Revealing Annie - Freya Barker Page 0,41
of him and me sitting on a park bench, kissing. It also included a note telling me my ‘boyfriend’ was a dead man.
“I called David right away and told him everything.”
“He didn’t believe you.”
I lift my head and finally look into eyes that no longer just hold sympathy—they hold concern. Still, I climb off his lap and pick up my laptop before sitting back down beside him. He quietly watches me as I power it up and find the folder labeled Cookie Recipes on my desktop. Then I hand the laptop over.
“It has everything. I started taking pictures when the first nasty note arrived.”
Sumo takes the computer but his eyes stay focused on me.
“Tell me what happened,” he says instead.
“He was found at the bottom of a mountain road north of Glendora three days later. The news report said it looked like he lost control of the wheel, veered off the road, and his truck went through the guardrail. As soon as I found out, I tried talking to the cops, but it was written off as an unfortunate accident.”
He curses under his breath, his hand landing on my knee, giving it a squeeze.
“You were at his funeral,” he announces, shocking me. He reads me and quickly clarifies, “Some gossip rag managed to snap a shot of you there.”
I’ve steered clear from going online and only communicate with Erin. I shut down all my personal social media accounts, leaving the official pages for my agent to deal with, and took off after saying my last goodbyes to David. As for the media, after I read in a newspaper my character was killed off on the show after I went missing, I stopped reading those too.
“I was there. After the cops brushed me off again I knew I had to take care of myself. I found a guy, was charged through the nose for identification with my original name, and paid cash for a secondhand car. Then I packed a couple of things in the trunk, and took off right after the funeral. That was last summer.”
He surprises me when he closes my laptop without even glancing at it and setting it on the table.
“You didn’t even look at it,” I point out.
“I don’t need to,” he says, cupping my face in his hands.
“But I have proof of everything.”
He shakes his head and for a second I think he’s going to tell me I’m being paranoid, but instead he presses his lips to my forehead before looking deep into my eyes.
“I believe you.”
Sumo
I had to put her laptop down or I would’ve thrown it against a wall.
Not just because of what that psycho has done to her, but all those assholes waving her off without listening. Misogynistic fuckers, preferring to dismiss the claims of a frightened woman than to pull their heads out of their collective asses and protect her.
I watch as the tears start welling in her eyes again.
“No more crying,” I tell her gently.
“You don’t understand,” she sniffs. “The only other person who believes me is Erin, and I haven’t even told her everything.”
“Who’s Erin?”
I watch as something crosses her features, gone as quickly as it came.
“She’s a friend I met online years ago.”
Immediately a red flag goes up for me.
“Online?”
“I’ve met her in person since. She lives in San Antonio and is married to a game warden. She’s actually the one who suggested Durango, because a friend of hers moved here and married a local detective.”
That perks my interest.
“Autumn? Her friend is Autumn?” She nods, surprise plastered all over her face so I explain. “She’s married to Keith Blackfoot, who’s a detective with the Durango PD.” I chuckle at the realization how connected we all really are. “Keith’s partner is Tony Ramirez, who happens to be married to my partner, who you know is Ava Navarro, but we call her Blue.”
“No shit?”
“Small world, huh?”
“Yeah, I uhh…Erin has been pushing me to get in touch with her friend, but…”
“You don’t trust the cops,” I conclude. “Understandable, but for what it’s worth, I trust these guys with my life. Keith, Tony, even Joe, our chief of police.”
She turns away, her eyes drifting out the window and I can almost hear the wheels turning. She’s still struggling with something.
“I think maybe he’s back.” Her voice is almost a whisper when she finally says something, and it has the hair on my neck stand on end. “Some strange things have been happening.”
“Your car?” I offer the first thing that comes to mind.
“That,