Page 52 of You'll Never Know
Everyone will know what you did.
The police are on their way.
Love, Bailey
Reed.The name rings like a bell in my head—cold and clear—and I can barely move, barely form a thought. It’s a name I’d hoped to never hear again, tied to a past I’d worked long and hard to bury.
But someone found me.
And it’s why they took my wife.
I scan the horizon again. There’s still nothing out of the ordinary—just the sharp evening air in my nose and the gentle rustle of the breeze skimming through the grass. There are no sirens or man-made sounds of any kind. No police rushing forward with guns drawn, shouting for me to get on the ground. There’s only that name—Bailey.It’s a hook that sinks deep into my brain as I set the card down and unwrap the gift.
It’s another picture. This one is a framed portrait of a family with an unnaturally large tree stretching away behind them toward a peach sky. I recognize the man from the photos in the casket along with the boy, who is once again striking a pose in his Captain America mask. But it’s the woman in the photo that sends all the blood in my body rushing to my feet. She has blonde hair in place of the red I know so well, and her eyes are light brown instead of green. Her face is fuller than I’m used to, not as defined. And her nose is different, too. There’s a bump in the bridge and it ends in a sharper tip.
But it’s her. I know it’s her.
The woman in the photo is Avery. The woman in the photo is also Bailey Nichols.
AndI know, I know, I knowwhat I’ve done.
And who I’ve done it to.
The earth shifts beneath my feet, everything spinning violently. It doesn’t make sense.Noneof this makes any sense. Avery’s ruined face in the pictures from the envelopes rip through my mind. The bruises and blood and the way her eyes lolled drunkenly in her head in the video call when we spoke. The severed finger wearing her wedding ring.
Was it all faked? And if it was, why? My brain smokes as I try to slot the pieces into place.
It had to be. There’s no other answer. But again, why? Why go to all of this trouble?
To punish you.
It’s the answer. It’s why Avery did this.Allof this. From the very beginning. From the first moment I met her.
I don’t have long to feel the shock before the bullet slams into my back.
Chapter 28
REED
Durango, Colorado
Age Sixteen
Reed still couldn’t believe his luck every time Taylor White took his hand. They’d been dating for three months now, and it still didn’t seem real.Shedidn’t seem real. The only reason she was with him was because he played football. Everyone at school knew it, but he didn’t care. She stirred something in Reed he’d never felt before. With her light red hair and eyes the color of a mountain lake, something about her made him ache. But it was a sweet ache, like the fire in his core after a solid workout—an ache he wanted to feel again and again and again.
He was acutely aware of her presence everywhere he went. She was the first thing he looked for when he went to school or to a football game. He scanned the sidelines the moment he hit the field, hungry to see her smiling among the cheerleaders. Anytime she was near him, his skin tingled. They hadn’t gone all the way yet, but they’d come as close as you could without slipping over the edge. Taylor said her dad would kill them both if they did, and Reed believed it.
Judge White hated him.
It didn’t matter how many times Reed crossed paths with Taylor’sfather or how respectfully he spoke to him; he knew the man would never consider him good enough for his daughter. And Reed couldn’t really argue with that. But it wasn’t enough of a reason for him to stay away from her, either. And he didn’t have a choice; being apart from her hurt. If Reed went for more than a day without seeing Taylor, it felt like a death of sorts—like she’d yanked out a piece of his heart. But when they were together, like they were now, things were perfect.
He’d convinced her to ditch eighth period, and they’d driven down to the river in her car. They came here sometimes to get away. Every time they did, all Reed wanted to do was kiss her, but today Taylor wanted to talk.
“Where do you think you’ll go to college?” she asked.
Reed’s heart dropped. He hadn’t thought about college yet. And he didn’t want to think about it now. They’d barely started their junior year. Didn’t they have forever still? Besides, he couldn’t afford college. His grades weren’t anywhere close to good enough for him to land a scholarship. The only way he’d be able to go was if Aunt Beth paid the tuition, and there was no way in hell she’d ever do that.
That woman was hard—nothing but a collection of straight lines and edges. The only reason she’d taken Reed in after his father had been sentenced to seventeen years for manslaughter was because he’d begged her to do it. Begged and begged. Reed spent an entire year in the foster system before Aunt Beth finally relented. When she did, she made sure Reed knew how much of an imposition he was. She bitched at him every day. He made such a mess. He was so goddamn ungrateful. He took all her money. Blah, blah, blah. That’s what Aunt Beth was to him at this point: nothing but white noise.
