I LOOKED INTO MIRACLE’S eyes. “So, that was before you knew?”
Miracle laughed. It wasn’t a bitter sound, not entirely. “Yeah.”
“Have you, like, built a relationship with her?”
“I have,” Miracle said, distantly. “It’s weird. She’s so different than I am. I try to find something. There has to be some trait that we share. But it’s hard.”
“Did she tell you about your mother?”
“She did.”
I waited, needing way more than that. Miracle looked away, staring out through the window across from the counter. The questions built up inside me. But I kept them inside. Plotting the interview in my mind.
“At the time, all Bunny knew was that her sister went missing. She didn’t even know about the pregnancy.”
“How’d they find out …?” I asked.
I meant to finish the question. Ask her what had led to the police identifying her mother as the Halo Killer’s first victim. But I couldn’t get those words out. Not sitting face-to-face with her. Instead, I slipped down to the floor and moved toward where my bed had once rested. Each footstep echoed. I touched the wall against which my corkboard used to lean. My eyes closed, and I could see it again. Along with the boxes of files I’d compiled. My hand patted the pocket with my phone. At least I had all the recordings. And all the footage. Everything wasn’t lost, not yet.
“Have you met him?” Miracle asked.
I spun around and found those eyes trained on me.
“Jasper? Yes.”
“Is he as scary as they say?”
I nodded. “Worse.”
I felt uncomfortable again, so I moved to the window, laying my palms on the sill.
“Did Bunny help you decide to keep the baby?”
Silence. I turned, and Miracle’s stare withered me.
“I didn’t say that,” she said, toneless.
“Sorry.” I looked away. “I met your son. And I understand. I do. What happened to you is wrong. What Jasper did was—”
“He didn’t do anything to me,” she snapped. “I was already left behind. Tossed away. My mother coughed me out and spit me in a fucking sink.”
I flinched. Her anger was so raw. So visceral. I wanted to apologize again. Hang my head in shame. But then, work took over. Something Jasper had said to me came back with a jolt.
“No,” I said. “You don’t know that. He told me about that night. When he … found your mother. She was on the beach, Miracle. Not a mile from where you were born. It was that night. Your mother had no chance to change her mind. Maybe she would—”
“He’s lying,” she said, the words cutting through the air between us. “That’s all he does.”
I blinked. “I thought you never met him.”
“I haven’t,” she said.
I stared at Miracle, and it was her turn to look away under my scrutiny. My instincts fired across ever nerve of my body.
I was right!
From the very beginning, I’d known. She’d met Jasper and was lying about it. My gut had me certain. With that confirmed, it was easy to assume she had been that woman on the beach, the one from Jasper’s first story. Her slipup proved it to me. Maybe Jasper had lied. Maybe that night had never happened. But he’d met her. I was sure of it now. I had to turn away to hide the smile on my face.
“I want to help you find your ending,” I said.
And I waited. She would say something if I stayed quiet long enough. It’s the oldest interview trick in the book. But that day it failed miserably. Not a minute after I put the bait out there, someone pounded on the door.
“Come on,” Zora yelled from the other side. “We need to go. Now!”