The Mute and the Liar (77 page)

My eyes
widen into round baubles.

Sasha Rabinovich.

Jeffrey
immediately straightens
up and
his
whole
face
illumines.

“
Yeah, that’s
it!
That’s
crazy,
how
did you know?
”

Sasha
organised
a
party
and
Jayce
made
me
go
to
it.
If
Sasha’s
on his
s
n
ide
too,
it’s
a
possibility
the
whole
party
was
jus
t
par
t
o
f
Jayce’s
plan.

Sasha!
That
reminds
me!
I’ve
still
got
his
phone
when
I
picked
it
up
at
the
party!

I
dash
out
of
the
room,
Jeffrey
trailing
at
my
heels.
I
almost
leap
up
the
stairs.

“
Alicia!
Where
are
you
going?
”
he
calls
when
I’m
already
halfway
up
the
staircase.

I
see
Kaylie’s
dress
she
gave
me
for
the
party
the
moment
I
walk
in.
It’s been
hung
over
a
chair
in
the
corner.
I
slip
my
hand
in
the
pocket
and
pull
out the phone.
I
run back to Jeffrey.

This
is
Sasha’s
phone. I took
it
at
the
party.

“
You
stole
someone’s
phone?
”
he
asks
incredulously,
raising his eyebrows
.

I
didn't
steal
it,
I
borrowed
it.
It’s
police
evidence;
it
needs
to
be
thoroughly
examined.

Jeffrey
laughs
at
this.
With
forced-steady
fingers,
I
turn
the
phone
on.

I
was
scared
the
phone
would
already
have
been
registered
as
missing
and
stolen
and
would
have
been
locked,
however
the
phone
switches
on
with
a
pleasing
click.
I
thank God
it’s
not
password
protected
either.

I
click
messages
and
–
surprise,
surprise
–
an
all-too-familiar
name
is
the
last
person
Sasha
has
been
texting.
Becky
Meyer.

I
scroll
up
in
the
conversation
near
the
beginning
so
that
I
can
get
the
whole story in
chronological
order.

The
first message
from
the
Becky
impersonator was
sent
on
5
th
December
2010, the
same
date
the
first
message
was
sent
to
Jayce.

Hey,
Sasha.
Becky?
Who
is this??

Yay,
I
knew you
still
had
my
number!
How
have
you
been,
Sasha?
It’s
been
a
while.
Oh
my
god.
Who
the Hell
are you?
How
the
Hell
are
you
doing
this?

Let’s
not
talk
about me.
That’s
a
boring
story.
Let’s
talk
about
you! You’ve
always
got
good
stories.
You
were
always
my
favourite.

Get
off
of
Becky’s
phone.
She’s
dead,
so
whoever
you
are, you’re
not
fooling
anyone.
Bit
of
a
screwed
up
thing
to
do,
isn’t
it,
pretending
to
be
a
dead
girl?

Just
hear
me
out,
Sasha.

Fuck
off
or
I’ll
call
the
police.

Sasha.
Why
don’t
you
believe
that
it’s
me?
I
can
prove
to
you
that
it’s
really
me.
You
came
to
warn
me
right before
they
attacked
me.
Do
you
remember
what
I
said
to
you?
You
said
I
had to stay
with you.

That’s
right.
I
wanted
you
to
stay
with me till the end. Even if the others all left.

Don’t.
Don’t
want?

Pretend
to
be
Becky.

It’s
all
right,
Sasha.
I’m
here.
You’ve
got
to believe
me.
Why
are
you
doing
this
to
me?
I’ll
report you.
Just
stop.

I am
Becky.
It’s
me,
Sasha.
Your best
friend.
Just
stop.

You don’t
have
to
believe
me.
But
can
we
keep taking
anyway?
I
miss you.
I know
you’re not
real.
I
watched
you
die.
You’re
dead.

Ssh. I’m
here
now.
I know
it’s not
you.

Let’s
just
keep
talking,
Sasha.
Haven’t
you
missed
me?
It
doesn’t matter if
you
believe
it’s
me
or
not.
Let’s
just
talk.

*****

I
scroll
downwards.
Their
conversation
continues
like
that,
fairly
friendly,
nothing
particularly
eye-grabbing.
Until
I
get
to
the
messages
sent
on
the
29
th
February
–
the
second
day
I
was
held
captive,
when
Jayce
nearly
killed
Jeffrey.

Sasha.
Can
I
ask you
to
do
something
for
me?
Just
something
small?
Sure.
What
is
it?

Can
you
hold
a
party
for
me
tomorrow
night?
I
know
it’s
short
notice
but
it
only
has
to
be
a
small thing.
Do
it
with
Ryo
if
you
want.
Today
I
need
you
or
Ryo
to
go
to
Bath
city
centre, near
the
Abbey,
and
look
out for
Jayce. He
will be
walking
with this
short,
skinny
girl
with
brown,
curly
hair.

Jayce
is
here
in
Bath?
Why
didn’t
he
tell us?

I
don’t
know.
Anyway,
I
need
you to
invite
him
to
the
party
and tell
him
he
can
bring
friends. That’s
very
important.
Basically,
I
need
to
get
rid
of
this
phone. I’m
going
to
leave
it
outside
your
door
tonight.
There
is
the
girl who
is
going
to
your
party
and
I
need
you
to
put
the
phone
in
her
bag.
She’s
medium
height,
quite
curvy,
with bright
blue,
very
curly
hair
and blue
eyes
eyes
and
will be
most
likely
wearing
a
black
dress. You’ll
know her
when
you
see
her. Is
that
all right?