Chapter 8: The Car at the River

I stared at the monitor, unable to speak.

The dark sedan in the footage was unmistakable.

It was Cole's car.

The detective paused the video.

"Are you certain this belongs to him?"

"Yes. I have driven it hundreds of times."

"When did you last see this car?"

"The night I left the apartment."

The detective studied my face.

"Did Cole know where you were staying?"

"Yes."

"Did you tell him about your transfer to Lakeside?"

"Yes."

The detective wrote something down.

"Then I need to ask you one more question. Did Cole ever threaten you?"

"No."

I hesitated.

"Not directly."

That seemed to catch his attention.

"What does that mean?"

"He never threatened me. But lately, whenever I tried to leave, he would remind me that I was abandoning him and his family."

The detective nodded slowly.

"We'll need to speak with him."

When I walked out of the station, Becca was waiting outside.

"What did they say?"

"Cole's car was at the river."

Her expression changed.

"Then he knows something."

"That's what I'm thinking."

My phone buzzed.

A message from Cole appeared.

"Where are you?"

I didn't answer.

Another message followed.

"The police came to see me."

Then a third.

"Mara, I can explain."

I looked at Becca.

"He can explain very quickly when he wants to."

I put the phone away.

That evening, I received an email from an unknown address.

There was no subject.

Only one sentence was written inside.

"If you want to know why Elise disappeared, check the storage unit Cole opened last month."

Attached was a photograph of a key.

The number on it was 317.

My heart started beating faster.

I remembered something.

Three weeks earlier, Cole had told me he needed to rent a storage unit because the apartment was getting crowded.

I had never asked what he put inside.

I showed the photograph to Becca.

"Do you think this is real?"

"There's only one way to find out."

The next morning, we went to the storage facility.

Unit 317 was at the end of a long hallway.

The lock had already been removed.

Someone had left the door slightly open.

I pushed it carefully.

Inside were several boxes.

Most contained ordinary things, but one box had my name written on it.

My hands went cold.

I opened it.

Inside were photographs of me.

Dozens of them.

Pictures taken at work, outside my apartment, and even at Becca's house.

Someone had been watching me.

Beneath the photographs was a folder.

I opened it and found copies of documents related to my transfer to Lakeside.

My transfer application had been submitted weeks before I told Cole about it.

I stared at the papers in disbelief.

Then I found the final document.

It was a copy of the lease for an apartment in Lakeside.

The tenant's name was not mine.

It was Elise's.

Becca whispered, "Mara, I think she planned to go to Lakeside before you did."

I looked at the date on the lease.

It had been signed two months ago.

Two months before I decided to leave Cole.

My hands began to shake.

This wasn't about Cody anymore.

Elise had been preparing to disappear long before I walked out of that apartment.

And somehow, Cole had known about it.