He leaves the room. While he’s gone, I sit again, and the tears I suppressed when he was here finally fall. What did I do to her? I look at the clock. More than four hours have passed since she went missing. Part of me hopes the detective is right about people wanting to disappear. Maybe her dad found out she was pregnant and threatened to make her give up the baby, so she ran away. It almost makes sense. She’d only have to hide for a week. But would she really go so far as to fake an abduction? No, she’d have told me, and she’d have skipped work if there was trouble at home.
Detective Abrahms returns and sits. “We’ve issued a BOLO for Robert Vargas. He’ll be brought in for questioning.” He gets out his notepad. “I want you to tell me everything about Abby Evans, from the moment you met her.”
Chapter Thirty-one
Bria
I knock on the door, worried that I’m crossing a line, but I don’t know what else to do.
The door opens, and Mrs. Rewey pales, like she’s seen a ghost. She blinks a lot and doesn’t speak.
“What’s going on?” I ask. “You’re looking at me the same way Crew does lately.” I sink against the doorframe. “He’s going to break up with me, isn’t he? I knew it. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
Before I can escape, she hauls me into her apartment. “There’s something you need to see.”
She takes a picture off the wall and hands it to me. It’s a photo of Crew when he was younger and thinner, standing next to a girl. A girl whose hair looks exactly like mine. They’re singing into the same microphone. He’s gazing at her the same way he looks at me when we sing. Or the way he did until recently.
“This is Abby?” I say.
“He hasn’t told you about her?”
“I’m confused. He started to act strange after I got my hair done. It’s not like he was altogether normal before that, but this last week has been horrible. I have to know, just who is she?”
“Come. Sit.”
We settle in the living room. I take the picture with me. I can’t stop staring at it. Abby is gazing straight at the camera while Crew is looking only at her. It’s clear he’s in love with her. “What happened, Mrs. Rewey?”
“Please call me Shelly. Can I get you a drink? Water maybe?”
“Yes, thank you.”
While she’s in the kitchen, I go to the mirror on the wall and look at myself next to the picture. Aside from our hair, which is the same color and length, we don’t look alike. She has blue eyes, mine are green. I have more freckles and a thinner nose. I’m taller than she is.
Shelly comes back, catching me at the mirror. “It’s mostly the hair.”
“And we’re both singers.”
“There is that.”
“Tell me what happened. I know he was in love with her. I’ve seen some of his songs.”
Her eyes light up. “He showed you?”
Guilt consumes me. “He showed me one. I thought it was about me at first. Then the other night, he left his notebook open, and I … I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t help myself.”
Shelly touches my arm. “You were curious. It’s human nature. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
“But the song was so private. I think it was about him wanting to die.”
She inhales sharply. “It was a tough time for him, after Abby died.”
My eyes snap to hers. “She died?”
She looks guilty. “I thought you knew.”
“I suspected, but I wasn’t sure. How did it happen?”
“Bria, I don’t mean to be rude, but Chris needs to tell you in his own way. It would be better for both of you.”
“I guess you’re right, but it’s hard.”
“He likes you very much, I can tell. He showed you one of his songs about her. That’s a step in the right direction.”
“I thought he showed it to me to let me know he could never feel that way about me.”
“I doubt that. Chris might feel more than the average person. Maybe that’s why he writes good songs. I suspect you’re the same way, which is why this is so hard for you. I can see how much you care for him. Not many young women would have the courage to show up and ask questions. It tells me you’re willing to fight for him. And perhaps that’s exactly what he needs.”
“Maybe now it will be a little easier. How long do