“Do you ever worry about coming out here? Whoever killed Audrey could be anywhere.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pocketknife, turning it over in her hand before pressing the button on the side. The blade flicked open with a sharp click.
“I keep this with me,” she said, her grip tightening on the handle. “People think I’m fragile, that I can’t handle what happened. But they’re wrong. I’m not afraid, and I want to look the person who took her life in the eye. I want them to know what they took from me.”
The knife’s blade caught the light, and I felt a knot tighten in my chest. “I understand why you feel that way. You want justice, and I respect that. But confronting whoever did this isn’t something you can prepare for with a knife. Audrey didn’t see it coming, and I don’t want the same thing to happen to you. If you want to help her, instead of putting your own life in jeopardy, help me find the truth. We’ll do it together, the right way.”
Talia’s jaw tightened, the light in her eyes shifting from defiance to something more guarded. For a moment, I thought she might argue my point, but then she sighed and pressed the button to close the knife.
She slipped it back into her pocket and turned toward me. “I know you’re just trying to look out for me. It’s just hard sitting around, doing nothing, while whoever did this to her gets to walk free.”
“I know,” I said. “But doing something reckless won’t bring her back. She’d want you to stay alive, to honor her memory, and to live a full life, the life she never got to live.”
We turned back toward the house, the forest going quiet as we made our exit.
“I’ll be honest with you, because I think that’s what you want from me,” I said. “It won’t feel normal for a while. Grief has a way of making every day feel the same, like you’re stuck inside a moment that never ends. But one morning, you’ll wake up and realize you made it through the night without crying. That’s how it happens. Small steps. Little by little.”
She nodded but said nothing.
“You’ll never stop missing her,” I said. “But the pain changes. It settles into something you can carry, something that reminds you of just how much she mattered.”
The house came into view through the trees, which meant our time was coming to an end, and there was one more thing I hadn’t talked to her about yet. As I glanced toward the kitchen window, Brianne’s silhouette moved past, no doubt wondering where we’d been and what we’d talked about.
“There’s something you should know, if you don’t already,” I said.
She looked at me, wary. “What is it?”
“It’s about Logan. He’s missing. He’s been gone for five days now.”
Talia blinked, confusion giving way to disbelief. “Missing? What do you mean, missing? Did he run off?”
“That’s what it looks like,” I said. “I was hoping you might know something that could point to where he went.”
“I don’t. He texted me a few times on the day Audrey died, and a couple of other times just to check in, but then he went quiet. I figured he needed space.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket and scrolled to the photos I’d taken of the drawings from Logan’s notebook and turned the phone toward her. “These are some of Logan’s sketches. Do you recognize any of them?”
She studied the screen. “This one in the woods … I don’t know. He used to go camping or fishing on the weekends when he wanted to be alone. That was before he started dating Audrey. After, he never wanted to leave her side.”
“What about this one?” I asked, showing her the sketch of the locket. “Have you ever seen it before?”
Talia frowned, taking a longer look. “I don’t recognize it.”
I flipped back a few photos, showing her the sketch of Audrey. “Do you know anything about this one?”
She nodded. “Yeah, he was making a portrait of Audrey as a graduation gift. He showed me the rough outline once. It’s beautiful. Do you think, I mean, the night of the party when I saw them whispering … do you think they knew something, that there was a secret they were keeping? You think that’s why Logan’s been gone for so long?”
“I don’t know yet, but I hope to have some answers soon.”
Talia crossed her arms. “If Logan’s tied to Audrey’s murder somehow, and if he’s in danger, I hope you find him before whoever hurt Audrey finds him first.”
10
Giovanni parked the car at the end of a narrow road that bled into the woods, and I glanced out my window, noticing the afternoon light filtering in through a canopy of pines. Beyond the trees, the faint outline of an old trail wound through the brush. It was part of the path I’d followed earlier with Talia.
“You sure this is the spot?” Giovanni asked, squinting toward the trees.
“I think so,” I said, stepping out of the car. “If what Foley told me is right, the cabin should be somewhere around here.”
