The Follower Kate Doughty (general ebook reader .txt) 📖

the aftermath of the accident, or maybe she was already taking the medication for a preexisting condition. Either way, watching her mom die and her father waste away destroyed her. And there was no one to take it out on but the Grables. The shooting star and her family who had invaded the home that Reena loved.

And now the Coles are in her house.

Cecily is silent. She’s staring at her hands, marred with pink dye. Pink dye that looks red on her pale skin.

“Cecily?”

Cecily remains quiet. She massages dye into the ends of Amber’s hair and presses her lips together in a way that reminds him so, so much of their mom. When she looks back up at her brother, her good eye is crying. “You look—excited,” she hisses. “Rudy, this person tried to blind me—and two nights ago, they could have—they could have come upstairs and—this is dangerous. It’s not just some prank, some game—”

Rudy stares at his sister. Does she really believe that he thinks this is a game?

What Cecily doesn’t understand is that he’s thrown himself into this investigation because he has to know who did this to her. That whoever it is won’t get away with what they did to Cecily. To his family.

But as he looks at Cecily’s sad, bandaged face, he doesn’t think he can explain any of that to her. So he just stops talking.

Two hours later, Amber’s hair falls around her shoulders in glossy curls.

She puts on a carefully curated outfit and they head downstairs, searching for an untainted spot for their photo shoot.

“You look amazing, sweetie,” Mr. Cole says to Amber, poking his head into their set.

“Very colorful!” Joseph agrees, following him into the kitchen. “I have a niece that would die for that hair.” Rudy watches Amber give him a small smile.

It’s not hard to settle on a favorite photo; Amber chooses the same one that Rudy also likes best. It’s a shot of Amber turning her head to face the camera, curls in motion. She looks absolutely beautiful. Amber comes up with the caption and then Rudy posts it: It feels great to get some more color in my life! Huge thank you to our sponsor, Miracle Color. Want this look yourself? Watch out for a hair dye video coming soon! The plus-size fashion rule we’re breaking this week is bold patterns. Live life boldly! Any interest in fashion hauls or tutorials after we’re done with hair dye? Let me know in the comments! #NotYourBeautyStandard #LoveAnyBody #CallItFatshion

Rudy monitors the comments carefully for the next half hour or so. He’s relieved to see that the comments are overwhelmingly pro-Amber.

A little while later, the doorbell rings. Amber explains that Bella is coming over to see her hair in person.

“Is Jada coming, too?” Rudy asks.

“No, her aunt is still visiting, so she’s spending time with her,” Amber replies.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure that Bella will gush enough for both of them about how amazing you look,” Cecily says wryly.

As if on cue, Bella bounds into Cecily’s room.

“Oh. My. God. It. Looks. Incredible.” Bella says, eyes wide as she takes in Amber’s hair. Amber grins and flounces it up and down. Rudy can’t remember the last time he saw her looking this . . . confident. Happy.

“Can you do mine, too? Pretty please?” Bella squeals.

Amber and Cecily exchange a look.

“We do have plenty of dye left,” Cecily says.

“Sure, why not?” Amber shrugs.

“Yes!” Bella says, grinning.

“And I think that’s my cue to leave,” Rudy says. Witnessing one hair transformation for the day was more than enough.

“You’re welcome to stay,” Cecily says, and Rudy wonders if that’s an olive branch. She hasn’t spoken to him much since the episode in the bathroom earlier.

But he has other things he wants to do right now, so he begs off, promising to come back in a little while to check on their progress.

Rudy heads into his room and sits down at his computer. He goes back to investigating the Grables and the Glenarms, redoubling his efforts to find the lost daughter. But despite what he suspects about Reena, he can’t find a photograph or mention of her anywhere—not the internet, not the public library archives. He doesn’t know where else to look. He even breaks and calls the hardware store, attempting to talk to Mr. O’Donnell again—or, better yet, another member of this budding historic society. But all Rudy gets is the busy signal.

He gives up on his search just in time to watch Cecily rinse the dye out of Bella’s hair. To Rudy’s surprise, they’re talking about the open house. About Steve.

“It’s so crazy,” Bella says. “Steve is such a jackass. But it’s—like—he’s not a terrible person, you know? He just wants, I dunno, attention. People to like him. Just like everyone else.”

“So he tried to torment us by following the instructions of an internet creep,” Amber deadpans.

“When you put it like that . . .” Bella trails off. Then, she hesitates. “You don’t think it’s . . . him . . . do you?”

The triplets exchange a weighted look. “We don’t know what to think,” Amber admits.

Rudy gives Bella a brief rundown of their Reena theory. “Of course, we’re not ruling anything out about Steve,” he adds. “You’ve known him longer than we have—what do you think?”

“I think he’s secretly a fan,” Bella says. “All he’s been doing is looking at your profile.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah,” Bella says. “Just, like, scrolling. I saw him watching some of your vlogs from when you were, like, fifteen at this football team party the other night, it was so weird. But then again, he’s just a weird dude.”

“Do you think he’s . . . dangerous?” Rudy asks, trying and failing to keep the excitement out of his voice. The Reena theory feels so promising, but at the same time he can’t help but wonder which vlogs Steve was watching. The peanut allergy one? Cecily’s go-bag reveal?

“After almost having his collarbone broken by your dad? No way,” Bella says. “Dude is a creep, but he’s also a major wimp.” Cecily takes