Page 159

They immediately understand.

“We'll check outside,” Taylor says.

They leave.

Hayley watches them go.

Then looks at me.

“Tell me.”

I do.

Selling information.

Witness locations.

Police reports.

Personal records.

The federal investigation.

The files on missing girls.

The photographs of Sage.

With every word, more color leaves Hayley's face.

When I finish, she grips the back of the chair.

“I gave him everything.”

My chest tightens.

“What?”

“Everything I knew about Sage.”

“You didn’t know anything about Sage.”

Her voice begins shaking.

“I told him about Mae. About the night Sage was born. About you.”

“Hayley—”

“I gave him your name.”

There it is.

The connection.

“I didn't know where you were,” she continues. “I didn't know whether you were alive. Daniel said names helped.”

“You were trying to find her.”

“I told him things nobody else knew.”