30. Hazel

Chapter 30

Hazel

“ W e’ve found Olivia.”

Howard’s call came in on a Saturday morning, a week after Ian and I had our first date. I was in his apartment when I received the call and I rushed to him to tell him the news. The police had finally found Olivia. She was hiding out in a neighboring town preparing to leave the country for good.

They arrested her but she refused to talk. She said she would only speak to the reporter who published the story. She would only speak to me. This whole thing started with a conversation between me and Olivia. Now it would end the same way.

I got dressed and Ian drove me to the precinct. He waited with the detectives while I entered the interrogation room. Olivia was sitting with her back towards me but she turned immediately I walked in.

“Hello Ms. Jones,” she said, in the tone of a receptionist welcoming a guest into a prestigious hotel. A small smile graced her lips. It was the same one she’d worn when she thanked me for taking on Emily’s case.

At the time, it looked endearing but now I realized it was cunning. It was the sly smile of someone who knew they were getting exactly what they wanted from someone who had no idea they were being played.

I looked at her intently and I realized I never knew her at all. It was like I was seeing her in a whole new light. The frantic look in her eyes was still there but this time I recognized that it wasn’t her desperation to find her friend that made her frantic. It was her joy over getting rid of her.

The look in her eyes wasn’t concern, it was excitement. It was the look of a child in a candy store, thrilled by the mere possibility of getting candy. She was happy.

“Do you like my new hair?” she asked.

Her question pulled my attention to the fact that she’d cut her long brown hair and dyed it blonde. It made her look like a different person which I suppose was the whole idea. Howard said that when they found her, she had new passports which meant she was trying to leave for good.

“Oh, come on. Where’s the fun in all this if you just stand there saying nothing?”

I felt my blood heat up. “Fun? What part of this is supposed to be fun, you sick freak?”

Olivia smiled. “There. That’s the fun part.” She tilted her head and gave me a sad smile. “I guess you want to know if I did it, why I did it, where the body is. Bla, bla, bla. The officers wouldn’t stop asking me those questions. It got so boring!”

I took the seat opposite her. “Is that why you asked to see me?”

“Yes, because I knew you would have something better to ask me. Or don’t you?”

“I know you did this because of Fred. Because you believe he’s the love of your life and Emily stole him from you.”

“I don’t believe! I know! She stole him. That’s a fact!” She sucked in a deep breath and smiled again. “But I took him back.”

“But he didn’t want you, did he? He cheated on her with you. She found out, and she divorced him but even then, he still didn’t want you.”

“Of course he wants me! My Freddie was just confused. He needed to see clearly, so I removed the obstacle. I brought Emily on a trip to Cloverhill because I knew this small town was the perfect place to get rid of her without anyone ever finding out. With her out of the way, Freddie and I can finally make a life together. Just the way it was always meant to be. He loves me! He wants to be with me! I only helped him see that.”

“By kidnapping your best friend?” I asked.

Olivia’s eyebrows shut up. “You say kidnap like you expect to find her alive. Dear Emily is long gone.”

I knew it. In a way, I’d always known it but that didn’t stop my heart from shattering when Olivia confirmed that Emily was dead. I kept myself together so I could ask the next question. “Where is she?”

“You’re really going to love this part.”

“Where is she?” I demanded again.

“I buried her in the woods close to Ian Carter’s house, that way she will be with her one true love for the rest of her life. I brought them together. Isn't that what best friends are for?”

“You’re sick.”

I rushed out of the room because it felt like I was about to throw up. I didn’t stop walking until I was outside the precinct. The fresh air helped dispel my nausea.

“Are you okay?” Ian asked as he came up beside me.

“I can't believe I agreed to help that woman. All this time, she lied to me. She made me search for a woman who she knew was already dead. She killed her best friend and I…”

I broke down and Ian held me in his arms as I cried. This wasn’t the ending I’d envisioned. I’d been holding onto the hope that Emily was still alive but now I had to let it go. She was dead.