I love you … always, Rachel.”
Dirk and I stare at the wall for a few seconds before jumping into action. I follow him closely as he hurries into Raffe and Rachel’s bedroom.
“What the hell?” Raffe says, dropping a pile of clothes onto the foot of the bed.
Dirk doesn’t answer; he’s focused on pulling the drawer out of the nightstand.
“Rachel left Dirk a file under her nightstand.”
I hand Raffe the letter as Dirk finds what he’s looking for.
He pulls a bunch of papers out of a manila folder and begins reading. He pauses and looks at me. “Her name is Melody Brown. There’s a newspaper article here from Georgia. She was reported as a runaway.”
I lower myself to the bed, my hands shaking as I take the article from him. “Then it should be easy to find her family.”
“It looks like they may have moved, and … well, like Rachel said in her letter, she ran out of time.”
Raffe sits down heavily beside me, and we read the article together. He runs his thumb over the small black and white picture of the girl. “She looks like you,” he whispers.
I close my eyes. “I saw her that day on the bridge. Our eyes connected. We were both there for the same thing … to escape. But then I heard someone calling my name.” I pause, lost in the memory.
“Rachel?” Dirk asks hesitantly.
I nod, biting back tears. “I was so confused as to how she knew my name, and then we heard screams. I turned to see …” I pauseto wipe my face. “It was so violent. I … I was so shocked, but Rachel was there, and she walked me away from the bridge.”
Raffe takes my hand in his. Dirk gets up from the floor and sits on the other side of me, taking my other.
“You’re here now,” he says. “She brought you home when the time was right, and now we’re going to get Melody home too, okay?”
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Let’s finish this up and get back to the warehouse.” He slaps the envelope on his leg before standing.
Raffe stands too, and the two of them begin packing up the last of his clothes. I leave them to it, feeling a bit uncomfortable at being in his and Rachel’s bedroom.
I go out to the living room, my gaze roaming over the many pictures of their lives together. Jackson looks so happy in every one of them. They all do.
I’m moving around the room when I come to a picture of Lily and me. How … oh my god, it’s the selfie we took together the day we bought our burner phone.
Raffe steps behind me and rests his chin on my shoulder. “You’ve always been a part of our lives, Jenny. Just like we’ve always been a part of yours.”
“Is there ever going to be a day when this all doesn’t feel so heavy?” I ask.
“I don’t know the answer to that,” he says. “But what I do know is that love has always kept us connected, and it always will.”
“We should take your pictures with us and hang them in our room at the warehouse.”
“All of them?”
“All of them,” I say confidently. “I don’t want you to leave any of your memories behind.”
The way he hugs me tight tells me he likes the idea. He’s missed them.
Chapter Forty-Six
Raffe
On the way home, Jenny asks if we could take her to a bookstore.
