“Who are you?”
A muscle flicked along the man’s jawline but he didn’t immediately say anything.
“Let me go right now.” Her voice sounded breathy, desperate.
“Hear me out. Trust me. We’re in a public place, Riley. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“H—how do you know my name?”
He didn’t answer or loosen his grip, and Riley fumbled, walking along. “Why should I believe you?”
“Because your parents aren’t who they say they are.”
Riley’s whole body went rigid. “What?”
“They’re lying to you. They’re lying to everybody. Your name is Jane O’Leary.”
She couldn’t help but stop and look up. “Jane?”
“My name is Tim. Have your parents told you anything about me? Have they told you anything about the O’Learys?”
“N-no.”
“They won’t tell you the truth. They’ll tell you something crazy; they’ll tell you that they’re trying to protect you, but they’re not. They’re bad people, Jane.”
Riley ripped Tim’s hands from her arm. “You’re crazy. You don’t know what you’re talking about. My parents aren’t bad.” She could feel the tears rimming her eyes but she gritted her teeth, refusing to cry.
“They’re going to isolate you. They won’t let you talk to anyone.”
The heavy iron gates of the Blackwood Hills Estates flashed in Riley’s mind. So did her father, scrutinizing her cell phone bill. That’s normal, Riley told herself. I’m seventeen, not a prisoner.
“Why should I believe anything you say anyway?”
Tim turned to face her, his eyes a slicing crystal blue. “Because I’m your brother.”
The breath was snatched out of Riley’s lungs.
“Come with me.”
She fumbled backward. “No.”
His hand was on her arm again. “Come on, Jane. You’re not safe here. If they even know that you’ve seen me, they’ll hurt you. They’ll hurt us both.”
Riley’s heart was pulsing in her ears. Her skin suddenly felt too small, too tight. I don’t believe you, she wanted to scream. I don’t believe a goddamn word you’re saying. But she couldn’t force her lips to move.
Tim was digging in his pocket, his eyes scanning the crowd before them. Riley’s breath hitched.
He’s crazy and he’s going to shoot me now. He’s going to stab me, to set off a bomb. That’s what crazy people do. Crazy people who claim they’re my brother.
Instead, he pressed a card into her hand. “Call me. I will come and get you from wherever you are.” His eyes cut back to the crowd. “They’re dangerous, Jane. Don’t say a single word or they’ll disappear again.” He shifted his gaze back to her. “You’ll disappear.”
The coffeehouse was directly in front of them, and Riley found herself begging for her parents while pleading that they shouldn’t come. If this man was going to kill her, she didn’t want her parents to get hurt. But she desperately wanted them to save her.
The door opened as if on cue, and Riley’s parents stepped into the store.
Tim saw them too.
She gasped, sucking in air like it was her last breath and rooting her feet to the ground.
“Come on.” He tugged her arm at the same moment Riley’s father caught her eye. Suddenly, it was as if the whole mall was staring, and there was a cool spot on her wrist where Tim’s hand had been.
SEVEN
Riley stared out the window the whole ride home. Her parents were taking turns lecturing and grounding her, but all she could think about was the man—Tim—his fingers gripping her wrist, and his voice: Your parents are lying to you.
She glanced up and stared at the backs of their heads, catching first her father’s reflection in the rearview mirror and then her mother’s.
Not my parents.
Riley shifted in her seat, feeling the heat of panic as it inched in. What happens now? The man said she wouldn’t call the police because she “wouldn’t do that” to her parents.
Do what?
Riley swallowed and clamped her mouth shut. Her stomach was in her throat, and she was certain that if she opened her mouth, she would vomit.
This can’t be happening…I don’t have a brother. I can’t believe I’m even considering what this guy is saying.
But he knew her name. And he knew Jane.
I’m Jane Elizabeth O’Leary?
No.
My parents aren’t liars. I just want this all to go away.
They pulled through the neighborhood gates and Riley glanced down at her phone. There was a text from JD.
FOUND SOMETHING.
Riley’s breath caught. Her fingers were flying over the keyboard when her mother leaned into the backseat, her hand closing over the phone.
“We said no phone, Ry.”
Riley looked up, stunned as her mother slipped the phone into her purse.
“You can’t do that!”
“And you can’t just take off whenever you want to.” Her father cut the engine and stepped out of the car.
Riley was about to respond, but he looked over his shoulder at her, his glare so severe that it gave her the chills.