Chapter 36
It took a lot longer than I’d hoped, but I found Talia at the creek, sitting on a fallen log with her boots planted in the damp soil, her elbows resting on her knees as she stared at the slow-moving water.
The creek whispered as it wound its way through the trees, the sound steady and soft, making me see why she was so fond of this place.
She looked up when she heard me approach, and relief crossed her face.
“Hi,” she said. “I didn’t know you were coming over today.”
“I just spoke with your mom. She told me you were out here.”
“I come here when all the noise in my head gets too loud.”
I knew the feeling.
“I wanted to fill you in on some of the things that have happened since we last spoke,” I said. “Some of it won’t be easy to hear.”
She straightened, brushing her hands over her jeans. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, I want to know.”
I sat on the log beside her, and for a moment, we both watched the water slide past, leaves drifting along its surface.
“I need to tell you about Anne Fontaine. She was a girl who went missing a long time ago.”
“Was she ever found?”
“She wasn’t. I believe Audrey found the locket at the cabin. Once she realized it belonged to Anne, she learned a woman by that name had gone missing and began asking questions. At first, they were limited. As she uncovered more about Anne’s disappearance, those questions grew.”
I went on to tell her about the bones, the bonfire, the pact the group made after Anne disappeared, and everyone who was involved. I also explained my theory that as Audrey started piecing it all together, her curiosity may have turned to obsession.
Talia listened without interrupting, her hands clenched together in her lap.
“I believe someone knows what happened to Anne and that Audrey was trying to figure out who,” I said. “The harder she dug into it, the more they felt threatened until they decided something had to be done so the truth would stay buried.”
“What are you saying?”
“I think Anne left with someone at the bonfire that night, and then something happened, and that’s why she went missing.
Except I don’t think she’s missing. I believe she’s dead and that the person responsible for her death is either responsible for Audrey’s death too or connected to it in some way. ”
“If the last people to see Anne were at the bonfire, you’re saying you think … no. That can’t be true. My parents were there, and it isn’t either of them. They loved Audrey. She was family.”
“I don’t doubt that,” I said. “But love doesn’t erase fear. And it doesn’t cancel out the instinct to protect yourself when a secret pushes its way to the surface.”
Talia wrapped her arms around herself. “You’re wrong. You have to be. Everyone who was there, they’re all good people.”
“I wish I were.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and she turned away, staring at the water again. “I don’t know how to take what you just said. It feels like the ground just shifted under me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry for all you’re going through right now.”
She wiped at her cheek. “I think I want to go home. Can you walk me back? I don’t want to be alone right now.”
“Of course.”
We started along the edge of the creek, following the water as it curved through the trees. A narrow dirt trail branched off ahead, worn but unused, disappearing into the weeds around it.
I stopped.
“That path,” I said. “Where does it go?”
Talia glanced at it. “Nowhere now. Those trails were here before the subdivision went in. Before that, people used to hike through this area. Now no one does.”
I stayed where I was, watching the water slide past, its pace much quicker now.
“Do you mind if I show you something?” Talia asked. “It’s a bit of a walk, but I’ve always thought it was kind of special.”
“Lead the way,” I said.
She stepped closer to the creek, moving along its bank, and I followed, the dream I’d had pressing against my thoughts.
Follow the water.
Not the path.
To the place where two become one.
We walked in silence until she stopped near a cluster of trees set back from the bank.
“There,” she said, pointing.
At first, I didn’t see it.
Then I did.
Two trees had grown together at the trunk, their bases fused, branches splitting and rising as one. From the right angle, the shape was unmistakable.
A heart.
“I’ve always loved that tree,” Talia said.
I stepped closer, my gaze dropping to the base of the tree.
The ground behind it had been disturbed at one time. The soil looked like it had shifted, and it was uneven. Even so, someone had been careful, going to a great deal of effort to leave as little of a mark as possible.
I felt a knot of fear in my gut.
“How did you find this place?” I asked.
“My dad brought me here. He used to take me on walks along the creek when I was a kid. This was always our favorite spot.”
The words landed with quiet force.
Not a confession.
Not an accusation.
Just a truth, offered without knowing the weight behind it.
I stared at the tree, at the place where two had become one, at the water sliding past.
The dream I had now made sense.
Anne hadn’t been hidden far away.
She’d been placed somewhere familiar.
Somewhere only one person thought to look.
I rested my hand against the bark, cold and solid beneath my palm.
Talia looked at me, searching my face.
To her, it was still just a tree that stood out among others in the area.
To me, I had just uncovered answers, and a truth capable of shaking our quiet town to its core.