“So you decided to stalk me?”
The word makes her uneasy,stalk. “I wouldn’t say I was stalking ...”
“And go to the police about me? And write shit on the internet about me?”
The more he says, the worse her crimes sound. Kaitlyn could have never imagined that Townsend Fuller, of all people, would be able to convince her thatshewas in the wrong.
“You and your sister are both fucking psychos, you know that? She’s harassing me, you’re stalking me ...” Townsend sighs deeply, and the smell of tequila fills the car. “I’m powerful,” he adds. “I could easily make you both go away.” It occurs to Kaitlyn that he’s been drinking and that it may have been foolish to invite him into an enclosed space, where no one can witness what he might do. Which is probably what compels her to tell him what she does next.
“I have a gun.”
“What?”
“I have a gun,” she repeats, less certain this time. “In the trunk of my car.”
Townsend gawks at her. “Are you threatening me?”
It was a stupid thing to say—especially to a man who, to his credit, is likely pretty powerful—but Kaitlyn can’t back down now. “I’m just stating a fact.”
For a moment, they simply stare each other down, Townsend’s face contorted with rage. Kaitlyn needs to distract him, get the conversation off herself and back on Amanda.
“You said my sister has been harassing you and your girlfriend. Do you have any proof of that? Any messages?”
“Every last fucking one.”
“Could I see some of them?”
He scrolls through his phone and then presents her with the screen. Kaitlyn leans across the center console to read the message.
Don’t think I forgot about you bxtch. I know your with Townsend now and I know it’s not going to last. Watch your fxcking back. As soon as it falls apart I’m coming for you both.
A chill runs down Kaitlyn’s back. She turns off the AC. “She sent this to Talia?”
It’s a mistake to use Talia’s name again, because Townsend’s face instantly darkens. “How do you even know my girlfriend’s name? Or where my parents live? Or where I live?”
“I—”
“How do I know it’s not you who’s sending these crazy messages rather than your sister?”
Now Kaitlyn feels like she can’t breathe. She turns the AC back on. “It’s not me, I promise. But Amanda would never threaten someone like that either. That isn’t like her at all.”
“If she’s not like that,” Townsend says, his face closer to hers than she would like, “then why did she kill your parents?”
This question is so outlandish, so unexpected, that Kaitlyn wonders if she’s heard him wrong. “What?”
Before he can answer, Townsend’s phone vibrates in his hand. A picture of Talia fills the screen. Kaitlyn only gets a glimpse of it, but she sees Talia smiling sweetly and holding a glass of wine up to the camera. So unassuming, so effortless. So unlike Amanda in every way.
“Shit. I need to go.” Townsend reaches for the door handle.
“Wait!” Moments before, Kaitlyn couldn’t wait to be away from him, but now, she desperately needs him to stay. “What do you mean she killed our parents?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he steps out the door and—just before he can close it—leans in again, eyes narrowed into angry slits. “Leave me and my girlfriend the fuck alone. You and Amanda both. Okay?”
“Okay,” she agrees, because what else can she say? And then Townsend is gone, running back to his girlfriend and leaving Kaitlyn more confused than ever.
Back home, she checks Reddit, just to see if geminibaby530 has reappeared. No luck. Her thread does, however, have a new comment from a user named t_fuller90. She reads it, feeling more ashamed than angry.
Amanda Reade isNotmissing. She is a bitter ex obsessed with revenge, and she’s ruining people’s lives. Do not listen to her sister’s claims. These bitches are in on something together and not to be trusted.
