Page 205 of Smoke and Fire
Somehow, Katrina allowed reality to line up in a deceptive way . . . or maybe her heart had just been so broken shesawthe things she wanted to see. Either way, Bastian was not her Brooke.
All of this happened to be the whim of extraordinary circumstances that seemed almost too far to believe possible.
Somehow, I had to make her see that without outing Bastian.
My thoughts ran to Bastian and Inessa and his father and the careful balance on which Bastian lived his life. Precarious, at best. Although things remained tenuous between me and Bastian, his secret wouldn't topple on my watch. Neither did Katrina have to be villainized either. Heartbreak drove people to dire straits. I remembered that.
"I do know Jess," I said quietly.
Her expression thrilled until I held up a hand.
"You are right. Jess does work here sometimes. Not a lot, but sometimes. I can tell you, however, that Jess is not Brooke."
The structure of her face slowly crumpled.
"You don't know Brooke," she said quickly. "Jess could really be Brooke but she'd been catfishing me. Remember? She was hiding. I just need to hear her voice and then I'll know. Then I'll . . ." She choked up. "Then I'llfinallyknow."
I reached out, put my warm hand on top of hers and said, "I'm sorry, Katrina. There is no way that Jess is really Brooke. There's nothing more I can say because Jess's story isn't mine to tell, but I can assure you that all of this is . . . mere happenstance. I'm sorry. Brooke broke your heart and that is the last of it."
Tears filled her eyes. Her nostrils flared. "You're trying to tell me that a total stranger wrote me into a book, gave me the same signature as my beloved Brooke used to do, and has no idea who I am? It's impossible. Jesshasto be Brooke."
"What if she isn't?" I asked quietly.
"She must be!" Katrina cried. She shot to her feet, a mess of tears on her face now. "Because if Brookeisn'tJess, then she just left me. She let me go. She just . . . she just let me go. She was my person. How could she do that?"
Her stark whisper left a crater in my chest. I stood up slowly, matched her in height. "Katrina, I'm so sorry. Brooke is gone. You'll never find her by seeking Jess."
She breathed heavily now. Her hands trembled at her side as a sob collapsed her chest. I held out my arms and she crumbled into a sob. I stroked her hair and murmured words that didn't make sense. She cried in my arms for several long minutes while I tried to puzzle my brain back together. My phone buzzed on the counter, incessant.
Outside, several people congregated at the windows. They didn't come in, just peered at us. The weird way they lingered outside so early in the morning set my hair on edge.
"Oh no," Katrina whispered. She pulled away, tear stained cheeks bright. Panic filled her gaze. "Oh no."
"What?"
She wiped her tears with shaky hands. "I might have . . . I wanted Brooke to reveal herself so I . . ."
"What?" I whispered.
More people appeared at the door. A crowd of twenty now, with others streaming from across the street. Where had they come from? From how far away? Katrina turned to look at me, apology in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry. I . . . I told everyone that Jess lived here."
My blood turned cold. "What?"
"In the social media group. The big one?" She hastily added, "So many women want to thank her! They just want her to know what it meant to them that she wrote those books. That's . . . that's all. I thought it would drive Brooke out of hiding so I could see her. If there were more people, maybe she'd reveal herself." Anguished now, she stepped back. "I'm sorry! It was wrong. I know that now, but I didn’t then. I was just desperate to see Brooke and finish this documentary. I can't stop them now."
“Stop them?” I echoed softly.
Katrina paled.
"Jess's fans arehere."
HORROR TRIPLEDthrough me as I stared at the congregating crowd outside.
"Katrina," I hissed. "What have you done? There is an active fire here! They said last night that all of Pineville could be evacuated with all the wind today."
She stared outside, wide-eyed. "I don't know!" she cried. "I wasn't thinking. I just had to see Brooke."
