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She cries out, and I realize he must be strong enough to pull her with his other arm.
“Where are you taking us?” I say, but I barely hear myself. Everything sounds like it’s coming from miles away.
His response sends cold flooding through my bones.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
38
CASS
Logan hauls me up off the ground, his hands wrapped around my arms like they have so many times before.
I hadn’t thought through how I would confront him when I saw him, but I expected I would be furious. Not only did he lie to me about his ring, but he tried to make me believe I killed Lucy.
But when I realize it’s him who I’ve run into, I can’t help but feel rescued. He’s saving me from Greta, just like he saved me from the life I had ruined back in Hudson. This is Logan, my fiancé, the man I love.
A flash of panic strikes me as I remember Greta behind me. But when I turn, she’s nowhere in sight.
Logan props me up against him, and I cling there, my hands grasping on to his shirt.
“Logan, what is going on?” I can hear the desperation in my voice, how much I need the same reassurance he gave me the other night, promising me that everything would be okay.
But my question is loaded, and his response answers nothing.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want this to happen.”
My mind is awash with confusion, but before he can try to explain, I rush to defend myself. “Logan, I remembered where I was the night Lucy died. I was on the beach, but I didn’t kill her. And I didn’t kill the others.” My voice sounds weak.
“I know,” Logan says. His tone is gentle, but something about his words pricks at my skin.
“But you said…” I plead for it not to be true.
He stares at me for a moment, not responding, his eyes tracing my face, and suddenly I feel like a child, urging their parents to explain how they could lie about something like Santa Claus for so long. But Logan’s lies are different. He’s made me think I’ve committed murder.
He readjusts, propping me against him. And my anger begins to build as the shock of escaping Greta wears off. Everything starts to click together. I can see our entire relationship through new eyes.
He was so furious at me for lying to him about my past. But what about him? Everything he’s told me has been a lie.
“You. You killed Lucy. And Jacinta. Didn’t you? How could you?” My voice is cold, unrecognizable, and Logan flinches.
“I didn’t kill them,” he says, eyes flashing.
“Then what was your ring doing where Lucy’s body was found?” He opens his mouth to protest, but I stop him before he has the chance to. “I know it was your ring. I know you swapped mine with yours. I know you killed them.”
Because I do now. I think a part of me has known ever since I heard about Jacinta’s death. But I wouldn’t allow myself to believe it. I ate up his lies in heaping spoonfuls, always the patient girlfriend, the easily deceived partner.
He sighs. “I didn’t kill them,” he repeats resignedly. “But I did help get rid of Lucy’s body. That’s why my ring was there. The chain must have come unclasped at some point. I found it that night in my clothes, but the ring was long gone. And later, I switched our rings to make it seem like it was yours.”
None of this seems real. Just a few nights ago, I was accepting this man’s proposal, vowing to spend the rest of my life with him. And now, it turns out, I never knew him at all. The realization blurs with the dizziness. I steal a glance down at my leg, the blood still gushing out.
“But why?” I finally manage, forcing coherence. “Why do it? And, God, what did that poor girl do to deserve to die?”
He pauses and flicks his eyes downward, as if he’s ashamed to meet mine. Good. He should be.
“You have to understand. We didn’t mean for this to happen. It wasn’t planned. Greta thought she would be able to handle it with a warning. She planned to meet the girl—”
“Lucy,” I correct him. “Her name was Lucy.”
