Bel blinked and Rachel appeared from the darkness behind, up into the container. Not looking at Charlie, eyes only for Bel. Hand twitching at her side like she wanted to reach for her.
โHe didnโt,โย she said again.ย โActually telling the truth for once.โ
Bel angled her shoulders, not facing her dad or her mom, halfway between.
โHow did you know I was here?โย she asked.
โWaited twenty minutes and you didnโt come home,โย Rachel answered.ย โI drove over to your grandpaโs to look for you, saw the books all over theย ๏ฌoor. I saw you found my message. I knew youโd come here, to the red truck. Iโm sorry.โย She dropped her eyes, only for a second.ย โI didnโt want you toย ๏ฌnd out like that. Find out at all. This is your family, the people that raised you. I saw how much you loved them, and as much as that hurt me, I didnโt want to hurt you. I never wanted you to know.โ
It was too late for that.
โWhat do you mean heโs telling the truth?โย Bel glanced back at Charlie.ย โHe didnโt know you were here?โ
Rachel didnโt look at him, spoke about him, spoke around him.ย โThatโs true. He didnโt know I was here the whole time, in this truck. He didnโt know. Because he thought I was dead.โ
Now she looked at him, eyes full ofย ๏ฌre. The chains rattled as Charlie stepped back, but Rachel wasnโt done.
โHe thought I was dead, because thatโs what he told Pat to do. That was the plan. You had the rest of it right, Bel. But your grandpa wasnโt supposed to just take me at two oโclock that day. He was supposed to kill me.โ
Dad made a sound in his throat, low and guttural.
โSurprised, Charlie?โย Rachel threw the words at him, deadly, like her eyes.ย โMust have been a big surprise when you found me in your kitchen three weeks ago, after being sure I was dead for sixteen years, huh? Everyone else assumed I was dead, but you were the only one who was sure.โย She sni๏ฌed, a laugh buried there somewhere, deep below.ย โThe look on your face. I thought youโd have a heart attack. Kinda hoped you would.โ
โI donโt know what youโre talking about,โย Charlie croaked.
โOh, thatโs OK.โย Rachel clicked her tongue.ย โBecause Iย doย know everything, more than you, in fact. Pat told me everything. Explained it all, so Iโd see that it wasnโt his fault. That, really, by keeping me here, he wasย saving me.ย He was so desperate to believe that, your dad. So desperate for me to believe it too. That by not killing me, by keeping me here instead, heโd saved me from you.โ
โYou told Grandpa to kill her?โย Bel turned to her dad, almost didnโt recognize him.ย โWhy?โย There were too manyย whys.ย โWhy would Grandpa agree to that?โ
Rachel looked between the two of them, eyes hardening one way, glittering the other.ย โYou going to tell her, Charlie?โ
Dad darted forward, a crash as he reached the end of his chain. He winced, clutching his chest.ย โNone of this is true, Bel. Sheโs manipulating you!โ
โRight, Iโll tell her, then.โ
โStop talking, Rachel!โย he screamed, face reddening, a shadow monster writhing on the ceiling above him.ย โDonโt listen to her, Bel!โ
Belย ๏ฌicked between her parents, left and right, Mom and Dad.
โShe wants the truth, Charlie. She deserves it. And youโre never going to give it to her.โย Rachel turned to Bel, eyes soft, teeth away.ย โYour grandpa
agreed to the planโat least, as far as your dad knewโbecause Charlie blackmailed him.โ
โWith what?โย Bel asked.
โAnother Price secret. What a family, huh?โย Rachel said, mouth in a grim line.ย โWhen your dad was a teenager, one night, he heard his parents arguing. The night his mom died. He got out of bed just in time to see Pat shove his mom. Maria fell down the stairs, a broken neck, catastrophic head injuries. The coroner reported it as an accident, that she tripped and fell because it was dark. Thatโs the story Pat told them. But Charlie knew it wasnโt an accident, that she was pushed, his dad killed his mom, whether he meant to or not. He never told anyone, not Pat, not Je๏ฌ. Kept it to himself for years, decades, until he saw an opportunity to use it. You probably thought wife-killing ran in the family, huh, Charlie?โย she spat in his direction. Back to Bel.ย โCharlie told Pat that if he didnโt agree to kill me, he would go to the police and tell them what he saw that night. That heโd take it all the way, testify against his dad. That he could make Je๏ฌย believe heโd seen it too, and how was your grandpa going to say both of them were lying? Thatโs why Pat agreed to it. Cowards, all of them.โ
Dadโs eyes narrowed on the back of Rachelโs head, taking aim.
