Page 85 of Still Missing You

“He’s going to be okay,” I tell him. “You don’t need to feel bad that he wasn’t your first thought after surgery. Hell, the only reason he’s alive right now is because you looked for him, and you wouldn’t give up.”

“You’re sure he’s okay? He looked really bad back in the shed.”

“He will be. Doctors are looking after him, and he’s on antibiotics for the infection. He’ll be all right. Linc even spoke to him earlier.”

“Linc from your agency, that Linc?”

I grin and smooth his hair back from his forehead. “Yeah, that Linc. He wanted to be sure Matthew is okay and fill in a few blank spaces in his story.”

“Like what?”

“Like who chased him out of Coldwater and into your café, and what happened to him the night he vanished from his apartment.”

Dylan tries to sit up a little in his bed and winces, and I push against his shoulder, holding him in place. “Stay still. You just had surgery.”

He nods. “Fine, but what happened?”

The flash of impatience fuels my relief and makes me smile. “He told Linc that when he first came to stay in Coldwater, he was never sure if Jim remembered him, until he asked Matthew to meet him at the inn. He claimed that Matthew had forgotten some things when he’d stayed there. Instead, he told Matthew that he knew exactly who he was, then grabbed him by the neck and tried to choke him to death.”

Dylan nods, his hand drifting to his own neck. “The bruises.”

“The only reason he got away was Nancy coming home. She must have caught Jim by surprise; maybe he hadn’t been expecting her. Anyway, he loosened his grip long enough for Matthew to slip away. He stashed his film equipment in case Jim caught up to him, then ran.”

Dylan’s expression darkens. “Jim must have found him, though, working for me.”

I nod. “Matthew woke up in the middle of the night to find Jim standing over him. He dragged him back to Coldwater, probably would have killed him, but he was afraid Matthew had something in his footage, something that would prove who he was and what he’d done. Trying to find his equipment is probably what kept Matthew alive for so long.”

“But how did Matthew know what Jim was doing?”

I explain how Jim had been married to Matthew’s mother, how they both disappeared, and how a fluke social media post had brought Matthew to Coldwater to prove Jim had killed his mother.

“According to Matthew’s footage, he suspects his mother knew Jim had been kidnapping men. Holding them. Torturing them. Killing them.”

Dylan squeezes my hand harder. “She must have found out, somehow, so he killed her.”

“Jesus,” Dylan breathes.

“Then he faked his own death,” I say. “Disappeared. Started over.”

Dylan stares at me in horror.

“With a new identity,” Dylan says slowly. “He marries Nancy and begins a new life.”

“He used one of his victims’ identities,” I say. “Became him.”

“Jesus Christ,” Dylan whispers.

Dylan’s expression tightens. “And he just kept killing?”

“Once a year, approximately,” I say. “Not often for anyone to suspect a predator was in the area.”

“And the recordings?” Dylan asks.

“He kept them,” I say. “Watched them to relive the experience.”

A heavy silence falls between us.

“Until he needed to do it again,” Dylan finishes.