Brooke flinched. The memory of that day, of Kelsey and the hired killer and how close they’d all come to dying, was still sharp. Maybe if she hadn’t been so stubborn and turned around when the weather first started, they would’ve been able to get off the mountain before the road flooded, trapping them there in a storm. Trapping them with a killer. “I know. I screwed up.”
“But after everything that happened, you seemed better,” Nick said. “You switched to the shorter distance and finished strong. You’ve been taking it easy, being more careful.”
“Until Sunday,” Gina said. “When you went hiking alone in the mountains. That was poor judgment, Brooke. You know better.”
“I do,” Brooke admitted. “Going alone was stupid. I should’ve made a few more calls and found someone to go with me, or just skipped it. But that doesn’t mean meeting Tyler was a bad thing. And it doesn’t mean he’s guilty.”
“Are you sure about that?” Joe asked.
“No,” Brooke said honestly. “I’m not sure about anything. But I don’t think he killed Sheila. And I don’t think he killed his family. And what’s that whole story Adam had about looking for unsolved murders and disappearances where Tyler lived? That seems odd, like he’s grasping at straws.”
“It’s a reasonable thing to check.” Joe shrugged. “I’d do it, too, if I were investigating the case.”
“Bottom line is, I need to know if I’m right or if I’m making another mistake in judgment.”
The table went quiet as the waitress brought their sodas. “Food’ll be right out,” she said before leaving them alone.
They all took a moment to drink and think.
Finally, Gina spoke, “If you’re sure about this—really sure—I’ll support you. But you have to be careful. No going off alone. No taking unnecessary risks. And if at any point you think Tyler might actually be dangerous, you walk away. You tell Adam or Edi or someone everything you know about Tyler. Deal?”
“Deal,” Brooke agreed.
“I can help,” Joe offered. “Research, background checks, that kind of thing. I know how to dig into records without raising red flags.”
“And I can ask around,” Nick added. “Construction sites are gossip central. If there’s talk about Tyler or Sheila or anything related, I’ll hear it.”
Brooke felt something ease inside her. These were her people. Her tribe. The ones who’d been with her through the worst day of her life and were still standing by her now.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.
“Just be careful,” Gina repeated. “Adam’s not wrong about one thing—if Tyler is guilty, he’s dangerous. And even if he’s not, the real killer is still out there.”
The food arrived, and they purposely shifted to a new subject before wrapping things up.
Nick gave everyone a ride back to their vehicles. When they reached the parking lot, Gina turned to Brooke. “Remember, be smart.”
“I will,” she promised.
“I’m going to do some checking around,” Joe said. “I’ll call you if I find anything substantial. I think I’ll go to the arraignment too. You planning to be there?”
“I hadn’t thought about it,” Brooke admitted. She shook her head. “No, I won’t be there.”
She knew that was the right decision, though part of her felt like she should go, to show her support for Tyler if nothing else.
But the idea of seeing him there bothered her. She assumed he’d be in jail clothes. What did they even wear at the Basin County Detention Center? Orange jumpsuits with some kind of slide sandal? She didn’t know, but that’s the kind of outfit they wore on television, and she didn’t want to see Tyler dressed like that.
As Brooke climbed into her SUV, she thought about Adam’s certainty, his determination to “nail” Tyler. About her brother’s conviction that Tyler was innocent. About Tyler’s eyes when they’d led him away in handcuffs.
Someone was wrong. Either Adam, who genuinely believed he was protecting her. Or her brother, who’d never been wrong about people before, to her knowledge. Or Brooke herself, whose judgment had failed her catastrophically in the recent past.
She needed to find out which. She needed to understand the truth, whatever it was.
Even if that truth turned out to be something she didn’t want to face.
Tomorrow, she’d talk to Phil and find out what he knew, try to understand why he’d believed in Tyler all those years ago.
And then she’d decide for herself whether Tyler was a man wrongly accused or a killer who’d fooled them all.
