Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“Reagan. Evan.”
Josie sat back. “Have you two seen each other much over the years?”
“Not enough,” Cooper said with a shrug. “Life, you know.”
“I get it.” Zach returned and put the plate of cookies in the middle of the table. “I know you guys reached out to me in the beginning, and I want to let you know how much I appreciate it. I just wasn’t in a place to reach back. And I hope…I hope you can forgive me.”
“Oh, Josie,” Reagan said. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“We’re the ones who should be sorry, Josie,” Cooper said. “We gave up too quickly.”
“No. No. You tried for a long time. Too long considering I gave you no indication I wanted you to keep trying.”
“We’re just glad you reached out at all, Jos,” Reagan said. Josie felt an unexpected release of tension at the warm forgiveness extended to her. The understanding. It was as if she wasn’t…so alone. These people had known her, were from before, and it somehow tethered her to both times. Before and after. She hadn’t even realized how healing that would feel. “And we’re all here now,” Reagan added.
Josie set her hands on her knees, bending her fingers and then flattening them again. “Ah, so I told you guys on the phone the reason I hoped you’d be able to come here today. The case…”
They nodded, and Cooper grabbed a cookie and took a bite. They’d both seen the news, knew about the copycat. Cooper had told her he’d wanted to call her but had hesitated in doing so after all the time that had passed. She understood. “The police”—she glanced at Zach—“believe the abductions, both mine and the recent ones, might have something to do with Professor Merrick.”
Cooper stared, chewing slowly, and Reagan looked shocked. “Professor Merrick?” she whispered.
“You do remember him, right?” Josie asked.
“Of…of course.” Reagan glanced at Evan.
“The guy you were seeing?” Cooper asked, glancing at Zach as though he might have just shared a secret Josie hadn’t wanted shared.
But she nodded quickly. “Yes. The man I had an affair with. The police believe the other two women found murdered had a relationship with him as well.”
“No shit?” Cooper asked.
“I’m just wondering if you might be able to think back, remember anything about him that still sticks out.” She shrugged sort of helplessly. “I don’t know, but…some small thing might be helpful.”
“I didn’t know the guy,” Cooper offered. “I only knew his name through you. I knew you were upset about things ending.”
That wasn’t totally accurate. She’d been upset about finding out he was married and had a difficult time letting go. She’d latched on to him, her dysfunctional emotions making it hard to walk away. But she didn’t say any of that. When she looked over at Reagan, Reagan was still wide-eyed, hands fidgeting in her lap. She glanced at Evan again and sighed. “Maybe it doesn’t even matter, but after you went missing, we were all beside ourselves. We spent so many hours printing flyers, making calls to news stations, just trying to get the word out and then to keep the story alive.”
A knot of guilt twisted in Josie’s stomach. They’d done so much for her when she’d disappeared, and she’d repaid them by ignoring their calls when she’d escaped.
“It was an emotional time,” Reagan said. “Professor Merrick came over a couple of times, asked what he could do to help…” She winced and her eyes filled with regret. “One night…it was late, I’d been crying, he comforted me and…”
“One thing led to another,” Josie finished dully. She wasn’t angry…exactly. Just…God, that’s what Reagan had been doing while she sat terrified and alone in a warehouse room?
“Yes. It only happened once and I…” Reagan glanced at Evan again, whose expression was blank. “I confessed to Evan. We’d only been seeing each other for a short time then.” She grabbed his hand, squeezed, and he offered her a thin smile. “He forgave me and we moved on. I told Vau…Professor Merrick that it wasn’t going to happen again. He stayed away after that. I haven’t seen him since. In the end, everything that happened, that terrible time, brought Evan and me closer.”
Josie let out a long, slow breath, letting go of the momentary bitterness that had gripped her. She’d made bad choices too, hoped for grace. How honorable would it be if she now withheld it from others? Cooper had picked up another cookie and had a mouthful, and Zach was looking at Reagan, his expression a mixture of surprise and suspicion. He glanced at Josie, his gaze lingering as though he was wondering how the news that her friend had slept with the man she’d been involved with in the aftermath of her disappearance affected her. She wasn’t angry with Reagan. And she was long over Professor Merrick. “He was, probably is, extremely charming when he wants to be,” Josie said. “No one knows that better than me.”