“I found this letter in the mailbox. Did… did you tell your parents you’re here?” he asks, holding up an envelope.
I’m so startled by the question that for a moment I don’t even know what to say. I just stare at the letter in his hands before he lowers it.
“Would you like me to read it?”
I nod but it almost seems like my head moves without me directing it.
“Looks like it’s from your mother.” He reads it to himself before sighing. “I want to explain to you that… while it looks like an apology, it’s likely some kind of manipulation. Are you sure you want to read it? I’m not sure you should.”
I take the letter from him and read over the apology where my mother begs me to come back, telling me that she promises she’ll protect me. She says she’s sorry for what’s happened and asks me to give her one more chance. My hands start shaking harder because even if I’ve pretended like I’ve cut her completely out of my life, I know I haven’t. I want my mother. I want someone to love me.
“What if we just stop by so you can grab some of your old things? And we’ll talk to her. Maybe, if she’s being honest, you can start to build some kind of relationship.”
I nod. “Is that okay?”
“Of course. I’ll go with you. You won’t be alone.” Whitaker squeezes my arm. “You don’t ever have to be alone again.”
THIRTEEN
Liam
“He wrote the letter,” I say, having known it from the moment Jesse said he received it.
“Of course he did,” Jesse responds bitterly. “But I was so fucking desperate for love of some kind that I was too dumb to realize it. He knew I was. He knew I was close to breaking and he just… he just needed to break me.”
“So when you showed up, your father and mother cemented what he wanted into your mind.”
“Yes. My father screamed at me, asking if I was fucking Whitaker for his money. My mother wouldn’t even look at me. It shattered me… and that’s what Whitaker wanted. He drew me away from that hell, then apologized again and again for taking me. He told me he should have trusted his gut that they were horrible people.”
“All to win you over,” I say.
“Yes.”
“And he did.”
“A part of me, yes. A part of me was obsessed with him. It was like whenever he was around, I was prepared to worship him. He was my savior. He could do no wrong. But whenever he was gone, I found myself going down into that basement and pressing myself against the door and listening to that woman’s cries.”
“And that was Lacey.”
“Yes.”
“What made you realize that he was the monster and not her?”
“I stalked her brother. Then I talked to him. But still, every time IsawWhitaker, everything felt right. He sent me out to draw in men who were just like my father. Monsters. It just… it cemented the fact that what he was doing was right.”
“Did he ever put the men you brought to him down there?”
“No.”
“So they weren’t his type. He was doing it to win you over.”
A flash of guilt crosses Jesse’s face. “Yes… and I started to realize that. He watched women who looked like Lacey. His eyes betrayed him. His desire to manipulate grew more apparent and before too long, I became aware he was manipulating me as well.”
“How long was Lacey down there?”
“Two weeks.”
“Why are there no police reports or anything about her disappearance?”