โPat told me,โย Rachel said, unaware,ย โthat if he didnโt agree to the plan, didnโt take me, he was scared Charlie would eventually kill me himself, so he wasย savingย me from that. But Charlie had to believe I was dead. And he did.โย The chain clattered as Dad started pacing.ย โCharlie thanked him after, can you believe that? Said he didnโt want to know any of the details, how heโd done it, where my body was, just that it was done. He wanted plausible deniability. Pat always said that if Charlie ever showed remorse, if he regretted it, Pat would reveal what heโd really done, that I was still alive. That theyโdย ๏ฌnd a way to bring me back home. Charlie never mentioned it to him once. He thought heโd had me killed and he never had any doubts about what they did, never regretted it.โ
Dad burst into laughter, hitching and hollow.
โWhat are you doing, Rachel? Bel is never going to believe you. She doesnโt even know you! Bel! Look at me, kiddo!โ
She did, but only for a second, his eyes red and wild, stalactites of spit hanging from his teeth. She turned back to Rachel, her face wounded but quiet.
โWhy would he want to kill you?โย Bel asked, looking at both of her parents, head spinning, because she couldnโt see both at the same time.
Rachel sighed.ย โIโd known for a while that Charlie was going to kill me.
It wasnโt just when Pat took me. I knew for weeks, months.โ โWhy?โ
โYou know your dad,โย she said, not unkindly,ย โmaybe better than I do. You know how it works. How everything orbits around him, how heโs always right. Controls everyone in the family, even if they donโt know it. You noticed how everyone says sorry to him, but he never says it back, because heโs never wrong. He thought he could control me too. I was too young when I married him, naรฏve, and he was so much older, so he had to be right about everything. Butโฆbeing your mom changed me, and I started to see how he really was. I think he saw me pulling away from him, so he tried to pull me back. For months, he tried to make me think Iโd lost my mind, so Iโd need him, so Iโd never leave.โย Rachel pressed her eyes together.ย โOh, Rachel, you left the front door open. Rachel, sweetie, you left the oven on, house could have burned down.ย None of it ever happened. I knew that, but he was good at it, I started to doubt myself.โย She threw a look at him, bitter and cold.ย โYou made a mistake, though, Charlie, a big one. That last Christmas.ย Rachel, you left Annabel in the bathtub alone, she could have drowned.ย Him holding you, you screaming. Thatโs when I knew. Iโd never forget about you, you were my world. I knew he was dangerous, that I had to leave him. I think Charlie could tell heโd lost, that I was going to leave, and he couldnโt live with that, oh no. Thatโs why he wanted to kill me. Theย ๏ฌnal way to control me.โ
โOh, come on!โย Dad strained against his chain, stamping his free foot,
the container shuddering.ย โDo you hear yourself, Rachel? You need help, honestly. These fantasies in your head. Bel doesnโt believe any of this! I raised her smarter than that!โ
He had raised her, and she was smart, but he was wrong. She believed Rachel, because Bel never left the front door open, or the trash unsealed, she never smashed that fucking mug, and Dad left her in a Taco Bell parking lot for hours, not minutes. But she was smart enough to see something else too, all the things Rachel left out.
โBut youย wereย leaving, werenโt you?โย Bel said.ย โYou borrowed three thousand dollars from Julian Tripp two days before you went missing. You were going to use it to leave us, to run away.โ
Rachel nodded, a sad smile dragging down the corners of her mouth.ย โYouโre right, Bel. And you are smart, not because ofย him.ย Your dad had taken my bank cards o๏ฌย me by that point. For my own good, he said, because I maxed out a credit card and forgot Iโd done it. It was a lie. But I didnโt have access to my money, and I needed some if I was going to leave. I knew he was going to kill me. It wasnโt a question ofย if,ย it was how long I had left. I didnโt think I had enough time to see this credit card thing play out, especially when he then pretended my car was broken, to isolate me more. I couldnโt wait. Julian was my only friend; work was the one place I was free from Charlie. I knew if I asked Julian, after school, heโd give me the money. And he did, just a couple days later. Three thousand dollars. It was enough. Then Charlieย ๏ฌxedย my car for me, and I knew I had to leave, that day, before it was too late. That exact day. Wednesday, February thirteenth. Youโre right, Bel. I was running away. And I was taking you with me.โ
Bel breathed out the rest of the darkness, a shudder up her spine, but it wasnโt a shiver, it was warm. There they were. The words sheโd waited her whole life to hear, never knew it until this moment. Her mom didnโt leave her behind, didnโt choose to abandon her. Bel had always been a part of the plan; they were supposed to leave together.
A tear broke free, clinging to her lashes.
Rachel reached out, stroked her thumb along Belโs wrist, the warm shiver there too.
