I wince at the tall figure waiting in the doorway. Max runs his eyes over us as we approach, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Are youpouting?” Theo’s lips tilt up at the edges, amusement creeping into his tired face. “And why aren’t you wearing any fucking clothes?”
Max shrugs where he leans against the door in his underwear. “I thought Jake’d been kidnapped. Came running out to find him driving off without a thought in the world. Abandoning me.”
Slapping him on the shoulder, I move past him, the others following. “You seem to have survived.”
“Turned out it was a gang of feral raccoons in the trash. I barely escaped with my life.” He yawns, scratching his hand over his stubble as he follows us into the kitchen. “Despite my ordeal, Ididmanage to make coffee.”
Oscar brings him up to speed as we all slide into a seat. Max tilts his head to listen before bringing the cups over. “Is Nia alright?”
“Coming for breakfast tomorrow.” I take a sip, and then a bigger one, hoping the caffeine might chase my exhaustion away in time for me to get up for work. It’s no fun wrangling a chainsaw on an hour’s sleep, but it wouldn’t be the first time.
Theo doesn’t touch his. His brows are furrowed as he stares blankly at the wall opposite. The three of us exchange glances before Max taps his finger on the table. “Penny for your thoughts?”
It takes him a minute to respond. And when he does, I almost wish he hadn’t. “We need to speak to Kennedy.”
Max nearly spits out his coffee. Oscar stiffens, his lips pressing together.
I can feel the frown pulling at my face. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
None of us bother to ask why. Not when the answer has defined a significant amount of our time over the last six months. Max taps his fingers on the table, the casual movement contrasting to the tightness in his jaw. “She left town, Theo. Went to college.”
She left us behind without looking back.
“So we’ll track her down.” Theo’s eyes glitter. “It’s not like we don’t know where she went. She knows what happened. She knows more than she let on.”
“Theo—,”
“She’s the reason he’s dead.” He almost snarls the words. “She left him there, and nobody seemed to give a fuck.”
“Theo is right.” Oscar leans back, but the anger on his face belies his casual posture. “Why does she get to go on and live her life without any consequences after what she did?”
“While the rest of us drown.” Theo turns his phone over in his hands. It’s a familiar move, but the sight of it still makes my stomach flip.
Max and I swap looks. He sighs. “You still have the voicemail.”
Theo’s shoulders jerk. “Obviously. Why the fuck would I get rid of it? It’s evidence.”
“You already shared it with the cops.” I eye the phone as his fingers tap across the screen. “If there was anything to be done, they would have done it.”
Theo snorts. “Would they?”
“And what will you do, that they didn’t?” Max’s eyes are keen as they watch him. “Brett’s gone, Theo. We can’t change it.”
Theo stiffens. “Don’t give me thattime is a healerbullshit. I’m not going to hurt her. I just want to know the truth. She owes us the truth, if nothing else.”
I look to Oscar, watching us silently. “You agree with him?”
He lifts one shoulder. “Why wouldn’t I? We have the messages. We know what happened. But he’s dead, and she’s not.”
Theo flinches. “More’s the pity.”
My own shoulders stiffen at that, but I don’t say anything.
What the hell can I say?
Instead, we stay silent as the voice comes out of his phone, tinny and familiar in a way that sinks into my bones like a warm bath.
