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I gasped loudly, sitting bolt upright in bed. Dane stared at me, concerned as I struggled to catch my breath.
“What’s wrong, Lily? Can’t tell me what?” He reached up and stroked my hair. “You can tell me anything,” He soothed, concerned. What exactly had I said aloud? If I’d mentioned Steffy, I was gone. It was over.
“What?” I mumbled, not completely sure how I was going to get myself out of this one, “What happened?” I decided playing vague was my best defense.
“You kept saying ‘I can’t tell him’, I can’t tell Dane, over and over,” He stared at me intently, his brow furrowed inwards, “What can’t you tell me, Lil?” He was sitting up now, wide awake, waiting patiently for me to say someth
ing.
Swallowing hard, I tried to get the words to come out, but I had no idea what to say. So I’d not mentioned Steffy this time, but I was bound to eventually. Next time, or the time after that.
“It must have been a nightmare. I don’t remember anything,” I fibbed, rolling away so I wasn’t facing him. Inside, my heart was racing. What was I supposed to do now? If any time had been perfect to tell him, it was the moment that had just passed.
He snuggled into me. He didn’t believe me, that much I could tell, but he also didn’t pressure me to talk. I closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep, until he fell back to sleep. In the safety of the darkness, I gently eased myself away from Dane, until I was lying on my back, facing the ceiling.
What the fuck was I going to do? I was on the verge of tears.
I felt angry at Abby for doing this to me. Why did she have to tell me that? Why did she have to go and die on me? No matter how incredibly selfish I sounded, I couldn’t shake the anger I felt toward her for leaving me, and for dumping me with this useless information.
Creeping out from under the covers, I tip-toed out of the room. On the way, I grabbed Dane’s robe off the hook behind the door. Wrapping the grey striped material around me, I breathed in his smell, quietly making my way out to the living room, feeling my way along the wall in the darkness. As my fingers brushed past a lamp, I switched it on, squinting at the sudden burst of light that filled the room.
My handbag lay on the couch. I sat next to it, shuffling though its contents until I found my IPad. How was it that even with its size, it somehow still managed to get lost in my handbag?
To say I had no idea where to start was the understatement of the century. Cross legged on the couch with the TV tuned to infomercials, I typed in the name of Steffy’s alleged killer. What were the chances that he’d spoken to a cellmate about Steffy’s disappearance?
Pretty good I would’ve thought.
I was sure the police would have covered that already, but maybe a semi attractive young blonde would be more successful in phishing for information?
“Lilgirl.”
I opened my eyes. I’d fallen asleep. Crap. Great detective I made.
“Abby,” I said quietly, “Hi.” Abby smiled at me, her eyes filled with sadness.
“I’m sorry, Lil. I know this is crazy, and I know you feel like nobody is going to believe you but you need to help her…” She hesitated, “I’m sorry I left you, Lil,” She added.
I groaned. Now my dead sister was making me feel guilty about being angry.
Maybe I was crazy?
“Lil, you’re not crazy,” Abby chastised. I bit my lip. Of course my dead sister inside my head would say I wasn’t crazy.
“Lily!” Abby shouted, getting angry.
“Okay, okay. Sorry,” I said, rolling my eyes, “I don’t know what to do, Abs. Where do I start? The prison? Maybe his cell mate knows something he didn’t tell police?” I said hopefully. From the glint in Abby’s eyes, I knew I was on the right track.
“I have nothing to make him talk though,” I added sullenly, “He wouldn’t talk to the police, so why would he talk to me?”
“Tell him you know about Bella, and what really happened,” Abby said slowly, her eyes lighting up, “Tell him she told you about Steffy.”
“Who’s Bella?” I asked, confused. The last thing I needed was someone else complicating my mind,
“Don’t worry. You don’t need to know. Just tell him that and I guarantee he’ll talk,” She assured me. I raised my eyebrows at her dubiously. “Just do it, Lil. For god’s sake, you’re even more difficult to deal with now that I’m dead,” She rolled her eyes.
I poked my tongue out at her.
I stretched out my cramping leg, pain shooting through me everywhere. I opened my eyes, trying to ignore the pain of my brain pressing against my skull. Falling asleep on the couch was not one of my finest ideas.
