He lets out a big sigh. “Security flagged someone outside.”
Heat pools in my chest as the security notification comes through on my own phone and Lennon starts barking, causing Ringo to get up and do the same.
“Nothing for you to worry about, though,” he says, grabbing his keys and heading for the door. “We’ll finish this discussion in the morning, alright?”
“Sounds good.”
I pretend like I’m unbothered by the prospect of a crazed Colton “fan” at the gates, but fear ripples through me. I see what they say about me. The detailed descriptions some write. How they’d hurt me. Torture me. Kill me.
They’re finally coming for you, a voice whispers. Her voice, the one that’s haunted me, ever since that day. It makes me wonder if the person at the gates isn’t a Colton fan. But one of hers. Someone I should be even more afraid of.
They know what you did. All of it.
Chapter 40
After a four-hour drive, Naomi pulls up to the black iron gate guarding the entrance to Harlow’s Georgian revival mansion. She hesitates before putting the car in park.
Am I really here? Am I really doing this?
She thinks of all her sleepless nights. Of her inability to truly move on with her life since Faye died. If there is even a shred of hope her sister isn’t dead, that she’s alive, Naomi can’t ignore it. Even if she’s proven wrong, even if she really has lost her mind, at least this nightmare of wondering will be over and she can get the help she needs. She exhales and finally steps out of the car.
A camera watches her as she moves toward the intercom. She clears her throat before pressing a finger down on the cold silver button.
“Faye?” Naomi’s voice shakes as she speaks. “It’s me.”
She isn’t sure what she’ll do if Faye responds. Whether she’ll buckle in relief and astonishment, cry her eyes out as she wraps her arms around her. Or if she’ll scream and shout in a flurry of rage—livid that Faye forced Naomi to grieve her death, only for her to secretly live out her dreams.
She waits for the gate to open, imagining its metal screeching against the pavement to beckon her in. But no one answers. She laughs. Feeling like all of this is suddenly hysterical. That she is hysterical.
The delirious feeling grows as she walks around the side of the house, wondering if she should scale the fence. A light flicks on in the distance, illuminating one of the windows at the back of the house. Naomi follows the gravel path around the edge of the property toward it, stumbling to her hands and knees when a shadow moves past the window.
It’s her, she thinks, scrambling to her feet.
Naomi dusts the small stones and dirt off her jeans before using the back of her hand to push her hair off her face. The air is cold, but her head is slick with sweat.
“Faye!” Naomi shouts to the shadowed figure, despite being so far away.
Nothing happens.
She’s about to call out again, this time trying Harlow’s name, but Naomi’s cry is muffled by a hand wrapping around her mouth.
Harlow
Wood creaks below my feet as I climb the stairs, Lennon and Ringo barking wildly behind me. I’m not sure if I’m looking for a better vantage point or a place to hide. I turn on the light once in my bedroom and quickly close the blinds. As I turn, a voice cries out in the distance and I freeze, paralyzed where I stand.
Chapter 41
Naomi tries to scream, digging her nails into the stranger’s hand as she’s dragged away.
“Stop resisting!” a deep, gruff voice demands as she flails beneath him. Her terror shifts to understanding as she realizes what’s happened.
She’s frustrated for being so close and annoyed at being manhandled, but she’s also embarrassed. Of course Harlow would have security watching the property. She imagines how crazy she must look from their point of view. Naomi stops fighting, breathing in a sweaty metallic scent as the guard releases his hand from her mouth. He tightens his grip on her arm as she regains her balance.
“This is private property, ma’am,” he says. “You’re going to have to come with me while we wait for the authorities.”
She imagines the headlines.Crazed Woman Claiming Harlow Hayes is Her Sister Arrested for Trespassing at Singer’s Holiday Home.
Panicking, she tries to explain herself. “I’m… I’m a friend of Harlow’s. She’s expecting me, just please ask her to come down.”
