Chapter 1: The Name She Shouldn’t Have Known
“I know who Blu is.””
Those four words didn’t sound dangerous when Marlo said them.
Not at first.
The Baltimore coffee shop was loud enough that I almost missed it. Cups clattered behind the counter, cars rushed past the window, and Dre was laughing about something stupid on the other side of the table.
I thought we were just having a normal conversation.
I thought Marlo was just being Marlo.
I was wrong.
Because the second he said Blu’s name, something in the air changed.
And the worst part?
He didn’t say it like he had heard about her.
He said it like he had known her.
I looked down at my iced coffee, watching the melted ice float around the cup. My fingers tightened around the plastic lid.
“Wait… what did you just say?”” I asked.
Marlo leaned back in his chair, completely calm.
“I said I know who Blu is.””
Dre stopped laughing.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Dre always laughed. Even when things were uncomfortable, even when people argued, even when someone said something they shouldn’t have.
But now?
Nothing.
Just silence.
“Okay,” I said slowly.
“And how exactly do you know her?””
Marlo looked at Dre for half a second.
That tiny glance bothered me more than the words.
Because it meant there was something they both understood.
Something I didn’t.
“Bree,” Dre said softly, “it’s not what you think.””
I almost laughed.
People always said that right before it was exactly what you thought.
“Then tell me what it is,” I replied.
The rain tapped against the coffee shop windows, and for a moment nobody moved.
Then Marlo sighed.
“I knew Blu before she came to Baltimore.””
My stomach dropped.
Blu had moved here six months ago.
Six months.
She had told me she was starting over. A fresh city. A fresh job. A fresh life.
She told me Baltimore was where she could finally breathe.
I believed her.
I was her best friend.
I was the person who stayed on the phone with her at three in the morning when she cried about everything she had left behind.
Her old apartment.
Her old relationship.
Her old mistakes.
Especially him.
Her ex.
The man she never liked talking about.
The man whose name she avoided like it could hurt her.
“Hold on,” I said.
“You’re telling me you knew Blu before she got here, and you never mentioned it?””
Marlo looked uncomfortable for the first time.
“That’s complicated.””
“No,” I said.
“It’s actually pretty simple. My best friend moved across the country, and somehow you already knew her?””
Dre rubbed his forehead.
“Bree…”
I turned toward him.
“And you knew too?””
He didn’t answer.
That answer was enough.
A strange feeling crawled up my chest.
Not anger.
Not yet.
Something worse.
Confusion.
Because I had spent months defending Blu.
When people questioned why she suddenly left her old life behind, I told them everyone deserved a second chance.
When people whispered that there was more to the story, I told them they didn’t know her like I did.
But now I was sitting across from two people who apparently knew pieces of Blu’s story that I didn’t.
Marlo picked up his drink and stared at the ice.
“She never told you about him?””
I froze.
“About who?””
He looked at me.
And the expression on his face made my heart start beating faster.
“Her ex.””
The coffee shop suddenly felt too warm.
“What about him?””
Marlo didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he asked a question.
“Did she ever tell you his name?””
I swallowed.
“Yes.””
“What did she tell you?””
I hesitated.
That was the problem.
Blu had told me almost nothing.
Just that he hurt her.
That the relationship ended badly.
That she had learned not everyone who says they love you actually protects you.
I had filled in the blanks myself.
I assumed he was just another guy who broke her heart.
I assumed she left because she was tired.
I assumed the past stayed where it belonged.
Behind her.
But apparently, I was wrong.
“She didn’t tell me much,” I admitted.
Marlo’s jaw tightened.
“Of course she didn’t.””
That sentence bothered me.
“Why did you say it like that?””
He looked away.
“Because Blu has always been good at hiding the parts of her life that make people ask questions.””
I stared at him.
“That sounds like you’re accusing my friend of something.””
“I’m not accusing her.””
“Then what are you doing?””
Marlo leaned closer.
“I’m telling you that the person you think you know might not be the whole story.””
I felt a chill run through me.
Because those words weren’t coming from a stranger.
They were coming from someone who knew exactly where the missing pieces were.
“Marlo,” I said quietly, “what are you not telling me?””
For a few seconds, he didn’t speak.
Then he reached into his jacket pocket.
He pulled out his phone.
My eyes followed the movement.
“What is that?””
Marlo unlocked the screen.
“I wasn’t planning on showing you this.””
My heart started pounding.
“Showing me what?””
He turned the phone around.
At first, I didn’t understand what I was looking at.
It was a picture.
An old picture.
Blu was younger.
Much younger.
She was standing next to a man I had never seen before.
But it wasn’t the man that made my breath catch.
It was the location.
The date.
And the person standing in the background.
Because I knew that person.
I looked up at Marlo.
“Where did you get this?””
He didn’t answer.
“Marlo.””
His eyes stayed on mine.
“Bree… you really don’t know, do you?””
My fingers went cold.
“Know what?””
He slowly took the phone back.
Then he said the one sentence that made me realize Blu’s past hadn’t followed her to Baltimore.
It had been waiting.
“Your best friend didn’t just leave him…”
Marlo paused.
“She ran from what happened after.””
And before I could ask what he meant, Dre’s phone suddenly started ringing on the table.
The name flashing across the screen made all three of us go silent.
May you like
Because it was the one person none of us expected to hear from.
Blu.
