The Inmate

by Freida McFadden

I look closer at the necklace and notice something else that makes my heart stop. The second spoke on the snowflake is missing a diamond from the edge. Exactly like the one I used to wear. This necklace is identical to the one I wore in high school. And it has the exact same defect in the exact same place as that necklace did. Is it possible that it’s the same necklace? I never found out what became of that necklace. After it broke, I never saw it again. I had assumed the police kept it as evidence, but maybe they didn’t. Maybe somebody else had it this whole time.

I FUCKING KNEW IT WOULD BE THE EXACT SAME ONE SHE HAD

The only person who testified with absolute certainty that they saw Shane with a knife was Tim. Even though my testimony was damning, Tim was the one who put the final nail in his coffin.

My eyes go straight to the television screen, which is showing a local news story. It’s about a missing woman. Kelli Underwood, who disappeared two days ago. She was discovered to be missing when she didn’t show up for her waitressing job.

Oh my fucking god

The one I ran into at the grocery store, who yelled at me for testifying against Shane and told me to stay away from Tim.

Tim is also staring at the television screen. His eyes widen when they show the photograph of Kelli. His fingers grip the edge of the sofa, his knuckles turning white. “Isn’t that the waitress from the Shamrock?” I say as casually as possible. “Um.” He rips his eyes away from the television screen. “Is it? Maybe. I haven’t been there in a long time. Not since we went together.” “You’re not sure? Didn’t you say you went out with her?” “No,” he says. “I mean, barely. We got a drink together when she was done with her shift. That’s it. It was nothing.” “I see…” I’m almost certain he told me they went out on two dates. And Kelli certainly seemed to remember it when she confronted me at the supermarket. But he doesn’t want to admit it. Maybe because this isn’t the first girl he’s gone out with who suddenly vanished.

“Don’t you get it, Brooke? It had to be him. He’s the only one who had the opportunity. He was alone in the living room and he could’ve gone up and killed her. Nobody else had the chance to do it.”

LITERALLY

“Actually,” I say, “one other person had a chance.” “Who? Shane was outside. And nobody else is here. Who else had a chance?” “You.” I try to pick out her features in the dark room, but all I can see are her dark eyes with leaked mascara. “You were alone in the living room when Tim and I were in the kitchen.”

I swear to fucking god if it's her I'm gonna crash the fuck out

My stomach churns as a thought hits me. Tim was looking for the knife while Chelsea and I were in the house. He didn’t find it, but that was information he told to me alone. So how could she know the killer has a knife stashed away? Unless…

Yeah, but it would be common knowledge that a knife is stashed away. THERES NO KNIFE NEAR THE BODIES

And then the weight of a body crushes me, keeping me from getting back on my feet. And fingers grab the chain around my neck, pulling it tight.

It has to be Tim

I really, really shouldn’t, but I can’t seem to say no. Shane will never meet his son, but I can at least give him this. So I show him a few recent pictures. One of Josh playing baseball. One from a birthday party. I show him some old ones too. Josh on his first day of kindergarten, proudly posing with his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle backpack. Shane eats it all up. In all my years of being a mother, I don’t think I have ever met anyone this mesmerized by pictures of my son. Even my parents never seemed that interested.

Shane stares at the wall. There’s something in his expression I can’t quite read. “You know,” he says, “sometimes I almost get used to how much it sucks being stuck here, especially for something I didn’t even do. I accept the fact that I’m going to have to ask permission to use the bathroom for the rest of my life, I’ll never get to hold a real job, I’ll never get to drive a car again, I’ll never get to be with… with a woman again. That every meal I’ll eat for the rest of my life is going to taste like slop. That once a month, a bunch of guys will jump me in my cell and beat the shit out of me for no reason except maybe I looked at one of them wrong.” He takes a shaky breath. “But then I find out about one more goddamn thing being in here has taken away from me, and it’s just…. it’s…”

I feel SICK

It takes me a second to realize that he’s trying not to cry.

“Shane,” I say. “Why don’t we get that chest X-ray?” “It’s fine,” he mutters. “Don’t bother.” “You just told me you have a broken rib. We at least need to make sure you don’t have a pneumothorax. That could kill you.” “I doubt it. I’m not that lucky.” “Shane…” “I’m allowed to refuse, Brooke,” he says sharply. He drops his voice. “At least give me that.”

But most of all, I loved how excited he used to be when he would spot me on the field and wave to me.

He’s going to kill me. Tim is going to kill me with the necklace he bought me for my tenth birthday. The irony of it.

Where is Chelsea? I don’t understand. She was trying to get out of the room. She should be out by now—she should be able to help me. But she’s not here. Maybe she decided to hide out when she heard me scream. I couldn’t entirely blame her.

I think Tim was upstairs and when Brooke heard Chelsea yell her name, it was Tim attacking her because the person now attacking Brooke came behind her and the only thing behind her is the stairs. Tha would explain why Chelsea is not following Brooke.

Yes, that must be what it is. After all, it’s not like Tim is bringing other women here. He wouldn’t cheat on me.

He so would just to have girls to kill

And there’s another reason why I’m not sure I’m ready to take things to the next level with Tim. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s hiding something from me. Why has he been so evasive every time I have tried to ask him about Kelli? He already told me he went out with her. Why won’t he admit it? And who does this scarf really belong to?

He's a killerrrrr

“Why don’t you grab a bottle from the wine cellar? I think we could use a drink.”

I swear to god if she finds someting or he tries to attack her ima lose it

I creep over to the rolled-up material—the strange smell is stronger over here. Even in the dim light of the basement, I can tell something is sticking out of the end. I bend down and realize what it is—it’s a shoe. No, not just a shoe, it’s a high-heeled red pump. And it’s still on a woman’s foot.