โIโd been planning for weeks, Bel. The entire thing. And now I had the money, it was time to go through with it. Thatโs what happened in the mall,
why I disappeared twice that day. Theย ๏ฌrst time was planned. Itโs true, what I told you, how we disappeared in the mall. The recycling bin behind thatย Sta๏ฌย Onlyย door. But it wasnโt a coincidence, and it wasnโt because I thought a stalker was watching us. Iโd been visiting the mall for weeks, working it all out, tracking the cameras,ย ๏ฌnding a blind spot by that door. What time those bins were taken out the side door every day, where they took them, how long until the recycling was collected, if there were cameras there. I knew if we could get through that door, into one of those bins, and be wheeled out, park the car a few streets over, no one would ever know. Theย Sta๏ฌย Onlyย door wasnโt left unlocked; I swiped a key from someone two weeks before. I was ready, Bel. And it worked. We disappeared inside that mall, no trace of us leaving. You were so good inside that bin, like you knew it was important that we werenโt caught. I wanted people to think weโd disappeared close to home, an impossible mystery to keep them occupied, so theyโd never look for us anywhere else, so Charlie would have no idea where we went.โ
Rachel paused for breath, eyes darkening with the story.
โI didnโt knowโฆit was the same day Charlie and Pat agreed to carry out their plan too. Charlie was going to cut his hand around two oโclock, to begin his alibi. Thatโs when Pat was supposed to get me, at home. Pat arrived just in time to see us leaving, heading for the mall, so he followed us to Berlin. Parked near our car, waited for us to get back. We were gone for hours, Bel, hiding in that bin, waiting to be wheeled out. But Pat couldnโt call Charlie to tell him something had gone wrong with the timing. Charlieโs alibi had to be perfect; no link between them, no phone calls. So Pat waited. Followed us when weย ๏ฌnally got back to the car. He thought we were heading home, but we were on our way to disappear for good, toย ๏ฌnd a new home. Thatโs why I drove the back roads, so no cameras would pick up our plates. I didnโt know Pat was behind us the whole way. We were on that quiet road and he saw his opportunity, sped up to overtake us, braking in front. I had to swerve o๏ฌย the road to avoid hitting him. You were OK, Bel. Always such a brave girl. I got out of the car to scream at this other driver. Then I realized it was Pat. I asked what the hell he was doing, he could have killed us. He said he had to show me something, it was an emergency. I
knew our plan was already ruined, because Pat had seen usย afterย we disappeared. I was distracted, thinking about what the hell to do, so I didnโt see the cu๏ฌs in his hand. He opened his trunk. Grabbed my wrists, shoved me inside, closed the door. I screamed for him to let me out, kicking against the latch, but then there was this awful moment, when I realized Iโd left you with the door open. It was freezing out. I stopped screaming for me and I started screaming for you, telling Pat I didnโt care what he did to me but he had to go back and close the door to make sure you were OK. He did, he checked that the heater was on, and he shut the door. He says you saw him, Bel, you called out to him. He gave you a juice box and left you there in the backseat. He wanted me to know heโd never hurt his granddaughter, promised to take care of you while I couldnโt. Then he brought me here.โย She opened her hands, gesturing at the makeshift prison cell.
Bel took it all in again, the grooved foam along the ceiling, to the chain around Dadโs ankle that disappeared outside. This small, dark room; her momโs home for all that time. She tried to imagine it as Rachel saw it thatย ๏ฌrst day, the edges growing sharper, shadows deeper, walls closing in. How had she survived all that?
Rachel seemed to read her mind, knowing the look in her eyes, as Bel now knew hers.
โPat had about a week to put this all together, after Charlie asked him to kill me. Insulated it.โย She pointed at the foam.ย โFor the temperature, but I always thought it was so no one could hear me scream. No one ever did.โย She sni๏ฌed.ย โI was cu๏ฌed around the ankle. Holes for ventilation, in the walls and ceiling. He put a generator out back, ran a cable through the hole in the wall there. So I had an electric heater in winter, a fan for summer. God, summer was awful in here, so hot I could hardly move. Had a lamp I could use those months when the generator was on, so I wasnโt living in darkness. Other times I hadย ๏ฌashlights, enough batteries to keep one on the entire time. He came twice a week, with food and water, any other supplies I asked for. Sat with me for a while with the door open; I always thought it was my chance to convince him to let me go. I think I got close, a couple times. But he said it could only happen if Charlie ever came to him, sorry
for what theyโd done. Otherwise, he said letting me go would be the same as letting me die, that Charlie would kill me himself. He would bring me a new book, every couple of weeks.โย Rachel found Belโs eyes again, anchoring her to here and now, where she wasnโt the one chained up.ย โBut you know that already, found them all. I thought Pat would take them to a secondhand bookstore, or give them to you. Didnโt think heโd keep them all this time. He was never much of a reader.โ
โHe used to read to me,โย Bel spoke around the lump in her throat.ย โThose same books, after youโd read them.โ
Rachelโs eyes glittered again.
