“Can I come in?” I peeked in the doorway, one hand gripping the frame so tight my knuckles turned white.

Liam looked up from his seat in the surveillance trailer. Those cheater reading glasses from the dollar store were perched on the end of his nose. Again, he’d been diving deep into the bowels of the internet. “Sure. What’s up?”

“I… uh… I wondered if you’d come sit with me.” Standing on the top step, I stared down my feet.

He thought for a moment. “I really need to finish this.” He glanced between me and the computer screen as information scrolled up, trillions of bytes of data I could tell he was dying to read.

“Oh…” My shoulders fell. “Um… ok.” I hung my head and backed out. Turning and trudging back to my trailer, I climbed the steps, dragged myself back to my empty room, and crawled into my bed alone.

Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes. What had been so wonderful back in the cabin, we seemed to have left behind. An invisible wall now stood between us, and I didn’t know why.

The loss crushed me. I needed to focus on my music, but my light seemed to have gone out, and my song fell quiet. The music inside me was so faint I could barely hear it.

It had been days since Liam had lain beside me, and the bed was unbearably cold and empty. I curled up, hugging my pillow to my chest and wept. Everything I’d loved about my life before I met him seemed hollow without Liam by my side.

I wanted to touch him, to feel his arms around me. The memory of his bedroom voice echoed in my ears. I needed to taste his skin and smell his musk, but he wouldn’t let me close anymore.

Through my tears, I saw a single short brown hair he’d left behind on his pillow. I grabbed the pillow and pulled it to my face, burying my nose in his lingering scent. To my surprise, the pillow crinkled.

I stopped crying at once and pressed my hand against the pillowcase. Something flat and stiff rested between the sheet and the stuffing. I reached inside, pulled out a photo, and stared.

Oh my God it’s not over!

In my hand, I held another grainy photograph of that damned doll. In this picture, it was pinned to a cutting board with a knife through its heart. I choked on my own breath. My chest tightened and my pulse raced.

I have to tell Liam!

But what would I say? I’m sorry Liam. I never told you about these photos, but guess what! You caught the bad guy, but look here! I got another one! Yeah. That would go over well.

“Hey, Maggie?” I heard Julie’s voice over the sound of the blood rushing through my ears as I clutched the pillow to my chest.

Struggling to suck in enough air to even breathe, I croaked out, “Yes?”

She pulled open the trailer door, squinting a bit as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. “What’s the matter?” She popped her gum and stuck the pencil in her hand in her ponytail. Then she came in and shut the door behind her as I met her in the living room.

“Look.” I held the photo up for her to see, unable to get more than one word out.

“What’s that?” She walked over and took the photo from me. Her eyes came to rest on the image, and she gasped. “Maggie!”

“I know.” Glad to have Julie in on my secret, the tightness in my chest started to ease a bit. “I kept getting these before… from the stalker… but they caught him, right?”

“I’m sure they did.” She guided me to the couch and sat next to me. “Where did you find this?”

“The pillow from my bed. It was inside the pillow case.”

“No one has been in here to clean since you were gone. Do you think maybe it was left over from before?” She cocked her head, looking around.

“Maybe.” I took the photo from her and scanned it again, noticing a tiny date stamp in the corner. “Yeah, you’re probably right. It was taken before we left.” I heaved a huge sigh of relief. Julie could always set me straight. “I totally overreacted. I’m sorry.” I wadded the photo up and stood to toss it in the trash.

“You’ve got to use your head, Maggie. These guys won’t be here to protect you forever.”

“I know,” I said, properly angling the photos of my parents again so I would see them the next time I entered my bus. While Liam and I were in the cabin, they had been jostled out of alignment.

I smoothed the cushions and dusted the shelves as I worked my way over to the kitchen area to get rid of that horrible picture. I couldn’t stand even knowing it was sitting there in the trash. It kept calling to me, accusing me. Of what, I don’t know.

The new stress triggered my OCD, and I needed my space just right. It had been so nice to be free from my vices up in that cabin, but I was starting to realize Liam wasn’t mine, and we weren’t always going to be together. I needed to channel that strong woman he thought I was and learn to deal. It wasn’t fair to Julie for me to be such a dead weight.

“Seriously, Maggie, if you want people to keep thinking that two-bit talent of yours is something special, you have to step up your game.”

I nodded. She was right. If I wanted people to think I was good, I had to believe it. Otherwise, they’d all see me for the fraud I was.