Cover of The Reappearance of Rachel Price

The Reappearance of Rachel Price

by Holly Jackson


Genre
Mystery, Young Adult, Thriller
Year
2024
Pages
449
Contents

Chapter Fourteen

Overview

Bel’s guarded shopping trip with Rachel becomes a turning point when Rachel reveals knowledge she should not have: Bel’s long-gone skull bracelet. Combined with Rachel’s earlier mistakes and an unexplained ankle scar, the detail convinces Bel that Rachel is lying about her disappearance story.

The mall also intensifies the public spectacle around Rachel’s return, with strangers filming them and the documentary crew capturing every moment. Bel’s isolation deepens as she considers confiding in Ash but ultimately keeps her suspicions to herself.

Summary

Bel and Rachel go to the White Mountains Mall with the documentary crew filming them. Rachel walks quickly and avoids Ramsey’s questions about returning to the place tied to her disappearance, saying she cannot discuss an ongoing criminal investigation and only wants to shop with her daughter. Bel notices Rachel repeatedly calls her Anna and feels unsettled by the forced intimacy.

Inside H&M, Rachel asks Bel to help choose clothes because modern styles feel unfamiliar. Bel picks practical outfits, and Rachel becomes emotional, thanking Bel and again calling her Anna. In the fitting rooms, Rachel asks to leave the cubicle door partly open because the space feels too tight, which makes Bel briefly wonder if Rachel’s trauma might explain her odd behavior.

While helping Rachel adjust her socks, Bel notices a large healed scar on Rachel’s ankle near the dressing from the chain wound. Bel questions why Rachel never mentioned the scar if her captor never touched her, but Bel tries to explain it away as an older injury from the cuff. Rachel then remarks that Bel owns a gold bracelet with skulls, a bracelet Bel threw away years earlier after Sam Blake gave it to her.

Bel realizes Rachel could only have known about the bracelet from an old Instagram photo, but Rachel has had no phone, internet access, or opportunity to find it since reappearing. This becomes decisive proof to Bel that Rachel is lying about at least part of her story. The certainty intensifies Bel’s anxiety, and Bel secretly steals a small pot of lip balm while Rachel is distracted; Bel thinks Ash may have seen but Ash says nothing.

As they move through the mall, more people recognize Rachel, stare, record, and take photos. Rachel stops where the old Moose Mouse Coffeehouse used to be, now a Starbucks, and mourns the cinnamon buns she once wanted to share with Bel. Rachel also quietly points out the staff-only area where she says she and young Bel hid, leaving Bel unsure whether that part of Rachel’s account might still be true.

At T-Mobile, Rachel buys a new iPhone with Charlie’s credit card and asks Bel to help set it up, accidentally starting to call Bel Anna again. Bel agrees for the cameras, then steps away and talks with Ash. When Ash calls the situation unbelievable, Bel wonders if he might secretly doubt Rachel too, but Bel decides not to confide in him and answers with the word in its skeptical sense.

Who Appears

  • Bel Price
    Shops with Rachel, uncovers a major inconsistency, steals lip balm, and keeps her suspicions private.
  • Rachel Price
    Returned mother shopping for clothes; emotional, evasive, and caught knowing impossible details about Bel.
  • Ash
    Documentary crew member who may notice Bel stealing and briefly tempts Bel as a possible confidant.
  • Ramsey
    Documentary director who tries to question Rachel but backs off when she refuses.
  • James
    Camera operator filming Rachel and Bel throughout the public mall visit.
  • Saba
    Boom operator struggling to keep up as Rachel moves quickly through the mall.
  • T-Mobile sales assistant
    Helps Rachel choose a phone while performing for the documentary camera.
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