Deven pulled out her cell phone to see if Paul had texted the information she requested. He hadn’t just yet. Probably still reeling from the shock of it all. She couldn’t blame him. He’d just found out his girl was a liar and a fake. That was what they knew. Imagine what they didn’t know.

Instead of a text message, however, Deven did see a notification for a voicemail, along with four missed calls. One was from a number she didn’t recognize, three were from the County Police Department. Deven’s heart quickened as she dialed into her voicemail box to listen to the message. Her finger trembled over the Play button of her voicemail prompts, Officer McKinney’s voice echoing in the car with practiced cadence. Whether from fear or the cold, Deven’s body began to convulse in a vicious quiver, and she hugged herself in a weak attempt to calm the anxiety. Now was not the time to hyperventilate.

“Ms. Reynolds, this is Officer McKinney. I have some additional information about your sister. Please give me a call.” That was it. The message was minimal but clear. She was once again delivering some tragic news.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Deven hadn’t wanted to lie. It was just that when Benji called, he mentioned wanting to go back to Kennedy’s apartment. Then he asked if she could meet him over there. So Deven had to lie. She couldn’t very well tell him what she was about to do to get some additional information. Then, Benji would’ve wanted to come with her. She would’ve had to divulge some details she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to. Because, if she could be honest with herself, she still didn’t trust him. Not yet anyway.

So as much as Deven wanted—no, needed—to go back to Kennedy’s apartment, as much as she felt Benji had some ulterior motive for getting back there and she was curious to know why, she patched together a story about needing to go see her mom and she was unavailable. In actuality, she had already planned to go back to Kennedy’s apartment herself. With or without Benji. Now that she had some extra details from Paul, Deven needed to do a more comprehensive search through her place through a new, critical lens. She was sure there may have been something there that she had originally overlooked.