“Well, it was a good story. Incredibly compelling. I’d say you can’t make this stuff up, but obviously, you can.”

“This is insane.”

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not the only one who suspected you. Detective Gardner thought you did it also, but he couldn’t prove it. Except he didn’t have a window into your thoughts the way I have. He hasn’t been collecting little inconsistencies over the last three years.”

“This is ridiculous. I’m leaving.”

“Yes, you should leave. I’d like some privacy to give the detective a call.”

“Wait. Hang on.”

“I thought you were leaving?”

“Okay. Okay.”

“So you admit it?”

“What do you want, Dr. Hale?”

“I have a little problem. And I need your help.”

“What kind of problem?”

“There’s somebody who’s been causing me some trouble. I’d like to take care of it, but I can’t do it myself.”

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

“Oh, I think you know, Patricia.”

Chapter 46

(PA)TRICIA

Present Day

I’m not a murderer.

Okay, technically I am. But when I imagine somebody being a murderer, I imagine something different. I imagine somebody evil, who goes around killing good people for no reason.

I killed my fiancé, Cody. But he wasn’t a good person.

We were supposed to get married in two months. Two months! The wedding invitations had gone out already. I had plastered photos of me holding up my gorgeous diamond ring all over Instagram. We had already registered at half a dozen places and some of the gifts had even come in already.

Then I found out Cody was sleeping with my best friend, Alexis.

Do you know what it feels like when someone betrays you like that? The love of my life and my best friend. Going at it like rabbits. Right under my nose, because they thought I was too stupid to find out about it. And I might not have—if that text message from Alexis didn’t pop up on Cody’s phone while he was in the bathroom. Yes, they were that careless.

I knew the code to his phone, and I typed it in the next night, while he was sleeping. I found out Alexis and Cody had been messing around together since shortly after the engagement. That it was serious. He was planning to break off the engagement to be with her, but he was worried about how I might take it.

She’s not the most stable person in the world, he wrote to her.