Chapter 33

Somehow,Maisy sweet talks half the plane into switching seats so they can sit five across—the Tremblay girl has the window seat, her father sits in the middle, and then Chloe/Heather is on the aisle seat. Across the aisle, he claims the window, the middle seat is empty, and Maisy sits in the aisle seat. As soon as the plane takes off, she leans across the aisle to chat with Chloe/Heather.

Rich puts on his headphones but doesn’t turn on his music. He wants to hear their conversation. No, he needs to hear their conversation. He’s been mildly panicked from the moment he and Maisy walked through the front door of the Tremblays’ house.

He recognized Heather in a heartbeat and instantly started planning his attack. No matter what she said about that night, he resolved to call her a liar and a fraud. But given the blank look she greeted him with, she genuinely didn’t seem to recognize him or remember who she was. Dissociative amnesia, she called it. He’s not sure he buys it.

He looks up the term on his phone while they’re waiting to board and is surprised to learn it’s a real condition. It’s what Jason Bourne has in the movies. In the real world, sometimes people with this kind of amnesia regain their memories. But Heather’s been Chloe for thirty years. If that was going to happen, it would have happened by now. Right? Or maybe it has, and she’s keeping it to herself.

He shifts in his seat and surreptitiously checks his phone so Maisy doesn’t bitch at him again. He’d tried to call Amy earlier, but the call wouldn’t go through. And his text messages to her remain unread. It looks like they sent, but they must be hung up in international airspace. He doesn’t like not being able to deliver the news about her sister through his own lens. And Maisy excused herself when she called Amy and the others, leaving him no opportunity to talk to them.

It’s unsettling. He jiggles his leg and half-listens to Chloe and Maisy yapping about Diana, Amy and the kids, and Kristy and her family. Then Maisy saying his name catches his attention. He holds his breath and strains to hear.

“Seeing Rich didn’t bring back any memories?”

Chloe squints at Maisy, leans forward to peer around her at him, and then shakes her head. “Should it have? Did I know him?”

“You did. You went to high school together.”

“Was he dating my sister then?”

Maisy coughs. “No. They didn’t start dating until after you disappeared.”

Rich doesn’t like where this conversation is heading. He lowers his headphones so they dangle around his neck and stretches across Maisy.

“Hey, Emilie,” he says loudly, trying to draw her attention away from the book she’s reading.

Bastian taps his daughter on the shoulder. She glances up, and he jabs a thumb toward Rich.

“Wanna see some pictures of your cousins?”

He opens his photo gallery and swipes to the album of family pictures before passing the phone over to Chloe, who smiles politely and hands it to her daughter. They bend their heads over the screen and peruse the photos together.

Maisy twists in her seat to look at him.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

They lock eyes for a moment, then she turns back to the Tremblays.

He lets his head fall back against the headrest and closes his eyes. He’s not sure how long he can keep this up.

It’s late when Maisy,Rich, and the Tremblay family deplane, make their way through customs, and claim their bags. Jordana volunteered to pick them up, despite the hour, so Maisy is pulling out her phone to let her know they’ve arrived, when she hears the chorus of voices.

She stifles a yawn and looks across the baggage claim area to see Diana; Kristy, her husband, and sons; and Amy and her three teenagers clustered together near the exit for ground transportation. Owen, Ava, and Evan Marino hold a large hand-lettered banner that reads “Welcome, Tremblays!” Jay and Theo stand in front of the sign with noisemakers at the ready. Maisy’s relieved to see that the banner doesn’t read ‘Heather.’ She spoke briefly with Dr. Marchand herself before they left Quebec City to arrange a phone interview for the podcast. Before they ended the call, the doctor advised that everyone continue to honor Chloe’s identity as Chloe because, unlike her Heather Ryan identity, it’s fully integrated.

Maisy had planned to suggest DNA testing or dental records, fingerprinting, something to confirm Chloe’s identity, but the reaction of the gathered Ryans to the sight of Emilie makes it clear that any testing will be a formality at best. Diana’s crying, Nick appears to be holding Kristy upright, and Amy’s eyes are like saucers.

Through the wall of windows, Maisy spots Jordana parked at the curb just outside the door, flashers blinking and the trunk already popped.

She turns to the Tremblays, “Are y’all ready to meet your family?”

Chloe nods wordlessly. Bastian and Emilie grip her hands tightly as they walk forward together. Rich trails behind, and Maisy locks eyes with Amy as he approaches. Her expression slams closed like a door at the sight of her husband.

Maisy scoots ahead of him and hurries toward Amy. She leans in for a hug and whispers, “Should I get rid of him?”

“No. I’ll do it. I found this in our shed.” She pushes a nylon rucksack toward Maisy, who scoops it up without missing a beat, then continues toward the kids to compliment their welcome decorations.

While Amy pulls Rich aside and whispers furiously at him, Maisy distracts the rest of the Ryans.

“This is Chloe and Bastian,” she announces unnecessarily. Then she addresses the children, “And this is your cousin Emilie.”

Emilie and Ava immediately start chattering like longtime besties. Maisy heads to the car while Chloe says her goodbyes to Diana and Kristy and Bastian tries to pry Ava and Emilie apart with promises that they’ll be reunited in less than an hour. The Tremblays are staying with Amy, who insisted that her sister was not returning home to stay in a hotel after a thirty-year absence. The rest of the family is coming over in the morning for a proper reunion.

Rich brushes past Maisy without so much as an ‘excuse me’ as she heads toward Jordana in the waiting car. He storms over to the rideshare line and takes out his cell phone. His face is stony.

As Maisy slides into the passenger seat, she nods toward Rich. “Amy kicked him out?”

Jordana shrugs. “It’s what I’d have done. Especially with Chloe staying at her place.”

“Chloe has no memory of Rich. She definitely doesn’t remember sleeping with him.”

“Still, it’d be awkward, to say the least.” Jordana shakes her head. “I can’t believe we found Heather Ryan. What are we going to do for the rest of the season?”

Maisy gives her a look. “We found the woman, but we’ve barely answered any of the questions. She’s alive, but what the devil happened that night in the Dead Man’s Hollow?”

“Fair point.”

The Tremblays are making their way slowly toward the car as Ava tries to tag along. Maisy chuckles at the instalove between the cousins.

Jordana jerks her chin toward the bag in Maisy’s lap. “Did you bring me a souvenir?”

She looks down. “Oh. No. Amy passed this to me. She said she found it in the shed. I guess during her cleaning frenzy.”

“What is it?”

Maisy loosens the drawstring and peeks inside. She gasps.

“What?” Jordana demands.

Maisy looks up to make sure the Tremblays are still several yards away, then removes the white leatherette book with the heart-shaped lock and flashes it at Jordana.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“It sure is,” Maisy says. She stuffs the diary back into the bag as Chloe, Bastian, and Emilie load their bags into the trunk and slam it shut.

Suddenly, she’s wide awake.