Anonymous(39)

“You’re such an ass,” I tease, punching his arm. “You used me to make them jealous.”

“The same goes for you. Except you used me to make your exes leave you alone. Looks like I’m still doing that.” My smile fades and he sighs, sliding his arm around my shoulders. “I know you’re not using me now. I’m here because I want to be.”

I pull the cell phone Owen gave me out of my jacket and stare at it. I’ve been worried about Jake all day.

“Go ahead and call him,” he says. “You’ve been distracted all day.”

“He went to see Bryan this morning. We both know it could’ve gone one of two ways, neither scenario being good.” I punch in Jake’s number and when I press send, the phone breaks up and I can barely hear it ringing. “I think something’s wrong with this phone.”

Owen hands me his. “It’s a cheaper phone; it probably needs a new battery. I’ll put in a new one once we get to Canada.”

I’m typing in Jake’s number when a phone call from him comes in. “Hey,” I answer excitedly. “I was in the middle of calling you. Guess you weren’t arrested.”

“Not even close, baby. I might’ve bruised the guy a bit, but I didn’t kill him.”

I breathe a sigh of relief, even though it doesn’t really give me comfort. “Thank goodness. How did you even get in to see him?”

“I almost didn’t, but the guard let me in. You doing okay?”

I breathe in the cool, crisp air. “I’m doing pretty good, actually. We’re in Central Park. Tomorrow morning, we’re getting up early to go to Canada. What about you? Anything new?”

“You have no idea. Want the good news or bad?”

Groaning, I lean back against the bench. “The good, please.”

“The realtor called me earlier and said our offer was accepted. We got the house, baby.”

“Oh my God, that’s awesome. I can’t wait to see it in person. Now, we just need all of this other mess to get handled so we can move.”

“I know. I’m ready for that more than you know.”

I blow out a nervous breath. “All right, tell me the bad.”

“Did you know Bryan was dating someone?”

“No, I had no clue.” I look over at Owen. “Did you know Bryan was seeing someone?”

He shakes his head.

Jake clears his throat. “Her name was Samantha. They found her body in a field nearby Bryan’s abandoned truck.”

Gasping, I slap a hand over my mouth. “Oh, my God. That’s horrible. Did he kill her?” I look over at Owen. “Bryan’s girlfriend was killed.”

His eyes widen. “What the hell?”

“Terry said Bryan was devastated when he found out she was dead. Was he a good actor?” Jake asks.

“Not in the least.”

“The doctor and Terry don’t see how he could have anyway, considering he’s been drugged for days. Bryan had enough in his system to fully incapacitate him. There’s no way he could’ve driven, or even carried Samantha’s body out into the field. When they found him, they said he was covered in piss and shit that had been on him for a while. Was he ever into drugs when you knew him?”

I can’t even imagine Bryan walking around like that. He was always so put together and focused. “Not at all. Being a park ranger was what he wanted more than anything. I guess things changed over the years and he decided to be a cop. The only thing he ever loved to do was drink.”

Jake huffs. “He did admit to running into you at the Halloween party. Tell Owen he came with a guy named Jared. I think I know who he is, but I’m not sure.”

I look around for a private spot and point to a secluded area by a bundle of snow-covered trees. Owen follows me over there. “Jake, I’m putting you on speakerphone, so Owen can hear this. Repeat what you just said.”

“Owen, Bryan went with a guy named Jared to your Halloween party,” he repeats.

Owen nods and rolls his eyes. “Gotcha. Jared works at the gym.”

“Okay, that’s where I know him from,” Jake states. “But Bryan denied sending Ellie any text messages. Which means, if he didn’t send them, then whoever did, knew that he’d been at that party.”

Owen’s brows furrow. “It can’t be Jared, he doesn’t even know Ellie. And I had over fifty people at my party, it’ll be hard to pinpoint who could’ve done it, or if someone else did it. Bryan might just be that good of an actor.”

I shake my head. “No. If there’s one thing about Bryan I can account for is that he was always honest, even if it’s something you don’t want to hear. I’ve said this from day one, none of this sounds like anything he would do.”

“Yeah, I know how honest he is,” Jake huffs. “He told me how great it was seeing you again.”

This makes my heart hurt. In a way, I wish I was there to talk to Bryan. “You’re starting to sound unsure yourself, Jake. What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know, Ellie. Terry is adamant that it wasn’t Bryan doing all of this. There’s evidence that contradicts it, but then evidence that also convicts him. I honestly don’t know anymore. I want to go back and talk to him when he’s in his right mind.”