Prelude1984.
When I finally open it, I connect my phone to the hotspot and clickFind Myon the computer. I quickly see Bradley’s phone among the devices listed. Two hours' drive away, in the suburbs of the city.
Looks like it’s time for me to meet Grace’s family.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
At the traffic lights, I check the map. I’m close—ten minutes or so. I memorize the next few turns and am about to put the phone down when it rings.
Not Bradley, and not the police.
It’s a Canadian number.
I answer just as the lights change. “Hello?”
“Hi, is this Brie?” Her voice reverberates from the car speakers, loud and angry.
“Yes?”
“This is Caroline Marcus. You messaged me about Pine Ridge.” Her voice wavers a little, as if she’s doing everything in her power not to scream at me. “Look, I don’t know what happened, but I can’t help you. I’ve spent the last five years trying to forget about that place.”
I can tell she’s about to hang up, so I blurt out, “Grace is dead.”
A pause. “Well, shit. What happened?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I almost feel bad. I suppose Bradley’s still alive?”
“Yes.”
“Shame it’s not the other way around.”
“What did you say?”
“Did that shock you?” she laughs. “Don’t tell me, you’re under his spell.”
“I’m not under anyone’s spell.”
“If you’ve been living at Pine Ridge and you don’t want Bradley dead, then I’d say you’re under his spell. Here’s all I can tell you. He’s a monster. They both are, but he’s so much worse. He’s a narcissist and a liar, and you can’t trust him. Not about anything.”
I want to argue with her, but instead she keeps talking.
“God, that place. They toyed with me. Grace was no angel. She used to humiliate me, gaslight me, and make me think I was in danger. They knew I had nowhere else to go, and so they pushed and pushed. It was all a stupid game to them, but I honestly think it’s ruined my life. I suppose this all sounds familiar.”
I can’t speak. She continues.
“And Bradley! He made me think he loved me. He laid it on so thick. I’d never had anyone say that to me, especially not someone like him. He was a real adult man, educated, wealthy. I was just a kid back then, just out of college. Anyway, eventually I got so scared that I ran away. Their creepy neighbor gave me a ride into the city, and I stayed at a friend’s house for two weeks, until all the media and police stuff got too intense for her. I was going to tell my story when Grace made an offer. A hundred thousand dollars to keep my mouth shut, taken from her trust fund. She told me it was all for her book.”
She stops talking, and I can hear her blowing her nose away from the phone. After a few seconds of silence, she recovers.
“Such bullshit. But anyway, I took the money. And I’m just calling to say sorry. Because maybe if I’d told the police, you might not be in whatever situation you are now.”
“Bradley said Grace tried to kill you. And she ended up stabbing Bradley instead.”
She snorts. “That wasn’t from Grace. He’s had that since he was a baby. He had heart surgery or something. Ah, I was such an idiot! Brie, don’t be like me. Don’t fall for his shit. Run. Run as far as you?—”
As the phone cuts out, I find that I’m close to the house rented by Grace’s family. There’s no time to think, no time to process.