โI asked him to do that. Thought when you got old enough, maybe youโd see the marks,ย ๏ฌnd the message.โ
โIโm sorry.โย Belโs eyes dropped to theย ๏ฌoor, the guilt too heavy, dragging them down.
โItโs not your fault, Bel.โย Rachel ran her hand down Belโs arm, up the other, until her eyes returned.ย โYou didnโt know. I had to make it so faint, barely visible. Honestly, Iโm not surprised no one ever found them. There was no other way. Pat had given me a pencil and a notebook, for writing down supplies I needed. Then when he brought me theย ๏ฌrst book, I just wrote the message out, big letters above chapter one. But Patย ๏ฌipped through it, found the message right away. He told me heโd burned the book, that he couldnโt bring me any more if I tried that again. So I had to be smarter about it, hide a message that Pat couldnโtย ๏ฌnd, because I knew heโd be checking, each time I gave a book back.ย The Memory Thief,ย that was the second book he ever brought me, theย ๏ฌrst one I hid that message in. Why itโs my favorite. I used to tell him it was a special book, never told him why. Even though it didnโt work, it gave me something to live for, it gave me hope.โ
Bel felt her eyes glaze too, glittering in the same way as Rachelโs, un- cried tears for all those missed chances, years of being so close and never knowing.
โSo you and me were running away. Thatโs why the three thousand dollars, why we disappeared inside the mall. But then Grandpa intercepted
us, took you. Thatโs why you disappeared twice; one was planned, one wasnโt.โ
Rachel nodded.
โBut what was the rest of your plan?โย Bel asked. The chain rattled, making her jump, and sheโd almost forgotten Dad was here, watching them.ย โWhere were we going after the mall?โ
Bel had to know what life Rachel had planned for them, what the other way would have been. Sheโd lived one already, the tiny girl left abandoned in the backseat, her life a mystery for others to gawk at, terri๏ฌed of ever being left again, knowing it was inevitable. Bel needed to know the other way, the other life she could have had, what Dad and Grandpa took from her.
โA few weeks before that day,โย Rachel said,ย โbefore Charlie cut me o๏ฌย from my money, Iโd bought another car. This cheap thing, unregistered, from a couple who just wanted cash. Iโd parked it in Randolph, a street with just vacation homes, no one around to report it. We were going to swap cars, sink my old one in Lake Durand. From there, drive to Vermont, a town called Barton.โ
โWhere Robert Meyer lives,โย Bel said,ย ๏ฌlling in the gap, knowing where the rest of this was going, because sheโd lived a version of it the last two weeks.
โJe๏ฌโs friend Bob.โย Rachel nodded.ย โHe used to drop him into conversation whenever he could. Told me once that Bob sold fake identities from the dark web, that it wasnโt as expensive as I thought either. Je๏ฌย didnโt know how much that stuck with me, how much Iโd need it later. I got Bobโs number and address from Je๏ฌโs phone in thatย ๏ฌnal week. Wrote them down on a piece of paper, actually, because I was going to leave my phone behind in the car at the bottom of a lake. That paper is one of the only things I had in my pocket when Pat took me. That and Julianโs three thousand dollars. Pat never found the money, I hid it. But that bit of paper, I looked at it so many times, how close weโd been to our new life. I memorized it all, the phone number, address. Used to recite it sometimes, test myself. We were going to turn up at Bobโs house that night, and buy a full new identity for
you and me, Bel. We had the money, and enough left to help us start over. From there weโd go to a private air๏ฌeld, near the border. Convince someoneย ๏ฌying a small aircraft to take us into Canada. We would have had our new passports, for theย ๏ฌight plan, for the authorities, and no one would have known it was really us. From there, with our new names, we would make our way to this tiny town, called Dalhousie, in New Brunswick. Only a few thousand people, not a lot of tourists. I looked it up on the computers at school, so thereโd be no trace to me. Charlie would never have found us, no one would. That was going to be our new home. We could have disappeared there. We could have been happy there. A family.โ
Bel blinked. They could have been happy there, a way that would have hurt less than the one sheโd lived. Rachel had only forgotten one thing: she didnโt just have the paper with Bobโs number and the three thousand dollars when Grandpa kidnapped her, she must have had Belโs sock too. The little pink frilly one that sheโd brought back when she came back from the dead.
โThatโs how you knew how to set everything up,โย Bel said.ย โMake it look like Dad left the country, ran away with a new identity. Because it was meant to be our plan.โ
โIt was meant to be our plan,โย Rachel repeated.
