“I asked you, and you said this was the first time! You said —”
“I know what I said.”
“Then how do you explain this?” Noah turns the laptop so that I can see it, and I look down at the four photos that I have seen before. That I’d hoped I’d never have to see again.
“What is it?” Rosie asks. “What’s wrong?”
Megan exhales a guilty sigh even though she isn’t the one who should feel guilty. “I was looking around the embassy’s security records to see what they have on the Scarred Man, and I didn’t find much on him, but …” She glances down at the computer, picks it up. “I found some other Scarred Men.”
Rosie’s eyes go wide as she looks through the file, the electronic equivalent of the one my grandfather threw in my face.
“I don’t get it,” Rosie says with a shrug, as if this subject is already boring her. But Noah isn’t going to forget it anytime soon.
“You lied, Grace.” He looks at me like I didn’t just break my word — I broke his trust. “You lied.”
“Noah” — Megan is stepping in between the two of us — “we should hear Grace out.”
“You lied to me!” Even though we’re in the basement of an utterly abandoned building, I’m almost afraid that someone is going to hear him shout. “I asked you if you’ve ever done anything like this before, and you said no.”
“It’s him! I swear it’s really him this …” But I don’t finish.
“This time?” Noah snaps. “That’s what you were going to say, isn’t it? That you’re sure this time? How many other times have there been, Grace?”
“It’s him,” I say.
“How many times?” he yells again.
“Well, the file says —” Megan starts, but Noah cuts her off. His gaze never strays from me.
“I’m asking Grace.”
“Four. Before this there were four. I was wrong then, but I’m not now.” I look around the room.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many men with facial scars,” Rosie says.
Noah shakes his head coldly. “It’s not hard when you’re looking for them.”
He never takes his gaze off of me.
“Noah, I swear I saw —”
“Listen to yourself! You saw him meeting someone down here. You followed him at the palace. You heard him say he was going to kill somebody else. Tell me, Grace — do you ever wonder why it’s always you who hears and sees these things?” Noah shakes his head, so very disappointed in me. “If a scarred man makes a threat in a forest, ever wonder why you’re always the only one around to hear it?”
The words are out and I can tell by the look on Noah’s face that he doesn’t regret them in the least — that a part of him has been asking that very question for days.
“But Grace heard him say that he was going to kill somebody. Didn’t you, Grace?” Rosie asks. “He said that.”
“Well, not in those exact words, but … he was talking about killing someone. I swear! He said there are a lot of ways for a person to die and he just has to find one. He said that,” I tell them. I have to make them understand. “That is exactly what he said.”
I can’t tell if they believe me. Or if they’re afraid of me. Or both.
If they’re smart, the answer will be both.
“Okay.” Megan steps in, the voice of reason. “It’s late and we’re all exhausted. So let’s just go home, start fresh tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Noah says, not really agreeing. “Let’s go home.”
“Noah —” I say.
“Megan?” Noah interrupts without looking at me and Megan stops gathering her things long enough to face him.
“Yeah?”
“Are you still spending the night with Lila?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll walk you and Rosie home.”
As he starts toward the tunnel door, I catch his arm, hold him still.
“I’m not crazy,” I tell him. I don’t even stop to consider that that is what crazy people almost always say.
“I’m not saying you’re crazy, Grace. I’m saying you’re a liar.” His voice is almost a whisper, and I know my betrayal is deeper, more personal, to him than it is to Megan and Rosie. And it should be. He is my official best friend.
Or, at least, he used to be.