Page 120 of You Found Me
“Dad always watches from the sidelines,” Samantha said. “So he can keep an eye on the cider booth. Hey, Lucy, did you see this?”
Della turned to look at Sam’s phone and saw a paparazzi shot of herself crossing the street in front of the building where she used to live. The headline read,“Faking Della Bellamy.”
Shock shivered through her.
She’d been so focused on living Lucy’s life in Wires Crossing that she’d completely forgotten why Della Bellamy was there in the first place.
“Oh…no, I haven’t.”She clutched the cup of cider a little too hard, and liquid sloshed over the side. “Ow! Oops.”
She dabbed at her hand with a corner of the blanket while she looked at the image. At first glance, it could be her twin. Same height. Same build. Same fluffy blonde hair.
Samantha turned the phone back to scroll down. “It says that photo of Della that went viral on Tuesday is a deepfake. She wasn’t really in New York, and that condo she supposedly bought was spoofed.”
“Condo? What condo?” The reminder of her old life left her suddenly breathless. “A photo went viral?”
Samantha brightened. “You haven’t heard?” She scooted closer to her mother to lean toward Della. “There was a post Tuesday from some real estate guru or something that said she splashed out mega bucks on a new place in New York City. They said it was because she had another big fight with Piper and wanted to get as far away from her as she could. I don’t buy that, though, because they’ve been so happy. I mean, did you see the Reunion Tour? They weren’t faking that. Anyway, it’s all bull—” She glanced at her mother. “…loney, according to this guy. The photo especially is a deepfake.”
“Oh.” Della tried to act like this was all nothing while fear turned her insides cold. Who was saying that? Why? Was it her stalker? Someone else?
Had Piper seen this? There was no way she’d believe it, right?
What if she did? What if…
Della instinctively turned to check with Ward, but he wasn’t back yet. “That does seem…um…strange. Deep…what?”
“Deepfake,” Samantha said with an air of authority. “They used bits and pieces of real images to make this, but it’s not her.She was never there, according to this Druj guy. See? Looks real though. They did a great job.”
Samantha zoomed in on the blonde woman wearing the same coat that Della had left in storage in New York.
She recognized the pastry shop in the background. She loved their cupcakes.
“How do they know it’s not real?” Della couldn’t help but ask.
Elyse shifted back so Sam could lean across her lap. “He says there’s something funny about the angle of her earring. See?” Samantha pointed to a portion of the image that had been circled with angry red. “And there’s something wrong with the back of her neck but I can’t tell what. It’s probably in the article. Hang on. I’ll check.”
She returned to her seat and started to scroll.
Della’s hand shook. She quickly put the cup of cider down.
She knew what was wrong.
The woman didn’t have any ink near her hairline.
The wind had pushed her hair aside just enough that had it really been Della Bellamy, there would have been a hint of the infinity bells tattoo showing.
Della touched the back of her neck. She’d put on the makeup that morning, just like Annie had instructed. Hopefully it hadn’t worn off.
She felt off balance and exposed.
Even though she was mad at Ward and his stupid rules, she desperately wanted him to come back. He was her personal security, the jerk. He was supposed to be here. He’d said her safety was his only priority, so where the hell was he?
Della fingered the panic button. This wasn’t a real emergency. She knew that. She wasn’t in immediate danger. Still, the urge to push it was strong.
As if she’d summoned him, Ward appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
His sharp eyes studied her as he handed her a bundle of cotton candy. “What’s going on?”
How could she explain what had just gone wrong without giving herself away? “There’s a picture…”