โWait,โย Charlie spluttered, pulling against his chain, waving for Belโs attention.ย โWhat do you mean it looks like I ran away?โ
Bel set her jaw.ย โYou ran away, bought a new identity from Robert Meyer, ditched your old passport and phone in a private air๏ฌeld in Vermont and boarded a small aircraft to Canada with a new name. Thatโs where the police think you are now, they arenโt looking for you anymore.โ
Bel watched the change in his face, the shift in his eyes, the panic he couldnโt hide from her or Rachel.
โNo oneโs looking for me?โย he said, voice desperate and raw, on the way to a shout.
โI looked for you,โย Bel said, but Dad must have not heard her.
โNo oneโs looking for me?!โย He was shouting now, aย ๏ฌush of angry red creeping up his neck, reaching his eyes.ย โThey think I ran away?!โ
โWell, you did run away.โย Rachel stepped in front of Bel, her body a barricade between them.
โLiar!โย he screamed, tilting forward, swiping his arms. He couldnโt reach her, chain straining behind him.ย โBel knows I would neverโโ
โYou left in the middle of the night, Charlie. Packed a bag and took your passport; I didnโt even have to do those things for you.โ
โLying bitch!โ
Rachel bared her teeth at him, a cruel smile.ย โI thought it would make you squirm, me coming back from the dead. I hoped it would. Me, alive, telling the world it was a stranger who took me. You couldnโt even ask your dad about it, the only other person who knew the truth, because he can no longer remember any of it. I bet you tried, didnโt you? Wondering how much I knew, what I was going to do about it. But come on, you only lasted a week. Then you set o๏ฌย in the middle of the night, running away before the consequences could catch up to you. I knew it was a possibility,โย she said to Bel.ย โI wasnโt sleeping at night, in case he tried it. I set o๏ฌย a couple minutes after he did, caught him before he even got to Main Street. Told him it was time I told him the truth, what really happened to me, but I couldnโt say it, I had to show him. Drove us here, led him to the truck. Pretended I only knew it was Pat who took me, working alone, that Charlie must not have known what his father was truly capable of. I saw the glint in his eye, I know how his mind works; he wasย ๏ฌguring out a way to save himself, to pin the whole thing on his own dad without a second thought. I showed him where the generator plugged in and while he wasnโt looking, I slipped the cu๏ฌย around his ankle, locked it. The look on his face, when he knew that I knew.โ
โLiar!โย Charlie screeched, a line of spit trailing down his chin.ย โBel knows I wouldnโt leave. Youโre crazy, Rachel! Bel doesnโt believe any of this!โ
She didnโt want to, her gut struggling against it, but she had to believe it. Dad had left her, and it wasnโt just his word against Rachelโs, one parent against the other, because Phillip Alves had seen it too.
โBel,โย Dad said, staring through Rachel at her.ย โLook at me, kiddo. Donโt listen to her, sheโs crazy. You have to trust me. What proof do you have that anything sheโs saying is true?โ
Belโs heart betrayed her, reacting to his voice, forcing itself against her ribs, trying to get to him. Her eyesย ๏ฌicked between him and Rachel.ย โThe money, Dad. I knew about the three thousand dollars from Mr. Tripp. I found the books at Grandpaโs house, the message she left. Itโs what led me here. And Phillip Alves; he saw you leaving that night.โ
โYou donโt think she could have set those things up?โย His eyes softened.ย โSheโs manipulating you, kiddo. Sheโs unwell. We need to get her help, you and me, OK? But you need to get me out of here, now.โ
โCharlieโโย Rachel began.
โIโm not talking to you, Iโm talking to my daughter!โ
โOur daughter,โย Rachel said, something new in her eyes, hard and unmovable, staring him down.
โRachel has the key to the cu๏ฌ, Bel. You need to get me out of here. Iโve been in this hellhole for two weeks, Bel, please help me.โ
โTwo weeks.โย Rachel forced out a laugh.ย โYouโve done two weeks, Charlie. You have no idea what I went through in here. Tryย ๏ฌfteen years!โ
Dad opened his mouth to respond, but Bel spoke over him.
โFifteen years.โย She touched Rachelโs shoulder, turned her around.ย โNot theย ๏ฌrst time youโve said that. Even though itโs been more than sixteen years since that day. So you didnโt get out of here three weeks ago, when you reappeared?โ
โNo.โ
โWhen did you get out?โ
โLast summer,โย Rachel said.ย โAugust. When your grandpa had hisย ๏ฌrst stroke.โ
Bel stared at her, rewriting everything again. She hadnโt stopped to think about it, what had happened to Rachel when Grandpa went to the hospital, when he lost his memory and Rachel along with it.
