“No. She fell. I…I tried to save her. She…she got too close to the edge.”
“And then you pushed her.”
“Shut up!”
I move around the coffee table, knocking a beer bottle to the floor. Trevor spins around, hands held out to his sides. The floor creaks under my feet, and I sidestep out of his reach at the last second. Taking one of the pictures of Lynn I printed, I toss it down. Once it leaves my grasp, it comes into his sight.
“Stop it!” he screams, bringing his hands to his head. “Leave me alone! I didn’t kill her! I didn’t.”
He’s getting close to breaking already. I lean over, putting my face closer to my purse. “Now,” I tell Gemma. I inch around the coffee table, looking out the window. Gemma and Nick are getting out of the car and rushing toward the house.
“Why did you do it?” I go on, throwing another picture of Lynn on the ground. This one hasmurdererwritten across it in red ink.
“I didn’t!”
“Stop lying.” I put my hand on the lock on the front door, waiting another beat before shooting back the deadbolt. Any second now, Nick will be on the front porch.
“I didn’t do it!” Trevor’s eyes are on the front door. I dart forward, picking up the remote to the TV. I turn the TV off and throw the remote across the room, taking his attention away from the door.
I throw the window open and cool night air blows through the house. I have a few more pictures left, and this time, I hold one that I printed off Trevor’s Facebook. I summon the fire around my fingers and ignite the paper. The end burns and curls as it floats to the ground.
I move around, standing close behind Trevor. “Admit it!” I whisper in his ear. “Admit you pushed her.”
“All right!” he cries, falling to the ground. “I pushed her. We were fighting and I pushed her. But I didn’t mean to kill her!”
“You only wanted to seriously hurt her?”
“No, I…I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking. I was mad and it was a reaction!”
“So you admit it. You. Killed. Lynn.” I grab a handful of his hair and yank his head back. “Tell the truth!”
“I did it! I did it,” he sobs. “I pushed her and she died. I’m sorry!”
With that, Nick comes into the house through the open door. I step to the side and drop the concealment charm. I step on it, crushing the glass bead. The spell is broken and I come back into view. Nick blinks, obviously confused about how I just showed up. But he snaps out of it and arrests Trevor for Lynn’s murder.
“It worked,” Gemma says, watching as Nick takes Trevor to his squad car. “It actually worked.”
“He cracked easily,” I tell her, turning the lock on the doorknob. I pull the front door closed and join her on the porch. “He must have felt a lot of guilt over the years for this. Lucky for us.”
She nods. “So…is it over? Will Lynn cross over?”
“I don’t know.” We walk down the porch steps. “And I’m not too sure how to find out.” I flick my eyes to the night sky. The guys are awake now, and Jac will know what to do from here.
Nick puts Trevor in the backseat of his car and closes the door. He watches as I cross the street.
“How did you know?” he asks me.
“Just a hunch.”
Nick crosses his arms and hikes his eyebrows. “A hunch, really? Come on, Bisset, you can do better than that.”
“Fine, I can. But the less you know, the better. Just…just get him to confess again during questioning and stick to our plan.”
“I can do that. I was driving by and heard the disturbance. I went to make sure he was okay and heard him confessing.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he says, looking conflicted. A beat passes between us and he meets my gaze with a lopsided smile. “Even on vacation you’re solving cases long overlooked.”
