Page 128 of What Comes Around

I sighed under my breath and reached for it, already expecting Amy to have remembered something else she needed to add, but the name on the screen made my breath catch.

Brandon.

We hadn’t spoken since that last call. Since I’d told him exactly what I thought about him for marrying that witch. There weren’t many places to go after words like that.

The phone kept ringing.

For a brief second, another thought pushed through the hesitation.

What if it’s about Evan?

I stared at the screen a moment longer, then answered, pressing it to my ear. “Hello.”

“Ashley. Are you alright?” He asked immediately. “I saw a clip on the news.”

I rubbed my forehead, pushing myself up a little straighter against the headboard. “I’m fine.”

There was a pause on his end.

“Good,” he said quietly. “I’m glad.”

Silence settled between us. I shifted slightly, pulling the blanket higher over my legs, my fingers curling absently into the fabric.

He cleared his throat. “I know you probably don’t want to hear from me,” he said. “But you’re still my daughter. I needed to know you were safe.”

The words settled somewhere between us, awkward and unresolved.

“I’m fine,” I repeated, flatter this time.

Another pause, longer now.

“There’s… something else,” he said.

I stilled, my fingers tightening in the blanket. “What is it? Is Evan okay?”

“He’s okay,” my father said quickly. “He’s with me. I’ve got him.”

Relief loosened something tight in my chest, but it didn’t last.

Evan’s face surfaced anyway. The last time I’d seen him was just before my attack, when I’d flown in for a short weekend visit, barely a day. He hadn’t said much, just stayed close, quiet and watchful like he always was. I had promised I’d come back soon.

With everything that followed, I hadn’t.

Guilt pressed in, heavy and sharp.

My grip tightened. “Then what is it?”

His exhale came slow and heavy. “They found her.”

“Who?”

“Ashley… they found Elena’s body.”

“Where?”

“In a wooded area outside the city,” he said. His voice faltered slightly. “She’s been dead for weeks.”

I closed my eyes.