We Were Never Here

Alarmed by the CNN article, Emily emails Kristen in the pair’s coded language, telling her to check the news. On the drive to the hotel, Aaron confesses to Emily that Kristen approached him and told him that Emily was unwell and that she was trying to get over having “hurt someone” in Chile. Horrified, Emily tells Aaron the truth about Sebastian’s sexual assault in Cambodia, but nothing more—she dismisses Kristen’s statement as a divisive lie. The next day, Aaron and Emily wake up ready for a hike, but as they head out the hotel lobby’s doors, Emily once again hears Kristen calling her name.

Chapter 37 takes the form of a press release stating that a police sketch has been released of Paolo’s murderer; the description sounds a lot like Kristen.

In the hotel lobby, Kristen acts like the coded message was an obvious plea for her to come to Phoenix, but Emily says this interpretation is ridiculous. The two begin fighting, and Aaron, uncomfortable, excuses himself to go back up to the room. Soon after, the pair walks outside where they can talk more freely. They wander until they reach a cliff’s edge.

Emily confesses that she wishes Sebastian and Paolo were both still alive, even if one or both of them were rapists.