“Yeah,” I sigh. “All of that would make me believe that Gen could be my stalker. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is how would she know enough about what happened in Hemlock Beach to accuse me? That was why I suspected Nash. He’s the only person who could have put me at that party.”
“Fuck,” Nash intervenes, but this time he doesn’t look offended. “She might not know, but she definitely thought about you in connection with Tim’s murder.”
We all look at Nash as if he had sprouted a second head. “Come again?” I ask. “Why would she connect me to the murder, and how do you know?”
Nash rubs the back of his neck. “It’s kinda my fault. Right before Tucker’s birthday, Gen asked me to go to the party at Starstruck as her date. When I said no, she got really pissed.”
Jealousy makes me dig my nails into my palms. “That bitch. But what does that have to do with the murder?”
“After I said no, my phone rang, and it was the police from South Carolina who wanted to ask more questions. They were interviewing everyone who they could place at that party again. I thought that Gen had fucked off, but she hadn’t. She waited for me to be done with the conversation, and she eavesdropped. When I was done talking to thedeputy sheriff, she started asking questions about the murder. She even said that killers are hot. Some nonsense about reading dark romance.” Nash says with a shudder.
“I still don’t understand what made you think she connected me to the murder.”
He explains. “She didn’t connect you as such, but she said that you probably knew something about it too, since you went to school in Hemlock Beach. She said she wanted to know if you had a theory about the murder.”
In my mind, that’s the confirmation I needed. “So maybe she doesn’t really know anything, but since Jo-Jo and I came from Hemlock Beach, she might have decided to taunt me about it.”
Colsen considers my words. “Especially if she overheard that the police were talking to everyone who could have been there or knew Tim, she might have assumed that you would be interviewed too and that an accusation could scare you.”
Nash doesn’t look convinced. “I mean, it’s possible, but it feels a little far-fetched, don’t you think? She has nothing but the knowledge that you attended the same school. That you might have known the victim and you could have been at that party would be just conjecture that could apply to every woman enrolled in the same college.”
“Do you think someone like Gen would need proof to throw accusations against someone she considers a rival?” I ask.
The guys agree that I’m right.
“So, what are we going to do?” Nash’s question catches me unprepared.
“I don’t know.” I sigh. “Jodie was trying to get Gen’s phone to see if she had any suspicious messages in it. That would be the proof we need to solve this mystery.”
Colsen doesn’t seem convinced. “Do you really think that Gen would be so stupid to use her phone for it? If I were sending threats to someone, I’d get a burner phone. And now that you destroyed your phone, we need them to prove that someone was blackmailing you.”
“I understand why you destroyed it, if the stalker was tracking you through it.” Tucker is rubbing his chin, deep in thought. “But I’m sure we can get those messages back. They’ll be in the cloud, right?”
“Why would I want to get those messages back?” I ask with a shudder.
Nash’s next words confirm all my worst fears. “Because you’re in danger, Trouble. Whoever is stalking you escalated the situation from verbal threats to physical violence. They probably sabotaged your car and then followed you to jump you. We have to call the police, and we have to show them those messages.”
Everything they’re saying makes sense. “Right. I guess I’ll be safe from my stalker in a prison cell if anything.”
“A prison cell? What are you talking about?” Nash asks.
I can’t even look at him. At them. “Because the second the police hear everything I just told you, they’ll arrest me for Tim’s murder.”
There’s terror in my shaky voice, and I don’t realize that my whole body is shaking until Tucker pulls me into his arms. “Why the fuck would they arrest you, baby?”
“Because they’re looking for me. I’m the last person who saw Tim alive. I was the only one in that room with him, covered in his blood. The knife that killed him was by my side on the floor.”
“Yes. And if I think that whoever hurt this Tim guy could have hurt you too…” Colsen says with a shudder.
Nash and Tucker nod in agreement, and it dawns on methat they think someone else did it. “You don’t think it was me?” My voice is barely above a whisper.
“You?” Nash sounds shocked. “Why would we think that?”
“Because… I don’t know why. I couldn’t remember anything after following Tim to his room. And I thought…”
Tucker holds me tighter. It scares me how much comfort I find in his arms.
“Baby, no. You were drugged. And I’ll tell you what, if Tim did it, the motherfucker is lucky he’s dead. Because if I put my hands on him, I would make what happened to him look like a really painless way to die.”
