It was exactly what he had done to Alex’s sister. He picked Hope not because she was wise beyond her years, but because she was a girl from a group home whose mother had abused her so badly that her left wrist barely worked. She was vulnerable, and he was the kind of man who could smell vulnerability—and needed it. At least Emilia Lopez had enough self-esteem to recognize she had been taken advantage of. In Hope’s case, Hitch was the one to break off their “relationship,” giving her a silver necklace from Tiffany “to remember us by.” Even after knowing what Hitch had done, she couldn’t bring herself to throw it away, hiding it in the tampon case in her purse before leaving Wichita.

Melissa was droning on about Alex. “You told me during our first session you didn’t think you’d ever be able to forgive him, even though he ultimately told the truth at the end and lost his life because of it. Do you still feel that way?”

Alex hadn’t deserved to die for what he did, but, no, Hope wasn’t ready to forgive him—not yet, at least. “It’s complicated. I know the letter was meant to give me a fresh start, but it was still self-serving. He said that after the accident, he saw headlights coming and ran for the woods—heartbroken, guilt-stricken, terrified—leaving only after I was in the ambulance?” She could recite Alex’s letter from memory—that’s how many times she had read it. “Well, there was no wallet in my purse. No identification. No money. He must have taken it, right? That doesn’t sound very heartbroken. It sounds like someone willing to sacrifice me so he can go on with his life.”

But if Alex’s letter had portrayed him more sympathetically than he deserved, it had done the same for Hope. I convinced myself you were faking . . . Your reaction at that house. You were so afraid. It became clear to me you were telling the truth about your amnesia.

When he showed up at the Stansfields’, Hope was anything but afraid. She had flown into a rage, unleashing fifteen years of a life spent in limbo because of him. She told him she knew he was the one who killed Hitch. You ruined my fucking life, and now I’m going to ruin yours, too.

And yet, still, he chose to cover for her in that letter. So . . . could Hope forgive him? Like she said, it was complicated.