“I know, but I need you to think. To remember. Who does he remind you of? Where have you seen him before?”

“You’re not making any sense. If I'd met him before, I'd have recognized him by now. Wouldn’t I?” But she looked hard anyway, more admiringly than ever. He was in his late twenties, boyishly handsome but unselfconscious with it. His long blond hair did seem like a bit of a throwback to a different era—the seventies maybe—but it suited him. There was a lapsed biker thing happening in his appearance, until you got to know him...

An image flashed through her mind. It was him, or seemed to be him, only he was dressed differently. Sunday best. Her memory kicked in like a movie as she recalled bits and pieces of this alternate Bellamy. He slouched, smoked a cigarette when he thought no one was watching. A group of teenage girls wearing hot pants and tight tees waved to him, giggled when he waved back. He grinned when they left, looked almost smug. Little Rose had been jealous. But when she caught his eye, and he knew he'd been seen smoking and flirting, he tossed her a wink. She recalled blushing and swelled with pride that an older boy had paid attention to her. He was the best-looking guy she'd ever seen, and though he was way too old for her—she was still a child, waiting out the summer before she entered junior high—but he'd let her in on his secret.

She snapped back to the present, shivered. “Okay, this is getting weirder by the minute.” She took her mom by the arm. “Who does he remind me of? Where do you think I've seen him before?”

“So, you do recognize him?”

“Yes,” Rose then cast a look over her shoulder to Bellamy who was lurking in the thin tree line, touching the leaves and lifting them to his nose, “But it’s…it’s impossible. I was just a kid, but he still looks…” She shook her head to toss away the thought.

Her mom kissed her on the cheek and pat her arm.

“You're not going to tell me, are you?” she stated.

“We've got one more stop to make. Then I promise you'll have all your answers. I needed you to come back here, though. Like I said, this is where everything changed. None of us were the same after that night.”

Rose heaved a heavy sigh and flapped her arms at her sides. “Then let's go. You're making me feel like the worst PI in the world.”

“Not the worst, far from it,” her mom insisted. “But maybe the unluckiest...”