“He was twelve years old and he was fine until he wasn’t,” Jules recounted what Krista told them. “He had a seizure and they rushed him to the vet where they had to put him down.”
“God, that must’ve been awful,” Shelly said.
Hobbit pointed to the bullet besideAlone. “So her dog died, a dog she’s loved since she was, like, four, and her best friend is that horsey girl, what’s her name? She goes to Montana every year right after school gets out...”
“Amanda,” Sadie volunteered. “And yup. Amanda was at horsebacking riding camp, so Krista went to the party at Brian’s, hoping to meet up with some of her other friends who were still in town. But they never showed.”
Alone. Green check.
“She also had at least two of those red solo cups of beer from the keg. Maybe more,” Jules reported as Hobbit swiftly filled in the info on the board. It was remarkable how neatly he wrote—and how he didn’t miss a single beat. “The soccer team was there, and yes, with some friends of theirs from out of town. She didn’t know whether or not they were from Ottersfield—just some other school nearby.”
Hobbit put a green check with a question mark—good clarification—afterUnknowns from O.
“Kristadidsay that Rod and his friends were being their usual asshole selves,” Sadie pointed out. “She remembered thinking she should leave, and...”
“That was it,” Jules said. “The rest of the night was a blank, until she woke up, in the woods, half-naked, and throwing up.”
Hobbit swiftly went down the list with his green marker. Check, check, check, check.
“She got her clothes back on just a minute or two before Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Rogers found her. They were part of the search party,” Sadie added.
“She told her parents she drank too much and passed out,” Jules said, “skipping over the waking-up-naked part because,well... But a month later her older sister took her into New Haven, and um...”
Sadie was unafraid to say the words. “Krista had an abortion. FYI that info does not leave this room. Are we clear about that?” She looked each of them in the eye while wearing her fiercest Sadie-face. Everyone nodded.
Jules was already on board—it was a promise they’d made to Krista, who hadn’t told anyone besides her sister about any of it. Not her parents, not even her friend Amanda. It was a little daunting—the trust she’d placed in him and Sadie.
“So there’s absolutely no doubt about it,” Belle came to the same grim conclusion that Jules had, hours ago. “Even though she doesn’t remember it happening, Krista got pregnant. Which means she was definitely raped that night.”
“So I probably was raped, too,” Shelly whispered. She was looking directly at him for confirmation, so Jules nodded.
“You were,” he told her, taking themaybeout of it, because, Jesus, he wanted to be honest with her. And after talking to Krista, he had no doubt. It was clearly the same person or persons who’d committed all three of these crimes. “Raped.” Time for him to call it what it was. “But wearegoing to find him. I promise you that.”
She nodded.
“Also,” Jules said. “Something that Krista told me—Sadie, it was when you were in the bathroom, and I meant to tell you in the car, but... she got pissed when I used the wordvictim. She said she’s not a victim, and well, Shelly, you’re not either. You’resurvivors.” He put it into Shelly-and-Sadie-speak. “Fuck thatvictimshit. Yeah, you survived something that really,reallysucks, but you’re a strong, unbreakable woman with friends who love you.”
Shelly’s smile was tremulous, but it was a smile. She nodded. “Survivor,” she whispered. “Yeah.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Present Day
Burbank, California
Mission Day Two
As Sam pulled through the gate of the Devonshire estate, Jules exhaled the breath he’d probably unconsciously been holding, at the sight of a gray-haired woman standing beside an older but well-kept sedan.
It was Rene—at least they hoped it was Rene and not someone else like Rene’s sister or friend, come to tell them that Rene, too, had had a fatal heart attack that morning.
Sam was still a little freaked out from their badly timed visit to the Magic Hour Home for the Aged in Pasadena. Where an ambulance had been parked out front when they’d arrived.
As they’d walked in, the teamof paramedics were walking out a rolling stretcher upon which lay someone in a body bag.
“Oh, shit,” Jules had breathed, and Sam had tried to be glass half full.
“There’s gotta be a hundred people living here,” he murmured. “The odds of that being Gavin are?—”
