Chapter 32
It can’t be true, can it? But as the car thumps along the dark road, I realize it all makes horrible, terrifying sense.
And if true, it means Iamresponsible for Riley’s murder, tapping the first domino when I called Morgan and shared my concerns about the timeline. She must have made contact with Riley soon afterward and found out by midday that Riley was going to come clean. And she couldn’t let that happen. My stomach turns as I imagine her driving to Hilary’s house, plotting to take Riley’s life.
The ride seems interminable, but finally I’m knocking on the door of Logan’s room. He ushers me inside and immediately pulls me into an embrace. I feel my eyes well up against the threads of his sweater.
“Bree, what the hell is going on?” he says.
“I think I know who killed Mel,” I say, pulling back. “And it wasn’t Ruck.”
“What?” I can tell from the expression in his eyes that he thinks I’ve gone down a rabbit hole again.
“Please, Logan, it’s going to sound crazy, but you need to hear me out.”
“I will, but justtellme. I’m going out of my mind.”
From a quick glance around, I realize I’m in the sitting room of a suite rather than a bedroom. I move quickly to the couch and collapse on it, while Logan takes a seat in the armchair directly across.
Peeling off my coat, I start with what I discovered this morning about the creek water, my call afterward to Riley, and then my visit to Alison’s studio and what she confessed about her affair with Mel. Logan’s eyes widen, and he begins to pepper me with questions, but I hold up my hand, asking him to let me finish first because the worst is yet to come.
Next, I describe the heart-wrenching scene of finding Riley’s body at Hilary Brown’s house and how our suspicions became aroused. Finally, I tell him about my meeting with Morgan, her comment about Plutarch, and the admission from Alison when I was on my way back.
By the time I finish, Logan’s jaw has dropped in shock—though not, it seems, in total disbelief.
“My God,” he says, roughly massaging the back of his neck. “You’re saying Morgan Kroll killed Riley—and Mel,too? That Ruck told the truth after all?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“That fucking bitch.”
“You don’t think I’ve lost my mind?” I ask.
“No ... I mean, we need more information, but it sounds like she had a motive, and this would explain the inconsistencies Halligan originally insisted we shouldn’t ignore, like Mel not having a bite mark. All Morgan would have had to work with was what Riley said she’d experienced before she escaped.”
“It also explains why half of Mel’s clothes were torn off but there was no sexual assault.”
I hate how matter-of-fact I’m being about the brutal death of my child, but it’s the only way to sort through this without my head exploding.
“So, it was all about jealousy, then?” Logan says as the crease deepens between his eyes. “Kroll killed Melanie to eliminate a rival?”
“Yes, that’s what my gut is telling me. Alison said Morgan was furious, and she might have already thought about killing Mel. Thenwhen Riley confided in her about the attack, she suddenly had a way to do it and make it look like a sexual predator was on the loose.”
Logan shakes his head in disgust.
“Christ, Bree, she might have killed you, too—if the cab hadn’t come along.”
Had I really been in danger? Even in the safety of this room, I shudder at the memory of Morgan’s hand gripping my arm and the sound of her footsteps after I fled her car.
“Maybe. It would have been a risk for her to try something in a public setting ... and yet she’d done it before. And she obviously thought nothing of killing Riley.”
“But why, for God’s sake? That’s one part I don’t get.”
“Because—and I’m just wrapping my head around all this—she found out Riley was going to change her story and tell the real date.”
Thanks to me, of course, and my stomach clenches at the thought. I’d vowed not to fawn this time and instead kept digging and prodding, with Riley as collateral damage.
“But wouldn’t Morgan havewantedRiley’s attack to seem like the first of two in the area?” Logan says.
