Chapter Ten
The interview room went in and out of focus. It was difficult to breathe. I couldn't take my eyes off my daughter.
"Careful," Camille said to Mia, looking flustered for the first time. This was not what we'd gone over in our pre-interview meeting. "If you're going to change anything about your earlier statement, we need to take a break now?—"
"No," Mia said with more force than anything she'd said all morning. "No breaks. If I stop, I won't say it. I just need to say it."
A vein pulsed in Camille's temple. "Mia?—"
Mia looked at me, desperation in her eyes. "I want to, Mom."
I looked between them, uncertain whether to agree with Camille or defend Mia. Camille was the expert, but Mia wanted to unburden herself, and I only wanted to support her, however I could. The truth mattered. For Leah, for her grieving family, for all of us.
Tremulously, I nodded. Camille scowled in irritation but waved a hand for the interview to continue.
"When did you go back out to the bluff?" King asked, his voice low and gentle, coaxing.
"After everyone went to bed." Her words tumbled out now, tripping over each other in their rush to get out. "For another photoshoot. A midnight photoshoot. Chloe said the moon was bright andthat it would look better. She wanted… she wanted different vibes. Just us."
Callahan leaned in. Her eyes were glinting and laser-focused on Mia. "Who's 'us'?"
"Me, Chloe, and Leah," Mia said. "The three of us."
"What time was this?" King asked.
"After midnight. Everyone else was asleep. Chloe came over to my sleeping bag and kicked it, like, gently. She said, 'Wake up, Kincaid, we're doing Round Two.' She said the moon was perfect."
"And Leah?" King asked. "How did she end up going with you?"
"She was awake," Mia said. "Or half-awake. Chloe said we needed her. She had us get dressed again in the downstairs bathroom. Then we snuck out."
"How?"
"Through the patio doors, in the basement."
The image unfolded unbidden in my mind: three girls tiptoeing through a sleeping house, their whispered giggles, their phone screens illuminating the dark. Moonlight pouring silver over the backyard with the bluff looming, the lake like a black mouth.
"You took your camera?" King asked.
"Yes."
"Did Zara or Alexis or anyone else wake up?" Callahan asked.
"I don't think so," Mia said. "No one said anything. We were quiet."
"Then what happened?" King asked. "Take your time."
Mia gulped for air. Her hands shook. "I took pictures of Chloe posing, then Leah, and then Leah took a few pictures of me. Leah said she was dizzy. She… she would get like that. With heights. Chloe wanted, like, edgy shots. She told Leah to stand closer to the edge, to lean back a little, like she wasn't scared. Leah kept saying she hated heights. It happened sometimes when she was nervous. She got these stupid nosebleeds."
"How bad was the bleeding?" King asked.
"It was dripping," Mia said. "Down her lip. Onto her chin. And onto my dress. I was holding her arm. She grabbed me when shegot dizzy. It—" She gestured helplessly. "It got on me. That's why…"
"That's why Leah's blood is on your dress," King finished for her.
"Yeah."
"The match proves nothing." Camille scribbled on a notepad. "Leah got nosebleeds. You can confirm this with her parents and friends."
