The Virgin’s Bucket List – Episode 41
Alyssa remained in the doorway while Lindsay instinctively covered Catherine’s photograph. The movement was pointless; Alyssa had already recognized the image. Her shock looked too raw to be another calculated performance.
Lindsay demanded an explanation. Alyssa closed the door, opened her laptop, and produced a folder of encrypted emails. The earliest message had arrived three months before graduation from someone calling herself Catherine Johnson.
The sender knew details that had never appeared online: Lindsay’s childhood nickname, the blueberry-pie recipe, and the promise beneath the twin oak. She urged Alyssa to apply for the journalism program and claimed Lindsay would need an enemy close enough to notice danger.
Alyssa initially assumed the messages were a cruel trick. Then the sender supplied evidence connecting Grant to the altered scholarship packet. Alyssa used that information to protect herself without admitting where it came from.
Lindsay asked why Alyssa never told her. Alyssa replied that no one would have believed a message delivered through the school bully. She also feared the sender would expose every harmful choice she had made for Grant.
The final email contained the same hospital photograph now on Lindsay’s phone. It instructed Alyssa to wait until Lindsay reached the program before revealing their contact. Someone had arranged both girls’ arrival with unsettling precision.
Lindsay called Julie on video and showed her the emails. Julie confirmed the private details but refused to believe their mother was alive. She had been present during Catherine’s final days and attended the cremation.
Mike reacted with anger rather than hope. Whoever used Catherine’s identity understood exactly how to destabilize the family. He urged Lindsay to involve the police and avoid the rehabilitation center.
Alyssa agreed with him, which surprised everyone. She knew what manipulation looked like because she had practiced it. The sender offered truth in small pieces, then used each answer to demand another act of obedience.
Lindsay forwarded the messages to Jeremy for tracing. He found that they had passed through several anonymous servers, but the final routing point belonged to the university’s network. The impersonator might be inside the summer program.
Their mentor, Professor Elena Ward, knocked before either girl could hide the screens. She welcomed Alyssa with professional warmth and noticed the photograph on Lindsay’s desk. Her expression did not change, yet she identified the hospital without being asked.
Elena explained that the rehabilitation center had partnered with the university on medical reporting projects. She suggested Lindsay use official archives rather than visit alone. The advice sounded reasonable, but her knowledge made Lindsay cautious.
Alyssa asked whether Elena had ever met Catherine Johnson. The professor paused, then said the name was unfamiliar. Lindsay watched her hands tighten around the orientation folder.
After Elena left, Alyssa admitted she had seen the professor before. A blurred figure reflected in the café window during Lindsay and Grant’s meeting had worn the same distinctive silver bracelet.
Lindsay enlarged the old photograph. The bracelet appeared there too, on the wrist of someone cropped from the edge. Catherine had not been alone outside the hospital.
They agreed to cooperate, but Lindsay established boundaries. Alyssa would not access her phone, publish anything, or contact the sender without discussion. Cooperation did not erase their history.
Alyssa accepted the rules and asked for one of her own: Lindsay could not treat every useful act as proof that Alyssa had changed. Trust had to be earned without guaranteed forgiveness.
Before sleeping, Lindsay received a new message from the unknown number. It contained a live photograph of Wayne entering football training and one sentence: If you want him safe, stop asking Elena Ward about your mother.