don’t know why, but I can make a pretty good guess. He was obsessed with you even though you’d never met, like someone who gets obsessed with movie stars. And what did he do? He hunted you down, but seeing you from afar—or simply meeting you—wasn’t enough. Instead, he had to become part of your life. That’s what dangerous stalkers do, Beth.”
His tone was calm and professional, which only intensified the dread she’d begun to feel.
“By your expression, I know that all of this is news to you. You’re wondering if I’m telling the truth or if I’m lying, and my track record isn’t perfect. But, please, for Ben’s sake—for your own sake—ask him about it. I can be there if you want me to be there, or I could even send another deputy if you’d prefer that. Or you can call someone else—your friend Melody. I just want you to understand how serious this is. How . . . creepy and weird this is. This is scary stuff, and I can’t impress on you enough how important it is that you take it seriously, too.”
His mouth was set in a straight line as he set the file on a child’s desk beside him. “This is some general information on Logan Thibault. I didn’t have time to dig too deep, and I can get in big trouble for even letting you see this, but since I don’t know what else he hasn’t told you . . .” He trailed off before looking up at her again.
“Think about what I told you. And be careful, okay?”
28
Beth
She could barely see through the windshield, but this time it had less to do with the rain than her inability to concentrate. After Keith had left, she kept blinking in confusion as she stared at the file, trying to make sense of the things her ex had told her.
Logan had Drake’s photograph . . . Logan had become obsessed with her . . . Logan had decided to seek her out . . . Logan had hunted her down.
She found it hard to breathe, and it had been all she could do to go to the office and tell the principal that she had to go home. The principal had taken one look at her face and agreed, offering to cover her class the rest of the afternoon. Nana would pick up Ben after school, Beth informed him.
On the drive home, her mind flashed from one image to the next, a kaleidoscope of sight and sound and smell. She tried to convince herself that Keith was lying, grasping for a way to rationalize his news. It was possible, especially considering the way he’d lied in the past, and yet . . .
Keith had been serious. More professional than personal, and he’d told her something she could easily check. He knew she would ask Logan about it . . . he wanted her to ask Logan . . . which meant . . .
She squeezed the wheel, possessed by a feverish need to talk to Logan. He would clear this up. He had to be able to clear this up.
Water from the river now stretched across the road, but in her preoccupied state, she didn’t realize it until she plowed into the water. She jerked forward as the car almost came to a stop. The river flowed around her, and she thought the water would stall the engine, but the car continued to roll forward into ever deeper water, before finally emerging in a shallower patch.
By the time Beth reached the house, she wasn’t even sure what to feel, other than confused. One instant she felt angry and betrayed and manipulated; in the next, she was able to convince herself that it couldn’t be true, that Keith had lied to her again.
As she came up the drive, she found herself scanning the rain-swept grounds for Logan.
Up ahead, through low-hanging mist, she could see lights on in the house. She considered going in to talk to Nana, longing for Nana’s clarity and common sense to straighten everything out. But when she saw the lights on in the office and noted the propped-open door, she felt something catch in her throat. She turned the wheel in the direction of the office, telling herself that Logan didn’t have the picture, that the whole thing had been a mistake. She bounced through muddy puddles, the rain coming so hard now that the wipers couldn’t keep up. On the office porch,