I typed out a text, and without review, I hit send.
Noah responded from his actual phone in less than a minute.
When? Where?
Our spot, I replied.
I tipped back the water bottle, eager to taste the last few sips of vodka. I brought my cell phone and the burner as I raced down the stairs. My mom was in the kitchen, tidying up, I supposed.
"I have to run an errand. I'll be back soon!" I called out. Without waiting for her reply, I launched off the porch steps into the driveway. I fumbled with my keys for a moment, but hopped into my car.
I drove in the direction of the river, to the same spot where Noah took me when I first arrived home. Little did he know, I had more in mind than a second affair by the water.
Thirty-Eight
I parked under the bridge, the same as always. My body yearned for more alcohol, but I didn't stop along the way. I held enough liquid courage to do what needed to be done, but any more and I'd jeopardize the night.
Right on cue, Noah cut his headlights and parked next to me. He glanced over, and with his boyish grin, the same from the day I met him, he waved to me. I stepped out of my car and walked to Noah's passenger door. He unlocked the car door.
I got into his car knowing I might be safer walking through the Gates of Hell. Although, it could be much of the same considering the Devil himself sat in the driver's seat to my left.
"This is unexpected," he said.
"Well, you know. I never got a chance to finish that night.” I fluttered my lashes.
"So you don't mind that I'm married, then?”
Outside, the trees swayed in the breeze while stars blanketed the night sky. The moon's reflection danced upon the smooth water of the river. My chest seized knowing I was in the car with not only the first man I ever loved but also a cold-blooded killer. I never suspected one day they'd be one and the same.
"Not at all. I mean, what she doesn't know won't hurt her, right?”
Noah smiled and my knees turned weak. In fact, my entire body felt like Jello. While it wasn't too long ago we were in the same car with the same intentions, that night I was hopelessly drunk. Tonight, I was just about sober and could feel all the emotions attacking my mind and my heart.
I couldn't stop thinking about the moment I found out Noah cheated on me. There was absolutely nothing quite like your first heartbreak. You imagined you’d be with this person forever, that you'd defeat the odds. But then reality shattered your misguided notions in one fell swoop.
I remembered the first time Noah kissed me. I was about to leave his friend's house and walked my bike to the sidewalk. We stood there, staring at each other and smiling. I was terrified to kiss a boy. What if I wasn't any good at it? Then Noah leaned across and softly pressed his lips against mine. It was like a fairy tale come true, and my body could have floated up into the sky.
The person equally responsible for some of my best and worst memories sat beside me, still with a strange hold over my heart. I pushed those thoughts aside and remembered Callie. This was all about finding Callie's murderer and bringing him to justice.
Noah caressed my cheek with the back of his hand. The hands that once held me, the hands that once wrapped around Callie's throat until her heart stopped. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to cry. I wanted to kill him.
Then, an alarm on the burner phone went off. I'd set it using a ringtone as its sound, so it'd appear someone was calling me.
I pulled the phone out of my pocket and pretended to answer as if it were a call. "Hello? Hello?”
I brought the device away from my ear and stared at it while I bit my cheek. I looked to Noah.
"It was my mom. Is it okay if I call her back real quick? Then I'm all yours," I promised, using a carefully controlled tone.
He nodded solemnly and folded his hands in his lap. Clumsily, I played with my phone until I came across the number of the man Callie communicated with. The number of the man I suspected killed her. The same Noah Joseph used on his burner phone.
I pressed "Call," and the dial tone crooned in my ear. My heart pounded inside my chest as I held my breath. Would Noah have brought the burner with him? Everything depended on it. Doubt crept into my mind. What if I was wrong? What if it wasn't Noah at all? Did I blind myself to other facts to crucify the man who wronged me so many years ago? The same man who repeated his indiscretions with his wife in present day?
In the next second, a phone inside the glove box vibrated madly. Noah looked to me with wide eyes and then to the glovebox. His phone rang. The same cell I dialed at that very moment. I wasn't wrong.
Noah killed Callie.
I hung up, and the vibrating ceased. I looked to Noah while he stared at me. Neither of us spoke. I realized now he knew that I knew, and I was severely underprepared, without any type of weapon to protect myself. Why hadn't I thought this through? What did I do now? Call the police?
My voice cracked. "It was you.”
Noah narrowed his eyes while his knuckles turned white as he grasped the steering wheel. "What are you talking about?"
"Why did you do it, Noah? How could you do it?" My eyes welled with tears.
"Are you drunk or high, Elle? You're talking crazy," he said with clenched teeth.
I reached for the glove box, but Noah grabbed my wrist. He gripped it tightly, and I yelped, "Let go of me, Noah!”
He threw my arm across my body. "What are you really doing here, huh? Why did you want to meet me?”
"I wanted to see if I was right about you.” I held on to my cell phone, ready to call 9-1-1 if need be.
Noah smirked, and my heart skipped a beat. I could accuse him of a lot of things, but a murderer? I never thought I'd see the day. Unfortunately, that day was here. The moment was now.
"You killed Callie Jacksun. She wanted to run away with you, tell your wife about your affair, and you killed her," I said evenly.
A vein in Noah's temple throbbed while his lip twitched. "You're insane, Elle. You're seriously fucking crazy, you know that?”
"I'm not crazy. I know it was you. I saw the yellow rose by her grave.”
Outside, a lone cloud floated past the moon, blocking its light from view. A deeper darkness descended upon the sky as a shiver rolled down my spine.
"So, you saw a flower at the slut's grave, and all of a sudden you think it's me who killed her?" He chuckled.
"I found her phone, Noah. Her secret phone, the one she only used to communicate with you," I said.
His smile disappeared.
"The same phone that just rang in your glovebox." I reached for the glovebox again, but in the next moment, my vision turned white as raw pain exploded inside my head. Then, everything went black.
Thirty-Nine
My head throbbed in a way I'd never felt before. I opened my eyes, but when I did, it was as though they were still closed. I was surrounded by complete darkness. I couldn't see the moon, the stars or the sky. But the ground beneath me felt cool and damp.
"Ah, you're awake," Noah hissed. “Finally."
The last few moments before I lost consciousness came into view. I reached to retrieve the burner phone in Noah's glovebox, and he hit me in the head.