Chapter 64 - The Husband I Buried

Now

My best friend walked right in, like she was at home here.

‘Jess . . .’ Relief replaced confusion, surging so fast it made my knees weak. She had found me. She must have come for Rebecca, to take her to the psychiatric hospital. But doubt was already creeping up my spine.

‘Jess?’ I said. ‘What are you doing here?’

She didn’t smile, didn’t answer me. Instead, her eyes flicked to Luis, and stayed there.

‘Hi, Luis,’ she said, like she’d just popped over to our house.

This wasn’t about Rebecca. It was about me. A wave of realization crashed over me.

Jess had known all along that Luis was alive.

My best friend. The person who knew me better than anyone. I could feel my legs folding beneath me. I waited for her to look at me, to face me. And when she did, she had the calm control of someone who is using everything they’ve got to keep it together.

‘Mackenzie, I’m sorry,’ she said, and then her voice caught. ‘I really am . . .’

I could see the conflicted look in her eyes, hear the nerves in her voice as she continued.

‘Before you thought he died, Luis called me. He said he was worried about you. He was looking into your law firm and said some of the people you were representing weren’t what they seemed. He said he needed to protect himself.’

Anger was erupting in me. Red hot and blazing. I fought to keep it in check. She’d spent hours watching me grieve, and said nothing.

‘He wanted to leave,’ she went on. ‘He thought the only way to do that was to disappear. He told me not to tell you—said it was better for you if you believed he was gone . . . dead.’

Jess betrayed me.

‘I’m sorry. I hated lying to you, but you were acting so . . . erratic. And then when you saw him, I thought it’d be best for everyone if you just let it go.’

‘I did say I’d tell you everything, Mackenzie,’ Luis interjected, but I couldn’t look at him. He had manipulated her. I focused on Jess, finally opening my mouth to speak.

‘Luis was just covering his ass,’ I told her. ‘The law firm is part of it. I didn’t know until I found him, but he’s been pulling strings the whole time. And Elizabeth—’

‘Yeah. He told me you’d say that.’ Jess swallowed hard.

‘Because it’s true,’ I said. ‘Who do you think died in that crash? Who do you think we buried?’

She shook her head, looking suddenly small. ‘I don’t know. I thought maybe he staged it.’

‘No. The DNA matched because it was his father’s. His real father.’

The color drained from her face. ‘He said you might come here. I think he knew you’d figure it out eventually,’ she whispered.

‘You knew Rebecca’s transportation was going to be intercepted?’ I asked Jess.

She nodded shamefully. For her part in this, or for keeping it from me?

‘That phone call, warning me. They know who you are. That was you?’

She’d tried to throw me off. Masking her voice so I didn’t recognize her.

Luis had infiltrated every piece of my life. Planting seeds. And if he could get to Jess, nothing was off limits.

Who else couldn’t I trust? The thought numbed me.

Jess stood there, hands clenched at her sides like she was bracing for impact. For years, she’d been my constant. The person who knew where I kept my spare keys, who’d slept on my couch after bad breakups, who’d brought me soup when I worked myself into a migraine or forgot how to stop and take a moment. She was the one who’d sat with me on the kitchen floor the night I found out Luis was dead. The one who’d held my face between her hands and said, You don’t have to be strong right now. I’ve got you.

‘You watched me fall apart,’ I said quietly. ‘And you did nothing. Said nothing.’

Jess flinched. ‘You wouldn’t let anyone help you, not really.’

‘You lied to me,’ I snapped.

She walked slowly toward me, glancing at the others in the room.

‘Luis thought you were going to hurt him,’ she whispered when she was inches from my face.

I let out a bitter laugh. ‘And you believed him? He’s a pretty good liar, Jess, if you hadn’t noticed. I think he even convinced himself he’s telling the truth.’

Jess shook her head. ‘It was more than that, Kenz. Back before he left, you seemed so angry about something. But when I asked about it, you brushed me off.’

My chest tightened. That would have been around the time I realized he was hiding things from me. I thought I’d kept my feelings under wraps. Of course Jess would detect the anger. She was trained for it. That didn’t excuse what she’d done, though.

Jess seemed a little less certain now. ‘Luis framed it like he was protecting you,’ she continued. ‘Like disappearing was an act of love. He said you’d be safer believing he was dead than knowing the truth.’

‘And you didn’t think to ask me?’ I said. ‘Not once?’

Her voice broke. ‘I didn’t know how to tell you. There was a car, a body. A funeral. I didn’t know if you’d believe it, and then when you thought you saw him, I figured – I hoped – you really were grieving.’

Luis shifted beside me, like he might speak, but I held up a hand.

‘You were my witness,’ I said softly. ‘To my life. My marriage. You were the one person I never thought he could touch.’

‘I didn’t do it for him. I did it for you.’

Footsteps outside again.

Jess reached for me, hesitated, then let her hand fall. ‘If you leave,’ she said, ‘they’ll come for you.’

‘And if I stay?’ I said. ‘What will they do to me then?’

She had no answer to that. My brain buzzed like a million radio signals were clashing.

All I knew was that we had to get out of this place. Now.