53

Sierra's POV

After the call with the detective, everything felt weird. Quiet. Louis and I just stood there for a minute. My heart was beating super fast, like I just ran a race. I played my part good. I knew I did. But it felt creepy, pretending to be scared about a picture when really I was just... mad.

Louis put his hands on my shoulders. "You did good," he said. His voice was all rough.

I just nodded. I didn't know what to say. My brain was tired from all the thinking.

The next few days were kinda normal. But not the old normal. A new normal. Katie went back to school with two security guys driving her. It made me sad, but she didn't seem to mind. She called them her "special helpers."

Louis and I... we were different. The thing that changed after the party, the "integration"... it wasn't a big mushy deal. It just was. We shared the big bed now, for real. No giant space between us. Sometimes we'd wake up and be all tangled together. It wasn't weird. It was warm.

We didn't talk about love. That word felt like a kid's word, for a kids' story. Our story wasn't for kids. We were partners. Like cops. Or spies. We had to watch each other's backs.

One afternoon, I was in the kitchen making Katie's after-school snack. Apple slices with peanut butter, the way she likes. Louis walked in. He was holding his tablet but he wasn't looking at it. He was looking at me.

"What?" I asked, spreading the peanut butter.

"Just thinking," he said. He leaned on the other side of the island. "About the picture. Alvarez bought the story. The case is officially closed now. He told my lawyer this morning."

I put the knife down. "That's good."

"Is it?" He looked at me, his eyes super serious. "It means he believed you were the 'other one.' It means that's in the file forever. Your name, tied to his."

I shrugged, but it was a fake shrug. I did care. "It's better than the other option. Better than him finding the real lady from your past."

He flinched a little. Just a tiny bit. We don't talk about the past-grave. We built over it. But sometimes you feel the ground underneath, you know?

"I don't like it," he said finally. "I don't like that your name is in a police file with a stalker's notes because of me."

"Everything about me is in some file because of you," I said. It wasn't mean. It was just true. "Marriage license. Tax forms. Katie's birth certificate. This is just another one. A creepier one."

He almost smiled. Not a happy smile. A tired one. "You're too smart for this."

"I'm just smart enough for this," I corrected him. I pushed a plate of apple slices across the island to him. "Here. You look like you need a snack too."

He took one and ate it. We stood there, eating apple slices in silence. It was peaceful.

Then my phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number. My stomach dropped. I showed Louis.

The text said: **I saw the news. Glad you're okay. He was always unhinged. - Derek**

Derek. The guy Irina found. The fake source.

Louis's face got hard. "He wasn't supposed to contact you directly. Ever."

"I know," I whispered. I typed back: **Thank you. Please don't contact this number again.**

The three little dots appeared. They bounced for a long time. Then a new message came through.

**Sorry. Won't happen again. It's just... he talked about you a lot. More than you know. Be careful.**

The phone felt cold in my hand. Louis took it from me and read it. His jaw got tight.

"What does that mean?" I asked. "More than I know? It was a story. A lie we made up."

"Maybe Derek did too good of a job," Louis said, his voice low and dangerous. "Maybe he found some real stuff while he was pretending to be a source. Or maybe..." He didn't finish.

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe it wasn't all a lie," he said. He looked scared. I'd never seen Louis look scared before. Not really. "Maybe Victor really did talk about you. To people we don't know about."

The kitchen didn't feel peaceful anymore. It felt cold. The peanut butter smelled too strong.

"Delete it," I said. "And block the number."

Louis did. But deleting a text doesn't delete the words. They were in my head now.

*He talked about you a lot. More than you know.*

The doorbell rang. It was Katie, home from school. Her laugh echoed in the hallway. Normal life.

Louis and I looked at each other. We had the same thought, I could tell. The game wasn't over. We closed one door with the police. But someone else was out there. Someone who knew Victor. And that person just texted me.

I wiped my hands on a towel and put a smile on my face for Katie. Louis did the same. We walked out of the kitchen to meet her.

We were partners. We built over the graves. But sometimes, the ghosts find a way to text you.