“My appointment…it got canceled.” She doesn’t meet my eyes.
And then I see it. The look that passes between her and Gabriel. It’s silent and loaded. A glance that carries shared knowledge.
I turn on her. “You did this.” The words force themselves through my gritted teeth.
“Did what?” She frowns and looks at Gabriel again, too quickly.
What a fool I was. All this time she was pretending she would help me find Sadie, but she was working with Gabriel to try and stop me. Maybe she did not even go to the camp today like she said.
She just wanted to appease me, to pretend she tried so she can tell me what a hopeless case this is. Betrayal is a hot, electric taste in my mouth.
“Please.” I wet my dry lips as my hands clench at my sides. “Don’t lie to me. You threw that rock. Gabriel asked you to.” Tears flood my eyes. “You’re in this together. You are working together to stop me.”
She falls silent, confirming it. She was out there for a few minutes, long enough to head to the beach, find the rock and throw it.
“So, if we call the police,” I continue, “they’ll find your fingerprints on it. Won’t they?”
She nods, barely perceptible. Her eyes won’t meet mine.
“We needed to stop you.” Gabriel goes to stand next to her. “This was getting dangerous. I also suspected what you just toldme, that someone has her and if we are not careful, they could hurt her, Judy.”
“I can’t believe this.”
I spin back to face them. “You said you’d help me, Scarlett. You said you were on my side.”
“I am, you know that. I was trying to protect you.”
“You had no right.” I jab a finger in her direction. “You could’ve said you didn’t want to be involved. You could have just said no.” Why didn’t she tell me that Gabriel suspected Sadie has been kidnapped?
“I’m calling the police to tell them about the photo. I need their help to find the monster who has my daughter.”
“You can’t do that.” Gabriel’s voice is sharp and final, but it doesn’t move me.
I snatch my phone back and push past him.
There’s something I need to do before calling the cops. In my bedroom, I yank open the bedside drawer and take out the folded sticky note. I return to the kitchen and slam it onto the table.
“You don’t want me to call the police because you know more than you told me. So, tell me what that is. Please, explain.”
His hand trembles as he reads it, then he sighs.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I got a photo too.” His voice is almost inaudible. “About two weeks ago. Same girl, wearing the same clothes. But she was against a different background, on the beach.” He grips the island with both hands, head bowed. “They said Sadie was alive.” He drops his head. “They did…they asked for money to keep it that way.”
I sink into a chair, my legs weak as it hits me that I was right.
“So, they were already blackmailing you,” I whisper. “And when you didn’t respond, they came to me. Where’s the photo? It’s another piece of evidence.”
“I destroyed it.” Shame flickers across his face. “I thought it was a hoax. I was furious.”
I turn to Scarlett. “And you? Did you know about this?”
She purses her lips before nodding. “Gabriel told me.”
“You both knew.” Pain tears through my chest. “And neither of you told me.”
She comes to put a hand on my shoulder, but I shake it off. “Don’t touch me.”
She steps back and folds her arms. “We knew it would hurt you so much to see that photo. We were protecting you.”
