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The house was gone, but in its place, a giant fountain had been erected. The college would be doing the big dedication and memorial for that fountain in a few days. For now, though, when Shelby and Hunter drove by the fountain, it had been still and dark. Waiting.

“We’ll visit as many familiar locations as we can,” he said, killing the engine. “And we’ll talk to locals who were here at the time of the attacks. Visit the cops. Look over the case files. See if anything jumps out at us.”

“See if anything stirs my memory, you mean.” The dark spaces that needed to come into the light.

“Yes.”

She fiddled with the handle of the door. “You haven’t pushed me hard on what I remembered yet. On the things that led me to your office.” She’d thought he’d demand more answers on the drive. He hadn’t.

“Because I’m waiting on you to tell me about them. I know you’ll tell me, when you’re ready.”

The light above the door flashed on and off. On and off. On and⁠—

A person in a gray shirt. Gray shirt. Gray, not black. A baseball cap pulled over his head as he slashes down with a knife toward⁠—

“I saw another person, in my dreams,” she whispered. “That made me come to you. He wasn’t wearing a black shirt. It was gray. Gray. Not black. Nate wore a black shirt.” A deep breath. “The man in the gray shirt was leaning over Kali in the den, as she bled out on the couch. I saw him from the back. I didn’t remember him before. All of those years. I didn’t remember him. But then I started seeing him in my dreams just a few weeks ago. I don’t know if he’s real or if my mind is playing tricks on me, but I have to find out.” She pulled her gaze off the blinking lights and glanced over at Hunter.

His fingers had tightened around the steering wheel. “Two perps? That’s what you think went down at your sorority house?”

She wanted to shove open the door. “Nate never said anything about having an accomplice. He never mentioned a word about someone else. He just said it wasn’t him. Again and again, he swore that he wasn’t guilty.”

“We need to pay Nate a visit.”

Yes. She knew that. Dreaded it but knew it.

“You saw the man from the back. Describe him.” A quiet order.

“There isn’t much to describe. Gray shirt. Ball cap. Baggy sweatpants. He was leaning over the couch, over Kali, and in my dream…” Dream or memory or…Just my mind playing tricks? “He has a knife in his hand.”

“Do you see his face?”

“Not yet,” she whispered. “But Hunter…” Her hand reached over. Touched his as he gripped the steering wheel. “I’m very afraid that he was there.”

Afraid she might have sent the wrong man to death row.

Afraid that, even if she’d been right about Nate, he hadn’t been alone that terrible night.

Afraid that a killer might still be out there.

“Forget us visiting Nate. I’ll talk to him. Me. Just me.” Hunter’s hard retort. “You stay as fucking far from him as possible.”

“That’s not how this is going to work. It’s my life. I need to be fully involved in this investigation. We’re partners, remember?” That had been the point. “I hired you to keep me safe. Not to keep me locked away.” She’d kept herself locked away long enough. Her hand pulled from his.

In a flash, his fingers curled around hers. “I am very familiar with your case files.”

Unease slithered through her.

“You might be having second thoughts about Nate’s guilt, but I’m not. I fully believe that sonofabitch is a killer. Blood was on his gloves. Your blood. Margot’s blood. Kim’s blood. You broke up with him because you found out that he’d fucked your friend, and he got furious. He blamed Margot for his own damn mistakes. He killed her, and then he came for you.”

That had been the story told by the prosecutor. Shelby blinked quickly because her vision had just gotten foggy. Won’t cry. I am tired of crying over this. “And what about the others?” Because the attack hadn’t just been about her and Margot.

Tonya, Aisha, Kali, Jenna, and Kim.

Hunter’s stare burned into her. “Some people just enjoy killing. They like hurting others.”

The unease within her grew. “I have to see Nate.” Even though the thought made her sick to her stomach.

“It’s a bad fucking idea. I don’t think his obsession with you has lessened over the years. If anything, he would have fixated on you even more. He’d be even more furious with you.”