Never Lie

by Freida McFadden

“I love it.” His lips press against my forehead as he holds me close to his body. “And also, I love… you.”

“You’re the only one who can help me. I need you. I… I love you.”

I believe that any human being is capable of terrible things if you push them hard enough.

Usually, he’s the affectionate one. But this time he just stands there stiffly under my embrace.

I’m not sorry I asked him to do this, because I didn’t have a choice. I don’t want to stop seeing him. I don’t want him to empty the drawer I gave him in my bedroom. I want to give him more drawers. I want him to move in with me. I’ve never felt this way before, but I realize it now. I want him here every night. For the rest of my life. I can’t lose him over this. I can’t.

Ethan + Tricia Forever. I love that inscription… I read it sometimes to comfort me. I believe it with all my heart. Ethan and I are made for each other, and we will be together forever. Till death do us part.

I notice that the pullcord for the attic, hanging from the ceiling, is swaying. Like the trapdoor to the attic was recently in motion.

Why is there a handle on the floor?

“Hate you?” “Well…” I squeeze my sweaty hands together. “You seem like you’re angry with me. And you’re barely looking at me.” “Yeah…” He sighs. “I’m not going to lie—I’m not thrilled with you right now. But I see why you wanted to get rid of that video. And… I’m glad I could help you.” A lopsided smile creeps onto his face. “Also, it’s good to know that you’re not so perfect either.” I return an equally crooked smile. “I never claimed I was.”

You bitch. You broke into my house.

I’m going to kill you.

I close my eyes, trying to block out what I just saw in the compartment under the floorboards. But I can’t. I’ll be seeing that image until the day I die.

“I guess we know what happened to Dr. Hale now,” Ethan says in a husky voice. “I guess so,” I choke out. I didn’t know what to expect when Ethan opened up that compartment. But that was like nothing I’d ever seen before. A rotting corpse, stuffed under the floorboards.

Before I can completely calm down, something makes my head jerk up. It’s a crash. Coming from Dr. Hale’s office.

There’s somebody else in this house. There is somebody in Dr. Hale’s office. That or the corpse has come back to life.

“I’m not sure if you heard, but my parents were in a terrible car wreck last month. They didn’t survive.” He pulls an exaggerated sad face. “And I’m their only heir, so… you know.”

Even though I never liked EJ, I always thought he was harmless. I am ashamed that even as a psychiatrist, I completely misdiagnosed him, which may have been the most costly mistake I have made in my career. But now I know the truth. The man is a psychopath.

“What do I want?” He takes a step toward me, and I back away, still hugging my chest. “I want you, Adrienne.” I feel dizzy. “You mean more sessions?” “Call it whatever you want.” He takes another step towards me, that smile still stretching his lips grotesquely. “I want you to strip down naked and let me do anything I want to do to you. Anything.”

Luke—searching through the rooms, looking for the laptop computer. Using a letter opener to jimmy open the lock on a desk drawer, then pulling out the laptop. Sitting down at the laptop to start the process of breaking into EJ’s computer. It’s all there on video.

“Boy, you’re really not too excited about hooking up with me, are you?” “Please don’t do this to him,” I gasp. “It’s your own fault. You’re the one who dragged him into it.”

“Who are you?” Ethan hisses. “I…” The man’s voice cracks like he hasn’t spoken in a long time. “I…” “Who are you?” “I just needed a place to stay for the night,” he says in a gruff voice. “I don’t have a place to live, and I… I didn’t know anyone would be here.”

While he’s taller than Ethan, he doesn’t seem particularly muscular or scary—he’s stick-thin, like he hasn’t had a decent meal in years. But there’s something about his voice. Something strangely familiar.

“You’re Luke,” I say. “You’re Adrienne Hale’s boyfriend.”

“Like I said, if you want to take it slower, that’s fine. I’ll wait as long as I have to.”

He’s going to hold this over me forever. As long as he’s alive…” I let that last statement hang there. Luke’s face clouds with confusion. “What… what are you saying, Adrienne?” “I think you know.”

“If we got rid of him…”

“Think about it. What else can we do?” Luke looks ill. “Please stop.” “It’s our only choice.” He slams his palms against the table so hard that all the dishes shake. “I’m not fucking killing anyone, Adrienne, okay?”

I’ve ruined my relationship with Luke, but I will not let him be a casualty of this monster. I’m going to take care of this problem. And I’m going to take care of it myself.

