Chapter 9: The Woman in the Photographs

I took pictures of every document before putting them back into the box.

I didn't want to touch anything more than necessary.

If someone had been watching me, I didn't know how far they were willing to go.

Becca locked the storage unit behind us.

"We should give everything to the police."

"I know."

But before we left, I looked at the photograph of Elise's lease again.

The apartment number was 804.

I recognized the address.

It was the same building where Cole's company kept several furnished apartments for visiting executives.

I called my manager.

"Do you know whether Cole's company owns apartments at Harbor Heights?"

He was quiet for a moment.

"Yes. Why?"

"Nothing. I just need to confirm something."

He gave me the address.

It was exactly the same.

I hung up.

Becca looked at me.

"You're going there, aren't you?"

"I need answers."

We drove to Harbor Heights that afternoon.

The building manager checked the tenant records after I showed him the apartment number.

He frowned.

"Apartment 804 isn't currently occupied."

"Are you sure?"

"The lease was terminated yesterday."

My stomach dropped.

"Who was the tenant?"

He checked his computer.

"Elise Carter."

"When did she move in?"

"Two months ago."

Becca and I exchanged a look.

"Did she leave anything behind?" I asked.

"No. The apartment was cleaned this morning."

The manager hesitated before adding, "Actually, there was one thing."

"What?"

"A package. It was addressed to you."

He handed me a small brown envelope.

My name was written across the front.

There was no return address.

I opened it carefully.

Inside was a single photograph.

It showed Cole and Elise standing outside a courthouse.

They weren't holding hands.

They weren't pretending to be a couple.

They were signing something.

On the back of the photograph was a handwritten date.

It was three months before the fake breakup began.

Beneath the date were five words.

"Ask Cole about the marriage."

My fingers went numb.

Becca read the message over my shoulder.

"Marriage?"

"I don't know."

But deep down, I already knew there was something Cole had never told me.

Six years together.

Six years of believing I knew everything about the man I loved.

Yet suddenly, it felt as if I had only known the version of him he wanted me to see.

I called him.

He answered after the first ring.

"Mara?"

"Were you at a courthouse with Elise three months ago?"

Silence.

It lasted only a few seconds, but it told me enough.

"Where did you get that information?"

His voice was no longer gentle.

"So you were there."

"Mara, listen to me."

"Did you marry Elise?"

"No."

His answer came too quickly.

"Then what were you signing?"

Another silence.

"It's complicated."

I laughed bitterly.

"Everything with you is complicated when the truth might hurt me."

"It's not what you think."

"Then tell me what it is."

He didn't answer.

Instead, he asked quietly, "Where are you?"

I looked at the photograph in my hand.

"Why?"

"Because someone is trying to make you believe I betrayed you."

"Did you?"

His breathing became heavy.

"Mara, I never wanted you involved in this."

I closed my eyes.

"That's exactly what you said five months ago."

I ended the call.

A moment later, another message arrived from the unknown number.

"He hasn't told you the worst part."

Then a second message appeared.

"Ask him why your name was removed from his emergency contact three months ago."

I stared at the screen.

Three months ago.

That was the exact month Cole and Elise had started making their plans.

For the first time, I wondered whether the fake breakup had never been about protecting Elise from Cody.

Maybe it had been designed to get me out of Cole's life before something else happened.

And whatever that something was, I was beginning to suspect it had started long before I ever heard the words, "We're just pretending."