Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
An hour later, the house was silent. For a while after Dannika had left me to sleep, I could hear them whispering from the bedroom.
I felt terrible for what I’d done, for the position I’d put them in, and for not even realizing there was a position to begin with.
I wouldn’t do it again. Wouldn’t chance it for the world.
Instead, once the house fell silent, I scribbled a note and left it on the kitchen counter.
Dani and Ty,
Thank you for always taking care of me. I have to go find him. I can’t give up, and I can’t wait. I love you both. Give the babies kisses from me.
Palmer
With that, I walked out the front door and called an Uber.
The black Hyundai pulled up, allowing me to climb in.
The driver, Alex, offered me a bottle of water or a phone charger.
I accepted both and opened my Facebook, searching for Katherine Thompson and the name of her town, praying it would pull something up.
It was a small town, even smaller than Crestview, so I had to hope.
I waited as my Facebook loaded…
And continued loading…
Finally, a list of names popped up. The first three weren’t her, the fourth didn’t have a profile picture at all. Two of the four weren’t even in our state. One had the last name River, rather than being from Red River.
I clicked ‘See More’ and, as soon as it loaded, I gasped.
Got you.
I’d recognize the face that had been burned into my memory any day.
I clicked on her profile, watching it load, and her face filled my screen.
The profile photo was her, though her hair was now a coal black rather than strawberry-blonde.
When had that happened? Was this an outdated picture?
I checked the date and noted that she’d just posted it the day before.
So, she’d changed her look. She was definitely hiding something.
I scrolled through her page, which was mostly private, and there were no pictures of Gray. There was, however, a photo of a house with the caption We’re homeowners!
It had been shared two years ago. I clicked on it, reading the house number: 618. There was no street name, but someone had been tagged at one point. Her husband, most likely. I ran my mouse over the picture.
Tag removed, it said, highlighting a box where his name had probably once been.
I closed out of Facebook and opened my browser, typing in her name. Katherine Thompson Red River, NC 618
I pressed enter, and this time, it was the top search result, though the name on the listing made my throat go dry. A chill ran over my spine as I clicked on the link.
No.
Please God, no.
The page loaded, and I felt my pulse growing erratic as sheer black fright swept over me.
618 Melbourne Lane
Red River, NC
Property Owners: Benjamin and Katherine Lewis
Ben.