“You’re the boyfriend?” Ethan shakes the knife in his fist. “You’re the one who killed that shrink?” The man, Luke, shakes his head vigorously. “No, I… I mean, yes, fine, Adrienne was my girlfriend. But I didn’t kill her. I loved her. I would never…”

“Why don’t you have a place to go?” “Because my life completely went to shit after the newspapers called me a murderer.” He lifts his eyes—I hadn’t realized how bloodshot they look. “They dragged my name through the mud. Over nothing. I didn’t kill her. But my company let me go, and I couldn’t find anything else. And my family wouldn’t help me either. Even they thought that I…” His voice breaks. “So I’m unemployed and broke. That’s my story.”

I thought… I had to see. Adrienne… She just disappeared. We were supposed to see each other that night. I don’t… She wouldn’t have just left. She wasn’t like that.” He looks down at the floor, his features twisting with anguish. “I loved her. And I never found out what happened to her.”

That’s when I see what he’s looking at. It’s the bookcase by the stairs. The one that concealed the hidden room. And it is now hanging ajar.

I found it yesterday.” “And you didn’t tell me?” Obviously not. “You seemed busy with work. I didn’t think you would care.” “That’s a load of bullshit and you know it, Tricia.” Bright red creeps into his face from his neck. “Have you been listening to these tapes?”

“Don’t lie.” His voice is sharp now, not quite yelling but just on the verge. There’s a glint in his eyes that makes me take a step back. “Have you been listening to these tapes?” “Not that many. Maybe five or six.”

“Don’t listen to any more tapes,” he says in a voice that doesn’t sound like the man I married. “Promise me you won’t.”

“Don’t go in that room again.” “I won’t…” “I mean it.” His grip tightens. “That’s private patient information. We could get in a lot of trouble for listening to it. We should turn it over to the police.” “Yes, of course.” But there’s something in his eyes that tells me this isn’t the reason he doesn’t want me to listen to those tapes. He isn’t being entirely honest with me.

you can explain how Adrienne Hale’s body got under the floor of her office.” “Yeah, that’s the thing.” Luke leans back against the couch. “I don’t think… I mean, I’m pretty sure that isn’t Adrienne under the floorboards.”

“I thought it was her at first,” he says. “I mean, who else could it be? I didn’t even want to look because… I just couldn’t bear it. I don’t care what the paper said about me—I loved Adrienne. I would have married her, except…”

“They still had clothing on.” He grimaces. “Scraps of it anyway… I assume most of the material disintegrated. And you could tell they were wearing a pair of blue jeans. But Adrienne never wore blue jeans. She hated them.

That’s not her under the floor. I’d bet anything.”

“Do you know who it is then?” Luke hesitates. “Yes. I think I do.”

I will leave this room exactly the way I found it. Every tape is in the same place it was when I first walked in here. Every tape except one.

“And maybe one day they’ll catch the bastard who murdered my fiancé and my friends.” “Hmm. I don’t think so.” “You may be right. I mean, after all this time, it would be too much to hope—” “No. That’s not why they won’t catch him.” “Oh. Well, then why not?” “The reason they won’t catch him is that he doesn’t exist.” “What?” “It’s hard to arrest a man who is entirely fictional, isn’t it?” “Excuse me?” “You heard me.” “I… what are you saying, Dr. Hale?” “I think you know what I’m saying.” “I’m afraid I don’t.” “I’m saying you made the whole thing up. There never was a man at the cabin. You murdered your fiancé and your friends and you made up a fictional assailant.”

“But why would I do something like that?” “I haven’t entirely worked it out. I suspect Cody was cheating on you with Alexis, and you decided to teach them both a lesson. And Megan was an unfortunate casualty of the whole thing. That’s my suspicion based on the fact that she died much quicker than the other two.”

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not the only one who suspected you. Detective Gardner thought you did it also, but he couldn’t prove it. Except he didn’t have a window into your thoughts the way I have. He hasn’t been collecting little inconsistencies over the last three years.”

“Okay. Okay.” “So you admit it?” “What do you want, Dr. Hale?” “I have a little problem. And I need your help.” “What kind of problem?” “There’s somebody who’s been causing me some trouble. I’d like to take care of it, but I can’t do it myself.” “Well, what do you want me to do?” “Oh, I think you know, Patricia.”

I’m not a murderer. Okay, technically I am. But when I imagine somebody being a murderer, I imagine something different. I imagine somebody evil, who goes around killing good people for no reason. I killed my fiancé, Cody. But he wasn’t a good person.

Then I found out Cody was sleeping with my best friend, Alexis.

I found out Alexis and Cody had been messing around together since shortly after the engagement. That it was serious. He was planning to break off the engagement to be with her, but he was worried about how I might take it.

doing what I did. Honestly, anyone in a similar situation probably wishes they had done what I did.