please keep us updated. If you receive any more threats, you’ll let us know, okay?”
“I will.” Having gotten Harris on her side, Talia feels as she often does after sex: exposed and a little embarrassed, but too gratified to regret anything. Yes, she’d shouted. Yes, she’d made a scene. But in the end, she’d had her needs met, and is that such a bad thing?
