The Inmate (53)

“He has great eyebrows,” she adds.

“Does he?”

“Oh yes. You can tell a lot about a man from his eyebrows. Nice eyebrows mean he’s wise.”

“Interesting…”

“Also,” she adds, “he has a nice butt.”

Oh my God. Although she’s right—Tim does have a nice butt, but I’m sort of embarrassed that Margie noticed. “Uh, thanks?”

“And that’s such a beautiful necklace he got you! But you should put it in your jewelry box, where it will be safe.”

My stomach drops. I had abandoned the necklace on the kitchen table and then forgotten all about it. Well, I didn’t forget about it so much as I hoped it would vanish into thin air while I was out with Tim. Or at least, he would know enough to throw it in the garbage bin, where it deserved to be.

But he didn’t. He left it there for me.

Margie grabs her coat and takes off for the night. It’s only after she’s gone that I dare to approach the blue rectangular box left behind on the kitchen table. It looks like either Tim or Margie put it back in the box, so all I need to do is toss it in the garbage.

But instead, I find myself opening the box.

I hold up the necklace, letting the snowflake charm swing back and forth. It looks exactly the same as the one I used to wear—the one Tim bought me for my tenth birthday. It’s a gold chain with a gold snowflake with white diamonds set into the six spokes of the snowflake.

I look closer at the necklace and notice something else that makes my heart stop.

The second spoke on the snowflake is missing a diamond from the edge. Exactly like the one I used to wear.

This necklace is identical to the one I wore in high school. And it has the exact same defect in the exact same place as that necklace did.

Is it possible that it’s the same necklace?

I never found out what became of that necklace. After it broke, I never saw it again. I had assumed the police kept it as evidence, but maybe they didn’t. Maybe somebody else had it this whole time.

Tim claimed he got it at the town flea market. A flea market? What flea market is he talking about? I have lived in this town since I was a baby, and I never once heard about any sort of flea market.

Was he lying?

Stay away from Tim Reese. He’s dangerous.

Is it possible that Shane was telling the truth about that night? Is it possible he wasn’t the one who tried to strangle me with that necklace? I never got a look at his face. The only person who testified with absolute certainty that they saw Shane with a knife was Tim. Even though my testimony was damning, Tim was the one who put the final nail in his coffin.

What if Tim was lying about everything?

No, I can’t think this way. Tim is my boyfriend. I’ve known him my whole life. He’s a good guy. He wouldn’t lie, and he sure as hell wouldn’t kill anyone. I know it better than I know my own name.

But then how did he get that necklace?





Chapter 37


Tim and I have made up since the night of my birthday.

He came by the next evening with a bunch of roses and a pair of beautiful earrings. We never discussed the necklace again, but I did do one thing he asked. A few days ago, I scheduled an interview with that primary care practice. He was right—working at a maximum-security prison isn’t exactly my dream job, and at the very least, the primary care practice is much closer.

If I quit my job at the prison, I’ll never have to see Shane ever again. It will be a relief.

Mostly.

Tim and I are engaged in what has become our nightly routine of washing the dishes together after dinner. We’ve been together for about two months now, and since we told Josh about our relationship, Tim has been spending three or four nights a week here. Of course, he lives right down the block, so he hasn’t relocated too much of his stuff here, since it’s easy enough for him to go back and forth to get whatever he needs.

“Are we becoming like an old married couple?” I ask him as I slide the last of the dishes onto the dish rack.

Tim chuckles. “Do you remember when we were kids, and we always used to talk about what life would be like when we got married?

It was mostly Tim who used to talk that way, but I do remember it. “Yes, of course.”

“I just assumed we would end up together, you know? Like there was nobody else in the world that I could possibly marry.”

“I know.” I allow him to pull me close to him. “When did you stop thinking that way?”

“Never.”

I laugh but Tim isn’t smiling. He’s looking into my eyes with a serious expression on his face.

“Brooke,” he says. “I just want you to know that… I love you. I have always loved you, and I’m pretty sure I’m always going to love you.”

Even though it’s the first time he’s said that, his declaration of love doesn’t come as a surprise. I could tell he was itching to say it to me. And even though I felt it too, I was scared to hear him say it.

Because the last man who told me he loved me tried to kill me.

But there is no way I can leave him hanging. It’s obvious how badly he wants me to say it back. I’m sure he would pretend it’s all right if I didn’t, but inside, it would kill him.

“I love you too,” I say.