I crumpled up in a ball and wept. My heart hurt for Luke. All he ever wanted to do was set me free, but he gave up his life in the process.
“I’m so sorry, so sorry.”
The ache in my chest grew as I thought about the pain Gracie must be going through, thinking I was dead, her father appearing after all this time.
I’d started a chain of events that were out of my control now.
ChapterForty-Seven
Luke
The strange is often found in the mundane. When I found it tucked under the seat, I just knew. A red ribbon. The one Alyssa told me about. It was all fucking real. Holding it up, I smiled. Pulling out my new cell phone, I did a quick internet search, and as expected, I found nothing on Alyssa Morgan. Her husband’s family had some contacts in high places, and it would be child’s play to get her information removed from online search engines. The Embassy records in another country, however, would be different.
I called Elliot.
“Where the hell have you been, man? I tried to call you, but you went completely AWOL. Alyssa keeping you busy?” He laughed.
There it was—confirmation.
I wasn’t wrong.
I hadn’t imagined it.
Elliot was the one mistake Audrey made. Why Seth would go along with it was a whole other mystery to me.
“You could say that. I need your help, man.”
“Sure, anything.”
“Could you check if there is still a record for Alyssa Morgan in your database?”
“Gimme a sec,” he started tapping away on his keyboard. “What’s the deal?”
“I’ll fill you in. I just need to know.”
“Yeah, she’s in my database, dude.”
“Could you email it to me on my private email address? I owe you, man. I’ll Skype you later.”
I walked into the kitchen to find Audrey humming a familiar tune as she cooked. She sucked at cooking, but she’d taken to trying too hard lately. She brushed her hair over her shoulder, and it shimmered in the light.
Audrey had always been a beauty. Elliot and Seth may have disapproved of my relationship with her, but they could never deny she was a stunner, which was why I wondered why she chose me, the nerd, in the first place. I was as good-looking as that goes, but I didn’t have the charisma other guys had.
“I’m going over to Seth’s.”
“Oh,” she said. “Would you like me to come with, honey?” she asked.
“No. I’m good. You okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She carried on cutting vegetables, but I didn’t miss the tremble of her hands.
They’d lied to me.
The question was why.
When I knocked on my brother’s door, I knew he was on night duty this week. But I needed to talk to him so he’d have to forego sleep. My niece, Miranda, opened it, but instead of being happy to see me, she looked uncomfortable.
