“If I can’t have him, no one can.”
I put my hand over my mouth. Did she know his lung collapsed, or was it just impeccable timing? It felt like she knew. It felt like she was watching me. I looked over my shoulder. How does she know everything?
“Penny?” Daphne put her hand on my shoulder. “Penny, what’s wrong?”
“Who’s telling her?” I whispered.
“Who’s telling who what?” Daphne said. “Penny, breathe in for five seconds and then release.”
“Who’s telling her?!” I screamed.
“Hey,” Daphne said and put her hand back on my shoulder. “Please take a deep breath.”
Mason came back into the waiting room and shook his head.
“No.” I pushed Daphne’s hand away and stood up. “One of you is telling her. One of you is telling her!” It felt like I was breaking.
“Hey, Pen, calm down, okay?” my dad said and lightly touched my arm.
I flinched and stepped back. The cops suspected Tyler. They suspected Melissa. Mason knew about the envelopes. Had James told him? Or was he a part of it? Daphne had given me this one. Austin had given me one. Who else had? I tried to remember. There had been one at the office. A switch seemed to go off in my head. Zach. Zach had been the only one at the office when I had gotten one of the manila envelopes there. And he had continuously badgered me about James being abusive. He had been at our wedding too. And James had a fucking list of people who were potential threats. What if the cops were right? What if this wasn’t Isabella? What if it was someone else? And what if it was someone in this room? “No.”
“Pen.”
I didn’t trust anyone. I took another step away from my father. “It’s one of you.”
“Sweetie,” my mom said. “What are you talking about?”
“Someone call Officer Daugherty right now. I need to speak with him.”
“Okay,” my mom said and pulled out her phone. She put her cell to her ear and started talking on it. But I didn’t hear what she was saying.
“Hey.” Rob gently touched my back. He was the only one I knew for sure wasn’t doing this. He loved James. He loved me.
“It’s one of them. She knows. How else would she know?” I handed him the note.
He quickly read it. “That doesn’t mean she knows what just happened. This could have just been because James is here. There’s no way she could know about his lung collapsing. It just happened.”
“Unless someone told her.”
Rob frowned. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the waiting room and into an empty hallway. “So you’re accusing one of our closest friends and family of conspiring with Isabella?”
“I don’t know. How can we know? She just keeps sending me stuff. And James is in surgery again. And… I don’t know.” I shook my head. It felt like I was losing my mind. But what if I was right. What if someone was feeding her information?
“No one out there would do that.”
“How are you so sure? The cops aren’t sure. I’m not even sure anymore.”
“Penny, you’re just upset about what happened. This,” he raised the note in the air, “is still Isabella. She’s the one behind all of this.”
“But what if it’s not even her?”
“Penny, what are you talking about?”
“What if it’s someone else? One of them knows something. Rob, I can’t explain. I just know. One of them is lying. One of them is talking to her. They’re telling her everything. She’s not doing this alone.”
Rob ran his hand through his hair. “No one else would write this note though.”
“I know.” I tried to take a deep breath like Daphne had instructed. I nodded my head. “I’m sorry, I’m just freaking out. I just…” I let my voice trail off.
“But I don’t think you’re wrong either.”
Goosebumps ran up my arms at his words.
“I’ve been feeling like someone’s watching me. What if… fuck, what if you’re right?” He turned his head toward the waiting room.
“I’ve felt it too. I just have this eerie feeling. She watched me before with this undetectable camera. Maybe that’s it again. Maybe it’s not another person.” I noticed Officer Daugherty walk into the waiting room.
Rob sighed. “Let’s go tell the cops to question everyone. And to search for a camera. If you’re right, maybe that’s what will finally lead us to her.”
“But you’ve felt it too?”
He lowered his eyebrows as he nodded. He didn’t realize that all his small gestures killed me inside. The similarities between him and James hit me the hardest.
“I need to tell you something,” he said slowly. “It’s been bothering me. And now that you’re questioning things, I feel like I need to tell you.”
I looked up at him. “Tell me what?”
“James asked me to take care of you if something ever happened to him.”
I didn’t doubt that James would do that. But I did have one question. “When did he ask you that?”
“He asked me twice actually. Once right before you two moved to New York. I didn’t know you that well, but I was already grateful for what you had done for him. I don’t think you realize how happy you made him.”
I tried to blink back my tears.
“And he asked me again the night before you two got married.”
That was sweet. But it made my stomach unsettled. Why would James ask him again?
“I just need you to know that he didn’t need to ask me. I’d never let anything happen to you.”
“Rob.”
“But…” he let his voice trail off.
“What?”
“I’m wondering why he reminded me. I’m wondering if he knew something was going to happen.”
I shook my head. “I mean, he was worried about what Isabella might do. But he didn’t know. If he knew, he wouldn’t have let us get married. He wouldn’t have put himself in danger.”
“Penny, the night before your wedding, he also told me that he’d die for you.”
“That’s a figure of speech.”
“But what if it wasn’t? What if he just wanted to marry you? As the last thing he could do? As the last choice he could make?”
I shook my head. No.
“What if he was getting notes too? What if she had threatened him? What if he knew?”
“He would have told me. Especially after I told him.” But would he have? He was always trying to protect me. He was always keeping me in the dark. Oh my God. I thought about the words James whispered against my lips on our wedding night. I’ll love you until the day I die. Did he know it would be soon? Had he known all along?
“But what if he didn’t? What if there’s evidence somewhere else? Somewhere in your house? Or in his office?”
“What does it matter? That won’t save him.”
“But it’ll get him justice. We have to get her put away. She can’t get away with this. If he dies…”
I tried to swallow back my tears.
“Think, Penny. Is there anything else that he said to you? Did it seem like he was holding something back?”