Never Lie (60)

I snort. “You must think I’m the dumbest person on the planet.”

Despite everything, Luke lets out a little chuckle. “Worth a try.”

I glance over in his direction, and one side of his lips is pulled up in a lopsided smile. He’s not as handsome as my husband, but I could see how he’d be cute if he got a shave and a haircut—and took a long shower. For a second, I catch a glimpse of the Luke that was on that tape I listened to. The one that Dr. Adrienne Hale fell in love with.

If only she hadn’t. Maybe everything would have been different.

I squeeze past him to get to the desk. I pull open the drawer where I stashed the tapes, and sure enough, they’re still there. I want to stuff them into my coat pocket, but Luke is staring at me, barely blinking. He won’t look away.

“Is there something you have to say?” I snap at him.

“Actually, yes.”

I fold my arms across my chest. “I’m not taking off the duct tape. Don’t bother asking. You’re going to sit right there until the police get here and you can explain how Adrienne Hale’s body got under the floor of her office.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing.” Luke leans back against the couch. “I don’t think… I mean, I’m pretty sure that isn’t Adrienne under the floorboards.”

I freeze. “What?”

“You heard me.”

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s just trying to scare me. He knows it’s just the two of us in the house, and he’s trying to manipulate me. That’s what this is. I shouldn’t even engage him.

“I thought it was her at first,” he says. “I mean, who else could it be? I didn’t even want to look because… I just couldn’t bear it. I don’t care what the paper said about me—I loved Adrienne. I would have married her, except…”

“So why do you think it isn’t her?”

I don’t know how anyone could tell. That body in there—you can’t even tell if it was a male or female, much less their specific identity.

“They still had clothing on.” He grimaces. “Scraps of it anyway… I assume most of the material disintegrated. And you could tell they were wearing a pair of blue jeans. But Adrienne never wore blue jeans. She hated them. She wouldn’t have been caught… well, you know. So I don’t see how that could be her.”

I swallow. “Maybe she was having a laundry day and decided to wear blue jeans.”

“She didn’t even own any.” He shakes his head. “The shirt didn’t look familiar to me either. That’s not her under the floor. I’d bet anything.”

Both of our sets of eyes are drawn to the rectangular outline on the floor. He’s right about the blue jeans. I looked through a bunch of her drawers and she didn’t seem to own any.

“Do you know who it is then?”

Luke hesitates. “Yes. I think I do.”

A chill runs down my spine. I don’t care if Luke sees what I’m doing or not at this point—I just need to get out of this room. I open the drawer and start stuffing the tapes in my pockets. He’s watching me do it, but he doesn’t comment.

“I didn’t kill her, Tricia,” he says quietly. “I would never do something like that.”

I slam the drawer shut. “That’s for the police to decide, not me.”

I squeeze past him, my pockets bulging with all the tapes I stole from the hidden room. I’ve still got plenty of time before Ethan returns, but I don’t want to take any chances. By the time he gets back, I want the room to be exactly the way I found it.

I’m used to the drill by now. I tilt forward the copy of The Shining, and I hear the click as the door unlocks. I pull it open and tug on the cord to turn on the light.

One by one, I replace the tapes on the shelves. I’ve got a whole handful of EJ tapes, and I’ve got to organize them back in the order I found them. I’ve got a few other random ones and I make sure those are put back as well. When I’m done, I’ve got only one tape left in my pocket.

I reach my hand into my pocket and feel the rectangular object inside. I squeeze on it so hard that the case cracks under my grip.

I will leave this room exactly the way I found it. Every tape is in the same place it was when I first walked in here.

Every tape except one.





Chapter 45


Transcript of Recording



This is session #185 with PL, a 27-year-old female who suffers from PTSD after surviving an extremely traumatic incident.



“Dr. Hale, I just wanted to let you know I’m going to be moving soon. “

“Oh? Where are you moving to?”

“I got a job in Manhattan.”

“Oh wow. I didn’t even realize you were interviewing.”

“Well, my mother always says, if opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”

“Your mother sure has some great sayings.”

“Yes, she sure does! Anyway, I’m looking at some apartments there—hoping to find a decent one bedroom.”

“That’s wonderful. Congratulations.”

“Thank you so much. I just wanted to tell you because it will mean we won’t be able to have our sessions anymore.”