Mia looked between us. Trapped. Terrified.
"Mom..." Her voice was so small. "Chloe wasn't completely lying."
The floor seemed to tilt beneath me. My brain refused to process her words. "What?"
The words tumbled out in a rush. "I was there. When it happened. When Leah fell. I was there."
Chapter Thirty-Nine
A cold draft moved over the back of my neck like a ghost. Outside, the knocking came again. Harder. The police at the door.
Vivienne blinked at Mia. "What are you saying?"
"She was saying mean things." She pressed the heel of her hands to her eyes like she could stop the memory from unwinding inside her brain. "It was an accident. I didn't mean it. Mom, I promise. I didn't. We argued. I got so mad. I—I pushed her."
I gaped at Mia. My daughter. Present when Leah fell. Every rationalization I'd built—the scratches from thorns, the DNA from the nosebleed—collapsed like a house of cards. I couldn't breathe.
Everything I'd fought for, every sleepless night investigating, every confrontation, had been built on a lie.
My daughter had pushed Leah Cho off a cliff. And I hadn't known.
My mouth tasted like copper. "You pushed Leah?"
Vivienne made a sound, a half-sob, half-growl of agony. Her hands came up to her mouth, then dropped. She stared at Mia as if seeing her for the first time, and something in her face broke. Not grief this time. Something harder. Colder. "You killed my Leah? You?"
Mia shook her head hard, strands of hair sticking to her mouth.She looked gaunt suddenly, hollowed out. Her eyes were feverish. "I didn't mean to—she grabbed me and I… she just fell."
Another knock at the front door. Harder, insistent. "Police! Open the door!"
"It was an accident!" Mia said. "I didn't want to hurt her! Please believe me!"
Vivienne moved woodenly toward the front door. She swung it open and stepped aside.
My gaze darted to the camera sitting on the kitchen table, evidence in plain sight. Without thinking, I grabbed the Nikon and shoved it into my purse.
Detective King stepped inside. His immense shadow filled the doorway. Two uniformed officers came in behind him, followed by Detective Callahan. Their attention zeroed in on Mia.
King said, "We have an eyewitness account from Chloe Westinghouse stating you pushed your friend Leah from the bluff. Mia Kincaid, you're under arrest for the murder of Leah Cho."
Instinctively, I stepped in front of my daughter, placing myself between her and the people who would take her from me.
Daniel strode down the hallway into the kitchen. His face was ashen. He took in the cuffs, the uniforms, Vivienne's shattered face. The muscles in his jaw jumped. He put his hand around his wife's arm as if to steady her or himself.
Vivienne made that raw, tortured sound again, higher this time. A wounded animal.
King strode into the kitchen. His sharp gaze never left my daughter's face. "Move aside, please, Ms. Kincaid."
Reluctantly, I did. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done.
"Mom!" Her frantic eyes were glued to mine. Huge and terrified and pleading.
But I couldn't help her. I couldn't save her. My daughter. My child. The girl who still slept with the stuffed sloth she'd had since she was four years old.
Detective Callahan went to Mia, handcuffs already in hand. The corner of her mouth twitched with satisfaction. Not quite a smile,but close. "You have the right to remain silent." She read Mia her rights. I barely heard the words over the frantic buzzing in my brain.
Mia blanched. "It wasn't like that. It's not what you think, I didn’t mean it?—"
"Don't," I said sharply. The word scraped my throat raw. "Do not say anything. Do you hear me? Not one word."
