You Can't Catch Me(29)

“You okay?” the mother asks. She’s blonde and tall, her husband wearing a dark scowl behind her.

I push myself up. “I’m fine,” I say, holding up my hands, which are stinging but not cut. I turn to check on Jessie. She loops her arm around me quickly, the other holding on to the railing tightly.

“Everything’s okay!” she calls up to the family, looking worried, then turns to me. “You all right?”

“Yes.”

I turn and we climb the stairs and past the family waiting for us at the top.

“Be careful down there,” I say, eyeing her rambunctious children. She nods, and Jessie and I walk away from the roar of the falls.

“That wasn’t fun,” I say.

Jessie looks down at her feet. They’re in white tennis shoes, tied up neatly. “I’m not sure what happened.”

“I felt dizzy down there.”

“I guess that’s it.” She sits on a bench under a tree and wraps her arms around herself. “I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t do it on purpose.”

She bites her lip. “Were those pictures helpful?”

“The ones you left at the motel? Yes, a bit, but not as much as we would’ve liked.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. That’s not why I wanted to meet you. Another Jessica reached out.”

“What?”

“Jessica Four. She goes by JJ.”

“Who is she?”

“She asked me not to say.”

“So why are you telling me, then?”

“Because she’s agreed to meet me, and I’d like you to come.”

I sit down next to her. The bench is cold, under a canopy of trees and next to the side of a hill. There’s a small patch of snow up the side of it, and I can still hear the rush of the river.

“Where?”

“Philly.”

“Is that where it happened?”

“Not sure. She didn’t say where Jessica Two caught up to her.” I stand up and stamp my feet on the ground to warm them up. I’m getting colder by the minute. “Will you do it?”

“What’s the point?”

“I think we’re getting close.”

“What could possibly give you that idea?”

I pause. I’m not sure what the right move is here. “She texted me yesterday. Jessica Two.”

“What?”

Jessie stands quickly and starts to march down the path away from me. I rush after her.

“Wait up.”

We arrive at another bridge. We cross it and stop in the middle. It feels like we’re only a few feet above the river. I take out my phone and take a picture. I’ll send it to Liam later. He likes nature.

“What did the text say?” Jessie asks loudly over the roar.

“I’d texted her a couple times, stupid stuff about how I was going to find her, and she told me I couldn’t catch her.”

“She’s probably right.”

“Don’t you see? If she texted me back, then it means something I’m doing is getting to her. Maybe she saw my message on Facebook and all the people who were tagged there.”

“Saw me, you mean?”

“Well, yes.”

Jessie lets out a long, slow breath. “I don’t like this.”

“I get it, I do. But JJ, she also told me to be careful. It seemed like she was worried about Jessica Two, and doesn’t that make you mad?”

“Why would that make me mad?”

“Because she’s getting away with it. She took our money, and she’s going to do it again, and she’s done it to others, and then she has the gall to make us scared about it as well. I don’t want to live my life like that, do you?”

“Doesn’t feel like I have much choice.”

“But you do. You do. We do. If we work together, go talk to JJ and find out what she knows, I think we’re going to be able to figure out how to solve this thing. Maybe get our money back, and get her out of our lives once and for all.”

“She’s not in my life.”

“Isn’t she, though? You’re stuck in this town that you hate living in because you can’t leave. You’re too scared to tell that bully, Leanne, to cut it out. She did that to you.”

“Don’t lecture me.”

“Okay, you’re right, I’m sorry. I just . . . I’m worried about what she might do next if we don’t stop her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, I’ll be okay no matter what happens. And you’ll be okay too. I don’t know about JJ, but maybe she will as well. But what if her next victim is someone vulnerable? Someone who can’t take being duped? I’ve seen what can happen to someone when they’re betrayed. It’s not something everyone can stand.”

I look away so Jessie won’t see my tears, but I can’t hide my shaking hands.

“Are you talking about someone in your family?” Jessie asks.

“My best friend.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I wipe my eyes quickly and turn back to her. “But if there was something I could’ve done to stop that from happening, I would have, you know?”