โHe normally came by twice a week, with supplies,โย she said.ย โI wasnโt worried when he missed one, thought he was just busy. Then he missed
another. I started to ration food and water, just in case. I didnโt know he was in the hospital, recovering from his stroke. After two weeks, I thought he was leaving me in here to die, that he couldnโt go through with this anymore but wasnโt strong enough to kill me himself. The food was almost gone, water too. The generator went o๏ฌ, no one toย ๏ฌll up the gas. No fan, no light. It was so hot, I was sweating so much, not enough water to save me from it. I thought I was dying, here alone in the dark. Could feel all my bones. I was so dehydrated, so thin, that I didnโt need the key anymore, the cu๏ฌย slipped right o๏ฌ, over my foot. I was free for theย ๏ฌrst time, but I couldnโt open the door, not from the inside.โย Her eyes were heavy, reliving it: her slow death, right here.ย โI tried everything. Tried making tools out of empty cans, the fan, something to force the door. Nothing worked. I was going to die in here. It was twenty-one days since Iโd last seen Pat. And then I heard someone moving around outside. I was so weak, but I managed to hit aย ๏ฌashlight against the door, over and over, screaming for help.โ
Rachel stared at the door, now open into the endless black night.
โIt opened. Iโd gotten so used to the darkness that I couldnโt see anything for a few seconds. Then I heard his voice, Patโs, asking who I was.โย Rachel shook her head.ย โI didnโt understand, thought it was some kind of cruel joke. He asked me what I was doing here on his yard and who I was. And I realized; he really didnโt know who I was. Didnโt remember me or that he was the one keeping me here. Iย ๏ฌgured it must have been a stroke, and there was signi๏ฌcant damage to his brain, to his memories. It was my one chance and I wasnโt going to lose it. I wasnโt chained up anymore and the door was open. I told your grandpa that I was a Realtor, looking for a client interested in buying the yard, that Iโd accidentally gotten trapped inside the truck and Iโd been there all day. He told me he was sorry that happened. He actually apologized to me. I grabbed some things, the three thousand dollars, and then I was free. Pat even held the door open for me as I climbed out. Asked to give him a call if there were any o๏ฌers on the yard. He didnโt remember me. I didnโt even need to run. I couldnโt have run, if Iโd wanted to. I just walked right out of here. First thing I did, drank from the river until I was sick. Found a car parked by the trailhead, across the bridge. They had food
and water, clothes and camping gear. I took it all. Stayed in the trees for a few days until I had my strength back.โ
Bel nodded, theย ๏ฌnal pieces coming together now, all the signs and half- truths sheโd uncovered, showing her the way.
โYou escaped eight, nine months ago,โย she said.ย โWhy didnโt you come home then?โ
Rachel pressed her lip, leaving a faint imprint of her front teeth as she released it. “I nearly did. Almost went directly to the Gorham Police, desperate to see you again. But I restrained myself. It was like the message in the books. I botched the first attempt, and I knew I needed to be more strategic. I had one chance to return, and I wanted to be prepared, to do it right. So I left town, left New Hampshire. Dyed my hair in a gas station restroom, took a Greyhound, then another. Ended up in a small town called Millinocket, in Maine. I thought it was far enough, and people wouldn’t recognize me with my altered hair and thin frame. I had those three thousand dollars to start with. Rented a room. Got work as a maid, cash in hand. And I planned. I researched carefully, using public computers away from where I was staying. I found your old Instagram, Bel. I must have looked at that photo of you with the bracelet countless times. It kept me going. And I needed it: your grandpa never told me Charlie had been arrested back then, that a jury found him not guilty of my murder. That terrified me; that they had gotten it so wrong, found him innocent of exactly what he had done, or tried to do. I knew I could never go to the police with the truth, couldn’t trust the criminal justice system to punish Charlie. How would it even work? There was no DNA evidence tying Charlie to any of the scenes because he hadn’t been there. And the only witness I had couldn’t remember any of it, what Charlie told him to do to me. No. The truth wasn’t the way to get to Charlie, to get him away from you. So I devised a different plan, a different story about where I’d been, and what I’d do to those responsible. There was more… something else I needed to find before I returned. Took a while. Turned out it was closer to home than I thought.”
“You mean the clothes?” Bel inquired. “The red top and black jeans from that boutique in New Conway? That was you, wasn’t it, in January?”
Rachel’s eyes sharpened, not with anger, but with a hint of pride. Her well-laid plans and Bel unraveling them all, both living a lie under the same roof. Like mother, like daughter.
“Yes. That was me. I’d moved closer, staying in a trailer near Lancaster. Borrowed a neighbor’s car when they weren’t home. That’s where I originally bought that red top, those jeans. I thought I’d find something similar, remove the labels so police couldn’t date them, turn them into rags. Pat threw out the original clothes, burned them, actually. Brought me new clothes every year. For Christmas.”
