“Why are you here, Cherry?” I stare at her as she turns her gaze to me.
“What do you mean?” She takes the paper from the desk and sits on the couch.
“Why did you move to Cascade Falls? I know you didn’t just choose it at random, so why here?”
“You know why I came here.” Again, I see only confusion in her expression. “I came to find my birth parents.”
“When did you first come to Cascade Falls?” I ask.
“In February. You know that, too. I met you the first week I was here.”
“How many times were you in Cascade Falls before then?”
“None. I wasn’t in Cascade Falls before then. What are you talking about?”
Pops comes up behind me, pressing both palms to the surface of the desk as he glares toward Cherry. I stand, mimicking his pose.
“What about your apartment?” I ask, more forcefully now. “You had to come and secure an apartment before you moved here.”
“I did it online.” Cherry shakes her head. “Reid should know that. I looked at online pictures, signed a temporary lease over email, and sent my deposit while I was still in Accident. I signed the permanent lease after I got here, the same day I moved in.”
“Isn’t that convenient,” I mutter.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Cherry stares at me, and I start to see anger in her eyes. “Why the interrogation, Nate? What is it you think I’ve done?”
I look at her and try to see what’s behind the anger in her eyes. Does she know what I suspect? Is she feigning anger now to throw me off the trail? Has her apparent innocence all this time been some kind of act? Could anyone really pull that off for so long? I have no idea, and that scares me.
I also have no idea how I should approach this. Should I just come right out and ask her? Maybe I should start with some leading questions—questions she’ll try to answer based on her cover story—and try to catch her in a lie. If she isn’t lying, she won’t trip up.
“She’s lying. You know she’s lying.”
“Shut up.” I glare at Pops.
I hear Cherry’s sharp intake of breath.
“Nate, you’re really scaring me,” she says softly. “Please tell me what’s going on.”
“Tell me how you met Aaron Hunt.”
“Who is that?”
“Stop it, Cherry!” I slam my hand on top of the desk, and Cherry jumps at the sound. “You know who he is! You went on a date with him, for fuck’s sake!”
“The guy I met at Big O?” Cherry looks at me incredulously. “I completely forgot about him!”
“Convenient,” Pops sneers. “She’s probably been fucking him on the side, too.”
I clench my hand into a fist as the images of Cherry with Aaron parade around in my brain. My legs cramp up and start to shake.
“Why was he following you?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“Following me?”
I stare hard at her, my jaw set. I’m not about to repeat the question.
“I have no idea,” she finally says.
“When did you first meet him?”
“Online first and then that night at Big O. You know that.”
“And how many times did you meet with him after that night?”
“What the hell, Nate?” Cherry stands, placing her hands back on her hips. “Is that what this is about? You think I kept seeing that jackass after we met?”
“I know he saw you.” I grab the photo Antony left of Aaron sitting in a car outside Cherry’s apartment and toss it at her. Cherry grabs it reflexively and stares at the image.
“The fire hydrant guy,” she says quietly.
“The what?”
“The guy who keeps parking in front of the fire hydrant.” Her eyes go wide. “You…did you come and pick him up? Was that you?”
Clearly, she had seen Antony pick up Aaron, and she did not call the police. If she were innocent, she would have called and reported the crime.
“So you did know he was there.” I give her a knowing smile. “What was he doing? Watching out for you? Protecting you? Just waiting for me to leave so he could come in and get information from you?”
“Nate! You are being ridiculous!”
“Am I? You already admitted that you knew he was there.”
“I most certainly did not! I saw the car, not who was inside. I never talked to him! I don’t know what you’re thinking exactly, but I swear to you, I never saw Aaron after that night at Big O—never!”
“But you already told me you saw him get picked up today! You saw someone abducted outside your apartment, but you didn’t call the police? Why didn’t you call the police, huh?”
Cherry looks away, and I see her shoulders move up and down as she breathes deeply. She glances back at me for a moment, nervously biting her lip. She’s clearly hiding something now—I’m positive of that.
“Nate, I—”
The door opens before she can finish.
“Nate?” Antony says as he pokes his head through the crack in the door. “Sorry, but I need to talk to you for a sec. It’s urgent.”
“What is it?”
“Privately, please.”
I sigh loudly, close my eyes for a second, and then look back at Cherry.
“Stay right there,” I tell her. “I’ll be back.”
I watch her press her lips together, clearly holding something back, and then nod slightly. I step out of the office and into the hallway where Antony and Threes are waiting.
“Look at
