Chapter 14: The Name Only She Knew

Seth read the page once and lowered it.

"Alive," he said. "Barely. She said a few words into my collar."

He frowned at me.

"Why do you need to know that?"

I wrote on the next sheet, and I took my time, because I wanted him to see each letter.

HALF FOR YOU.

He didn't move.

"What?" he said.

I wrote under it: YOU SAID IT EVERY NIGHT. HALF FOR YOU. THEN YOU SLID THE CRACKERS UNDER THE DOOR.

The pad rattled in my hand.

"I never told anyone that," Seth said. "Not the morgue man. Not the cops. Nobody was there."

I wrote: THERE WAS ONE PERSON ON THE OTHER SIDE.

He stood up so fast the bed shook.

He backed against the wall by the window, and his hand went flat to the glass.

"No," he said.

I wrote: AT THE AMBULANCE DOORS YOU SAID SORRY. TWICE. YOU WOULDN'T LOOK AT ME.

"Stop."

I wrote: I ASKED YOU TO WALK ME IN.

His face came apart.

It happened slowly, from the mouth outward, and I watched it because I had wanted to see what he looked like when he knew.

"Millicent," he said.

My eyes stung, and I let them.

I wrote: HATTIE LANG WAS ASLEEP IN THIS BODY OR GONE. I WOKE UP IN IT. HEIDI KNOWS. NOW YOU.

"I slept with..." He stopped. He put his fist against his mouth. "I've been touching you. I've been..."

I wrote: I STARTED IT. I KISSED YOU.

"You didn't know who I was."

I wrote: NOT UNTIL THE KEY. BEFORE THAT I ONLY KNEW YOU COVERED FOR ME THE FIRST NIGHT. YOUR HAND WAS SPLIT. I KEPT TELLING MYSELF IT WAS A DOOR.

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