"I don't think you did."
"I was asleep when it happened, okay? I didn't touch Leah. I didn't go near her."
"You hurt Leah, though. Before she died."
Color rose in her cheeks. Spots of heat against her pale skin.
"Vivienne showed us what Leah wrote. In her diary. About what you did to her."
Alexis went rigid. "That's ancient history."
"It's not."
Alexis turned away from me and reached for the backpack resting against the swing set. "You don't know what you're talking about. This conversation is scintillating and all, but I've got things to do."
I steeled myself. I needed to shift tactics. I didn't want to, I had to. It was the only way to get Alexis to talk. "I saw what your mother did to you last night."
Alexis froze.
The swings creaked faintly in the breeze. The aluminum slide glared in the sun.
"I saw her grab your wrist. Hard. I heard what she said to you."
Fear flickered in her eyes, followed by a flash of humiliation. Then the shutters came down. She angled her body away from me, her chin up, defiant. "You should mind your own damn business."
"Abuse is serious."
Her jaw clenched. "You don't know anything."
I nodded at her sleeve. "I know a bruise when I see one."
"You hide in bushes with binoculars like a creeper, or is that just for fun?"
"I was walking my dog. Your patio is perpendicular to the walking path. I saw everything."
"You don't know what you saw."
"I saw her hurt you. I heard her threaten you. I can see the bruises."
Her breath quickened. She stared down at her Doc Martins, refusing to meet my eyes.
"I know you're scared of her. I know she controls you. And I know you haven't told the truth about Friday night. I'm going to tell the detectives what I saw."
Her cheeks reddened. "You can't."
"If you don't talk to me, I'm going to the police about the abuse."
Sheer panic flared in her eyes. "You can't—she'll kill me?—"
"Then help me. Tell me what really happened that night, and I'll keep what I saw between us. For now."
There was a long pause as Alexis weighed her options. Part of me wanted to hug her, another part wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled and the truth fell out.
Finally, she looked up at me. "If I tell you, you can't tell my mom. Ever."
"If it's the truth, and it helps clear Mia, I'll do everything I can to protect you."
Alexis studied my face, as if trying to decide whether to trust me. She had no choice, and she knew it.