Rachel approached the pile of clothes, taking her within the boundary of Dadโs chain. He didnโt move, watching her closely as she kicked out at the old tops and sweaters, breaking apart the small mountain of fabric.
โWhen I was ready, when it was time, I cut my hair o๏ฌ, put on those ruined clothes. Fresh wound on my ankle Iโd been working on, like I just escaped the cu๏ฌ. I destroyed every last trace of me from that trailer. Left a tote bag Iโd worn over my face on that road. Then I walked home. I know I messed the story up a couple of times, Bel. It was so hard, lying to your face, like you were being punished too. But I didnโt think youโd accept the truth if I told you, you werenโt ready. These people raised you, you love them. I thought I had to do it all on my own, the only one whoโd ever know. Well, me and your dad, because he had to go, of course. But Iโm so glad youโre here with me now. That Iโm not alone anymore.โ
Rachel breathed out and so did Bel. There it was; the whole truth. Bel had been right about everything, and wrong about more. Rachel had lied, had planned both her disappearance and her reappearance. Just not in the way Bel could have ever guessed.
โAnd whatโs your plan now, huh, Rachel?โย Charlie spat in her direction.ย โThis.โย She sharpened her chin, opened her arms.ย โThat you go through
the exact same thing you did to me, Charlie. Fifteen years,ย ๏ฌve months, twenty-๏ฌve days. Youโve done thirteen days. Bit of a ways to go.โ
โYouโre fucking crazy!โ
โThink of it like Iโmย savingย you, Charlie. The only other option was to kill you.โ
โAre you listening to this, Bel?โย He forgot to take the edge out of his voice, theย ๏ฌre out of his eyes.ย โSheโs fucking crazy. Talking about killing me.โ
โYou killed meย ๏ฌrst,ย honey,โย Rachel hissed.ย โBel!โ
โStop!โย Bel raised her hands, coming to stand between her parents, stopping in the middle.ย โStop it!โ
Rachel held her hands up too, aย ๏ฌash of fear in her eyes.ย โCareful, Bel.
Donโt get too close to him.โ
There was fear in Charlieโs eyes too, but it didnโt take the same shape as her momโs.ย โRachel has the key,โย he said.ย โWe can sort everything out, kiddo, OK? Get everyone the help they need. But you have to get the key from her. You need to set me free.โ
Bel glanced back at Rachel, hooking onto her eyes, so much like her own. Sheโd always hated that, always wished sheโd been born with the Price eyes.
โBel, get the key!โ
Dadโs voice in one ear, Momโs in the other.
โItโs OK, Bel,โย Rachel said gently, one hand disappearing behind, to her pocket. She brought it back, opened it. A small silver key on her outstretched palm.ย โItโs right here.โ
Charlie strained against his chain, swiping toward Rachel, the disturbed airย ๏ฌuttering her hair.
โI canโt reach!โย he screamed.ย โGrab the key, Bel. NOW!โ
Bel stared down at it, against Rachelโs pale skin. Herย ๏ฌngers twitched, Dadโs heavy breath in time with her own.
โYouโve told me everything, right?โย she asked, still looking at the key.ย โNo more lies?โ
A twitch by Rachelโs mouth, the truth in her eyes.ย โNo,โย she said.ย โThereโs something else. Thereโs more I need to tell you, but not here, like this. I promise to tell you everything. I will never lie to you again.โ
โBel, grab the key!โย Dad screeched. He put a heavy hand on her shoulder, thumb pressing against her bare neck. He gave her a gentle push, one step toward Rachel, out of the middle.ย โGet the key, kiddo,โย he whispered, letting her go.
โWhat do you mean thereโs more?โย Bel stared at Rachel.ย โWhat havenโt you told me?โ
โSheโs trying to manipulate you. Stop listening. Just take the key.โ โIโll tell you everything. Not here.ย Heย canโt know.โ
โShut the fuck up, Rachel! Bel, get the key.โ
Hisย ๏ฌngers against her back, another nudge, pushing her farther out of the middle, toward Rachel.
โYou can take it if you want,โย Rachel said, a tear falling, catching at the crack in her lips.ย โI wonโt try to stop you. Itโs your choice. You havenโt had a lot of choice in your life, Bel. Now you do.โ
Bel looked over her shoulder at Dad, then back to Mom.ย โTake it, Bel. Come on.โ
โItโs OK, sweetie,โย Rachel said.ย โIโll understand.โย But Dad wouldnโt.
Bel took a step forward.
โYes, thatโs it, kiddo.โย His voice hovered behind her, urging her on, her heart throwing itself against the bars of her rib cage, pulling both ways, and neither.
โItโs OK.โย Rachel watched Bel take another step toward her.
โShe knows itโs OK, stop talking to her, Rachel!โย Dadโs voice seemed farther away now.
