My Missing Boyfriend Was Alive, So I Chose His Best Friend Chapter 08

My Missing Boyfriend Was Alive, So I Chose His Best Friend Chapter 08

What I’d asked Gavin to do was simple. Keep Tyler calm, keep him sticking to the plan. Because I

was putting together one hell of a gift for Tyler.

Three days later—a Saturday-I invited a group of friends over. They were all old classmates, people who knew Tyler and me. I’d decorated the place carefully. Across the wall behind the photo,.

a banner stretched in bold black letters: In Loving Memory of Tyler Vance.

My friends freaked. “Hailey, what is this?!”

I was dressed in all black, face drawn and hollow. “Tyler’s been missing for over a month.”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“I didn’t want to dump it on anyone. His parents kept it quiet.”

“So is he…?”

“They still haven’t found him.”

Everyone sucked in a breath. “God, over a month with no sign of him-doesn’t that mean…’

“I heard the golden window for search and rescue is seventy-two hours.”

“After seventy-two hours, the odds of survival are basically zero.”

Hearing them, my tears spilled over. “Stop, stop. Hailey’s already wrecked.”

“They were so solid. She must be completely shattered.” People gathered around me.

After a minute, one old classmate asked, “Nothing from the police either?”

I shook my head, voice wobbling. “We didn’t file a report.”

“Why not?”

“His parents were against it. They said they’d use private resources to search.’

“That tracks, actually. The Vances have money. They probably didn’t want the publicity.”

Exactly. Tyler’s parents were all about their pristine image. A scandal like this would not do them any favors.

I wiped my tears and glanced toward my phone, set up to stream. I’d already told my friends-some

classmates were out of state and couldn’t make it, so I’d put it on Instagram Live so they could take part remotely. No one objected.

Viewers poured in fast. It’s not every day someone livestreams a farewell gathering. People who didn’t even know Tyler were dropping “RIP” and candle emojis.

Of course, questions bubbled up.

[What kind of parents refuse to report their son missing?]

[Seriously, shouldn’t the cops be your first call?]

[I looked them up-the Vances are loaded. Maybe they hired a private search team.]

[He went missing on Crest Mountain? No way. I live near there and I haven’t seen any rescue

crews.]

I ignored every one of those comments and waited. I knew the other star of this show was about to

walk right in.

Sure enough, about thirty minutes later, Lila kicked my front door open.