I feel sick

I creep over to the rolled-up material—the strange smell is stronger over here. Even in the dim light of the basement, I can tell something is sticking out of the end. I bend down and realize what it is—it’s a shoe. No, not just a shoe, it’s a high-heeled red pump. And it’s still on a woman’s foot.

Oh my fucking god I knew she would find something

Don’t kid yourself, Brooke. You know exactly what you’re looking at. Her scarf is lying on the coffee table upstairs.

LMAOOOO

Everything makes sense in a horrible sort of way. He’s been toying with me all this time. That sandalwood aftershave—he must have known how I felt about it. What if he was the one who splashed it on that night at the farmhouse, so I would think he was Shane? And then, of course, that damn snowflake necklace. He’s the one who gave it to me. He knew that was the necklace used to choke me that night—because he was the one who did it. He kept it all these years, and he gave it to me just to freak me out.

I fucking knew it

“Mr. Reese,” the first officer says, “we came here because of an anonymous tip that a missing woman named Kelli Underwood was seen entering your home the night of her disappearance.”

Oh my god oh my god oh my god

“We got a dead body down here! Looks like Underwood!”

I won’t be here long though. I’m barely going to get out of the car. And after today, I’ll never come back here again.

Is Shane getting out???

A lot has happened in the last two months. Aside from my new job, which I love, Tim is currently incarcerated, awaiting trial for multiple murders. While he was dating me, he was also stalking Kelli. I had no idea, of course. From my end, he seemed like the perfect boyfriend. Although several people from the elementary school claimed that they knew there was something a little off about him.

Ugh, I hate him

Today, after eleven years, Shane Nelson is being released from prison. And I am picking him up.

YAYAYYAY

After ten years, Josh is finally spending time with his father. I can’t wait to tell him the truth.

“Thank you, Brooke,” he says. “For what?” “For doing such a good job raising our son.”

“I mean, yeah, it’s been a long time. But I still want it to be with someone I care about. Someone important to me.” “Shane…” “Like the mother of my son…”

“You should get to have that,” I tell him. “You shouldn’t settle. You should have that special connection.” When he leans forward and kisses me, I don’t stop him.

I lie in bed shaking. It wasn’t so much a nightmare as it was reliving what happened that night. Tim choking me with that necklace. And then the bolt of thunder. And then… Something else. I heard something else just as the thunder erupted. I’m sure of it. But I can’t remember what it was. The memory claws at the outskirts of my subconscious, and I squeeze my eyes shut in frustration.

I swear to fucking god if it has something to do with Shane ima lose it. What about that Marcus Hunt guy???

Why would somebody be using my car? The garage door is locked. Nobody is getting in there except from the inside. And the only other person in the house is Shane, and he doesn’t even have a valid driver’s license. Not that he isn’t capable of driving, but…

I swear to god if he turns out to be a bad guy I will sob my eyes out. What if he really is manipulative???

But even as the words are coming out of my mouth, I know I will live to regret them.

Something is going on and I don't like it. What if he really did do something???

A split second later, I spot the keys on the third shelf. In the same spot where I usually put them, except one shelf higher. I snatch them up in my hand, looking at the key ring as if for a clue.

I just want them to be a cute family. Please, that's all I want

“I’ll keep him safe.” Shane’s face turns slightly pink. “Don’t you trust me?”

Why do I feel like something is up??

Local Prison Guard Found Murdered

Shane murdered him, didn't he? Fucking hell

It was Shane.

You know what? Fuck this book

Hunt was right. Shane is manipulative. He really made me believe…

I'm gonna puke

Tim and Shane did it together.

HOLY SHIT

The night it happened, Shane dropped me off almost right in front of Tim’s house. He never used to do that. And Tim just happened to be outside, in his yard. They must have figured I would invite him along. And if I hadn’t, Tim would have finagled an invitation.

Oh my god

As soon as we got to the farmhouse, even though they claimed to hate each other, the two of them were suddenly deep in quiet conversation. I remember the way they kept looking at each other throughout the evening. I thought it was because they hated each other, but in retrospect, it was more than that.

Shane was the only one who somehow knew Tim had dated Tracy Gifford. We were all shocked he knew about it. But of course he knew. They probably killed her together. She was their practice run for that night.

I'm gonna be sick

But then when I blamed it all on Shane, Tim flipped. He turned on Shane, going along with my story in order to save his own ass. It must’ve driven Shane crazy, but what could he do? If he told the truth, it would be admitting he was a murderer. Lucky for Shane, Tim couldn’t keep from killing again.

“But don’t worry. Now that I’m here, we’re going to be making up for some lost time. And maybe you’ll see what it’s like to miss out.”

Is he gonna take him???

“I wonder,” he says, “if you’ll scream louder than Tracy Gifford did.”

Oh my fucking god

I put some weight on my right ankle. The pain is almost blinding, but I push through it. For Josh. I’m doing this for Josh.

What a strange coincidence that Margie would happen to be coming down this road right now. But I can’t dwell on that. There’s no time.

IS SHE IN ON IT???

“That’s not actually my name. We have met before, and you do know me by my real name, but I doubt you would remember it. Of course you wouldn’t.” She titters. “In fact, I’ll tell you what, Brooke. If you can tell me my real first name, I’ll take you right to Shane and Josh.” I stare at her wrinkled face, trying desperately to place her. While I’m trying to figure it out, she sifts around in her purse again. But this time, instead of her phone, she pulls out a gun. And she points it right at me.

Oh my god oh my god oh my god