I followed Emily into the stairwell, my footsteps echoing against concrete walls that smelled faintly of dust and disinfectant. She was halfway down the first flight when she stopped abruptly, as if debating whether to keep running or finally confront the past she thought she had sealed away.
“Stop following me,” she said without turning around.
“I followed you for five years in my head,” I answered. “You can spare five minutes.”
She slowly faced me, her eyes rimmed with a mixture of anger and panic. “I told the truth.”
“Did you?” I asked. “Because someone is texting you about a body that apparently exists.”
She shook her head. “You don’t know what Nathaniel was capable of.”
The name hit me harder than expected. “I thought he was your grieving fiancé.”
A bitter laugh escaped her. “That’s what everyone thought.” Her phone vibrated again. This time she looked at it, and I saw a name flash across the screen: Caleb Ross. The name meant nothing to me, but the fear in her eyes deepened.
“Who is Caleb?” I demanded.
“You need to walk away,” she said, her voice cracking.
