Page 64 of Promise Me Never

Savannah noticed something on the top shelf. It looked like a leather briefcase. Isabel pulled it down.

“Nothing in it,” she said, showing Savannah. “Wait. Something’s behind it,” Isabel said as she stretched and reached up. She turned to Savannah, holding out her hand. “Old cell phones. I guess he really doesn’t throw anything away.”

“Let me see them,” Savannah said. She had a bad feeling. Both were iPhones, a few generations back. “Let’s charge them.”

They went into the kitchen and Savannah pulled her charger out of the drawer. It didn’t fit. “Hold on, I have a wireless pad.” She ran upstairs to get it.

When she returned, Isabel was pacing the floor. Savannah put one of the phones on the charging pad.

“We still don’t really know anything,” she said to Isabel.

“Savannah. Your ring, can I see it?”

She slipped it off her finger and handed it to Isabel.

Isabel turned it around in her hand, examining it, and held it up to the light.

“Do you see this?” She pointed to a faint scratch on the outside of the band.

“Yes.”

“This is the same ring he gave to Poppy. I remember how upset she was when she forgot to take it off before working on one of her pieces and it got scratched.”

Savannah felt sick. “You think it’s the same ring he gave to Angela and Devon?”

“Maybe.”

A sudden ding got their attention. The phone. Savannah ran over and picked it up. A WhatsApp message preview lit up the screen.

Devon, please call me. I’m worried sick.

The message was from Devon’s father. She looked at Isabel in horror. “Devon’s phone. If Bennett has her phone, that has to mean—”

“He killed her,” Isabel finished.

| Sixty-Four |

Bennett

Bennett watched in horror as everything began to unfold in real time. Isabel was in the house. Why was she there? She and Savannah were talking. About him. Why were they discussing Angela’s scarf? How did they even know it had belonged to her? He leaned forward, turning up the volume, his heart racing. This couldn’t be happening! Where were they going now? He watched as they walked up the stairs. Shit, he didn’t have cameras up there.

He threw his things into a suitcase and raced from the room. He tapped his foot nervously while he waited in line to check out. He sent an email to his publicist and Marion letting them know he had a family emergency, and they needed to cancel the rest of his appearances. Finally, the man in front of him moved aside and he let the hotel clerk know he needed to settle up.

He’d already arranged for a car to take him to the airport and had been able to snag the last first-class seat on a flight that left in three hours. The flight would take ten hours, and then once he landed it would take him another hour to get to Bedford. He thought about Isabel again and his anger grew. It was time to get her out of his life once and for all.

| Sixty-Five |

Savannah

“We have to go to the police,” Savannah said, looking at Isabel. “How could I have been so wrong about him?” Tears sprang to her eyes. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit that her initial infatuation with Bennett had as much to do with him as a person as his status as an author and what he could do for her career. But she had fallen for him very quickly, taken in by his charm and charisma. She had come to believe that Bennett was her true love, the person she was going to spend the rest of her life with. And instead, she had married a monster who had killed at least three women. The other phone had turned out to be Angela’s. Her screen saver was a photo of her and Bennett. So he had sent those texts himself and then killed them. And Savannah would have been next. She flashed back to that day when his hands squeezed her neck. She was going to be sick. She jumped up and ran into the bathroom. Sweat broke out on her forehead as she lifted the toilet seat and vomited.

“Are you okay?” Isabel asked from outside.

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

She stood on shaky legs and turned on the cold water, splashing her face. When she opened the door, Isabel was standing there.

Isabel gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m so sorry, Savannah.” She took her hand. “You don’t look good. Why don’t you come stay with me for a few days?”