Belโs eyes watered, holding the key in place, there on Rachelโs hand. Take the key or donโt.
Choose Charlie or Rachel. Mom or Dad. Her lies or his.
Eyes on the key.
One way or the other, because Bel couldnโt have both. One couldnโt exist if the other did. Sheโd made this choice already, head and heart and gut. Chose the man whoโd raised her, because they were a team, always had
been. Both had lied to her, Mom and Dad, standing here in no-manโs-land between them, lost, the after-ring in her ears, and an ending that was hers to choose.
So choose.
Bel took another step, feet unsteady.
And what would it come down to, in the end? The one she knew more, the one sheโd loved longer, loved harder, the one who came back from the dead for her? One all her life, one for just three weeks. Second thoughts pitted themselves against each other, streaming behind her eyes.
But maybe only one truth really mattered, when you took it all away, threw out those memories or the space where they should have been. Who had chosen to leave her behind and who hadnโt. Bel tore her gaze from the key, circling Rachelโs eyes, the color and shape of her own. Back to the key.
Rachel nodded.
โYou have to get me out of here, kiddo. Please!โ
Blurred edges, eyes crossing, splicing the key into two. She blinked until her vision righted, because there was only one. She could only choose one.
Mom. Or.
Dad. His. Side. Or.
Hers. One. Or.
The. Other.
Bel chose. And she chose right this time. Head and heart and gut.
She closed the gap between her and Rachel, eyesย ๏ฌxed on the key, watering because she couldnโt blink, blink and everything might disappear. Bel reached out,ย ๏ฌngers gliding through the air, a shiver as she touched the skin of Rachelโs palm. Warm, not cold.
She closed Rachelโs hand around the key, into aย ๏ฌst. Skin to skin, bone to bone. Held it there, tight.
Eyes on her momโs. She chose her.
โBel!โย Dad screamed. He couldnโt see.
Bel let go, though something of her stayed behind, there in Rachelโs closed hand. She stood beside her mom.
โNo, Dad,โย she said, darkly, meeting his eye.
โWhat are you talking about?โย He blinked because he didnโt understand.
She knew he wouldnโt.ย โDonโt be stupid. Get the key.โ โI said no.โย And she didnโt say sorry.
โWhat the fuck are you doing?!โย he screeched, backing away, chain clattering.ย โYou canโt be serious. You have to let me go! Sheโs brainwashed you.โ
โIโve made my choice, Charlie.โย Belโs heart didnโt waver, not at the pleading in his voice. She didnโt know this man, not really, and her heart didnโt either. Familyย ๏ฌrst, and he wasnโt her family anymore. He never was.
โBel, stop, you must be fucking crazy!โ
โYeah, I must be,โย she said, shutting him out, doing that thing she did, the thing sheโd gotten so good at because sheโd had to, to survive. She pushed him away.
Charlie sucked at the stale air.ย โNo, no, no,โย he said to himself, a crescendo building in his chest.ย โNo!โย he barked.ย โNo!โย he screamed, strings of spit holding his teeth together, an animal look in his eye.ย โYou canโt leave me in here! YOU CANโT!โ
โWhy not?โย Bel said. Heโd left her. Heโd decided to kill Rachel. Heโd chosen for Bel, that tiny babbling girl, picked the way that hurt less for him but ruined her. The knot in her gut she hadnโt felt so much since heโd been gone.
โIโm begging you!โย he screamed, hands in front of his chest.ย โYou canโt leave me in here!โ
Bel glanced at her mom.
A blink, a hidden message inside it. Yes, they could leave him in here. A new family secret, dark only because of the ones that came before, one that bound the two of them together. Mother and daughter. Mom and Bel. A team.
โNo!โ
A roar as he bounded toward them, chain pulling taut with a crash of metal. Charlieโs hand scrabbled the air,ย ๏ฌngers closing around Belโs sleeve, pulling her toward him and those desperate, hungry eyes.
Bel dug her nails into hisย ๏ฌesh, scratching deep. Rachel stamped on his foot, pulled Bel out of his grip. She bared her teeth, eyes glittering the same way they had when another man tried to hurt her daughter.
โDo not touch her!โย She stood in front of Bel.ย โI can make it even worse for you!โ
โDonโt leave me here!โย he howled, empty swipes at the air, slipping, crashing to his knees.ย โIโll kill you, Rachel! I should have fucking killed you!โ
Mom reached back, took Belโs hand. Gave it a squeeze. It was time to go.
โIโll fucking kill you!โ
Bel turned toward the open doorway, a black frame, the empty night beyond, waiting for them.
But it wasnโt empty.
A white ball of light,ย ๏ฌoating up the tires. A dark shape looming behind
it.
A new voice and a pair of eyes, glowing in the night.ย โWhat the fuck is going on here?โ
