Never Lie (61)
“Of course. I understand. This is a big move for you.”
“It is. And I couldn’t have done it without you. You’ve been amazing, Dr. Hale.”
“I’m glad I’ve helped you.”
“You really have. I could barely leave my house when I first met you, and now I’m moving to Manhattan. I feel like I can finally put the whole thing behind me.”
“Yes. That’s very healthy.”
“And maybe one day they’ll catch the bastard who murdered my fiancé and my friends.”
“Hmm. I don’t think so.”
“You may be right. I mean, after all this time, it would be too much to hope—”
“No. That’s not why they won’t catch him.”
“Oh. Well, then why not?”
“The reason they won’t catch him is that he doesn’t exist.”
“What?”
“It’s hard to arrest a man who is entirely fictional, isn’t it?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“I… what are you saying, Dr. Hale?”
“I think you know what I’m saying.”
“I’m afraid I don’t.”
“I’m saying you made the whole thing up. There never was a man at the cabin. You murdered your fiancé and your friends and you made up a fictional assailant.”
“I was stabbed!”
“Barely. You did it to yourself so it would look realistic. Nobody would believe that a man came into the cabin and stabbed everyone but you, so you had no choice.”
“This is… it’s insane. How could you think I made it all up?”
“Because you did. Do you think I can’t spot a liar a mile away?”
“But why would I do something like that?”
“I haven’t entirely worked it out. I suspect Cody was cheating on you with Alexis, and you decided to teach them both a lesson. And Megan was an unfortunate casualty of the whole thing. That’s my suspicion based on the fact that she died much quicker than the other two.”
“I…”
“Guessed right, did I?”
“This is… I mean, I’ve been coming here for three years. You included me in your book…”
“Well, it was a good story. Incredibly compelling. I’d say you can’t make this stuff up, but obviously, you can.”
“This is insane.”
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not the only one who suspected you. Detective Gardner thought you did it also, but he couldn’t prove it. Except he didn’t have a window into your thoughts the way I have. He hasn’t been collecting little inconsistencies over the last three years.”
“This is ridiculous. I’m leaving.”
“Yes, you should leave. I’d like some privacy to give the detective a call.”
“Wait. Hang on.”
“I thought you were leaving?”
“Okay. Okay.”
“So you admit it?”
“What do you want, Dr. Hale?”
“I have a little problem. And I need your help.”
“What kind of problem?”
“There’s somebody who’s been causing me some trouble. I’d like to take care of it, but I can’t do it myself.”
“Well, what do you want me to do?”
“Oh, I think you know, Patricia.”
Chapter 46
(PA)TRICIA
Present Day
I’m not a murderer.
Okay, technically I am. But when I imagine somebody being a murderer, I imagine something different. I imagine somebody evil, who goes around killing good people for no reason.
I killed my fiancé, Cody. But he wasn’t a good person.
We were supposed to get married in two months. Two months! The wedding invitations had gone out already. I had plastered photos of me holding up my gorgeous diamond ring all over Instagram. We had already registered at half a dozen places and some of the gifts had even come in already.
Then I found out Cody was sleeping with my best friend, Alexis.
Do you know what it feels like when someone betrays you like that? The love of my life and my best friend. Going at it like rabbits. Right under my nose, because they thought I was too stupid to find out about it. And I might not have—if that text message from Alexis didn’t pop up on Cody’s phone while he was in the bathroom. Yes, they were that careless.
I knew the code to his phone, and I typed it in the next night, while he was sleeping. I found out Alexis and Cody had been messing around together since shortly after the engagement. That it was serious. He was planning to break off the engagement to be with her, but he was worried about how I might take it.
She’s not the most stable person in the world, he wrote to her.
That was unfair. I was stable. Anyone would have cracked if they found out that their fiancé was thinking about ending their engagement to be with her best friend only two months before the wedding. I can’t imagine anything more humiliating than that. I would have had to call all my guests and explain that the wedding was off, and of course, many of them would ask what happened, and I’d have to lie and say we just weren’t right for each other. But of course, everyone online would be whispering about it.