Chapter 70: When Old Doors Open

Three months of quiet had changed Jake in a way Renee could not yet name. The lines around his eyes had hardened. His jaw clenched more often than it used to. He paced at night when he thought she was asleep, checking windows twice, sometimes three times. He pretended the police updates calmed him. They did not. Every time Detective Latham said they were getting closer, Jake’s shoulders stiffened further.

In the morning, everything shifted. Jake returned from the porch with his phone in hand and a look that made Renee’s stomach tighten. He set his coffee down and rubbed a hand over his face.

“I can’t do this anymore,” he said.

Renee frowned. “Do what?”

“Wait for them to find him. Wait for the next update. Wait for the next scare. I’m done waiting. I need answers.” She could hear the tremor beneath the frustration. He wasn’t angry at her. He was furious at the shadow that refused to leave them alone. “What are you going to do?” she asked quietly. Jake hesitated for the first time in weeks, as if weighing a decision that had been building. I’m calling Beth.”

Renee’s breath froze. “Beth.”

“Yes.”

Her chest pulled tight. She hadn’t heard that name out loud in months. The ache between her ribs returned as if it had been waiting. “Why?”

“Because,” Jake said, “she might know something. And don’t care how you feel about her right now. I need answers. And she was around Mike long before I was.”

Renee bristled. “Beth and I aren’t talking. She lied to me. She hid things. She walked away when I needed her, well, technically.”

Jake met her eyes. “And maybe she regrets that.”

Renee looked away. “You don’t know her like I do.”

Jake stepped closer. “I know you’re scared. I know he hurt you. I know you have been trying to carry all of this without losing the ground you fought for. But if Beth knows something that can end this, then we are calling her.” Before Renee could protest again, he dialed. Beth answered on the first ring.

“Hello,” she said cautiously, unsure. “Who is this?”

“This is Jake,” he said. “Renee’s husband.”

There was a long pause. Then Beth let out a shaky breath. “I was thinking about calling her. But I didn’t know how.”

Jake’s eyes flicked toward Renee. “We need to talk. Tonight, if possible.”

Beth swallowed audibly. “Alright. I know the place.”

Renee stared at him, torn between fear and old resentment and something softer she didn’t want to name.

“Please,” Beth added quietly. “Let me see her.” The softness in Beth’s voice cracked something fragile in Renee’s chest. She nodded, though she said nothing. They met at a small restaurant off the highway, the kind of place where conversations could hide in clinking dishes and low music. Beth sat at a corner table, fingers wrapped tight around a cup of water. She looked older, more tired, as if time had not been kind since their falling out. When she saw Renee walk in, her lips parted in a breath that was half relief, half guilt.

“Hi,” Beth whispered.

Renee nodded stiffly. “Hi.”

Jake took his seat beside Renee, protective without being obvious. It was enough for Beth to glance at him with grateful acknowledgment. Bobby arrived moments later, shrugging off his jacket and sliding into the booth with a grim expression. “Sorry. Traffic.” Beth shot him a look. “Not now.” Renee watched the exchange, her nerves stretched thin.

Beth finally spoke. “First. I’m sorry. For everything. For lying. For not calling. For being a coward. You deserved better, especially from me.” Renee’s throat tightened, but she stayed silent. Beth continued. “There’s something you need to know about Mike.”

Jake leaned in. “Then tell us.”

Beth took a breath that trembled. “Mike has Borderline Personality Disorder. Severe. Diagnosed years ago. He went to treatment. Stayed stable for a while. But he never stayed long enough. And when he spirals, it’s not small. It is obsessive. It’s consuming. And when the person he’s tied to pulls away, even slightly, it hits him like a physical injury.”

Renee stared at her. “You knew. You knew this and never told me.”

Beth closed her eyes. “I was ashamed. I didn’t want you to think my family was dangerous because of him. And for years, he was stable, or close enough that I believed he was safe. But when he gets triggered, it’s like someone flips a switch.”

Bobby rubbed the back of his neck. “This spiral. It started the night of the miscarriage.”

Renee felt nausea rise. “Don’t.”

“It did,” Beth said softly. “He told me about it. He blamed himself. He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t eat. He became fixated on making sure you were okay. And then that fixation turned into something else.”

Jake’s jaw tightened. “And then the situation in therapy.”

Beth nodded. “The accidental moment in the bathroom. That kind of intimacy during an episode is like fuel. He attached himself to the idea that he could save you. That he needed you. And then, when he realized he might lose you to Jake permanently, it was too much. People with severe BPD can fracture under that kind of emotional pressure. And he did.”

Renee pressed a hand to her mouth, tears stinging. “He told me he loved me and was sorry. I thought it was just the moment.”

“It wasn’t,” Beth whispered. “It was the break.” They sat in a heavy silence, broken only when Bobby’s phone vibrated sharply on the table. He glanced at the screen. His eyes widened. “Speaking of the devil,” he muttered. He turned the phone so they could see that it was a message from Mike.

“I’m tired of running.”

Another message flashed.

“I’ll wait where it started.”

Renee’s breath caught. “The lake. He means the lake.” Beth nodded slowly, fear tightening her features. “That’s the place he always talked about. The one he said changed him. The one he said he found peace in.” A third message came through.

“Tell her I’m sorry.”

Then a fourth message came.

“I really loved her.”

Renee’s eyes blurred. Jake gripped her hand under the table. “Forward it to Latham,” Jake said. Bobby sent the messages instantly. Beth wiped a tear from her cheek. “This is the end of his cycle. He always gives a warning before the crash. I’ve seen this before.”

Jake stood, jaw set. “Then this ends tonight.”

Beth shook her head. “Be careful,” Latham called seconds later.

“We have officers moving to the location. You don’t go there. Stay home. I will call as soon as we have more.”

Renee closed her eyes as Jake ended the call. “Why did it have to end like this?”

Jake pulled her into his side. “Because he couldn’t let go. But you can.”

Beth reached across the table, hesitating before touching Renee’s hand lightly. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you who he was. I just wanted to pretend he could be normal.”

Renee whispered, “We all did.” Outside the window, patrol cars sped past toward the lake road. Their lights vanished into the dark. Renee stared out at them, breath shallow, knowing the truth as it pressed against her ribs. Whatever waited at the lake, it would change everything.

And she already knew.

Tonight was the last night Michael Reed would ever haunt her life in more ways than she imagined.