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“You tell me.”

Geneva looked at the floor. “What’s going on? Do you think I’m lying about something?”

Did I? I didn’t know anymore. I knew the sensible thing to do was extract myself from her case entirely if I harbored any doubts about her involvement. And yet, I didn’t think I could walk away. Those crime scene photos played on a loop in my mind. Four young women. Cut down before their lives really had a chance to begin.

Could the woman in front of me really be involved with that? If so, why in the world would she ask me to dredge all of it up now? She had to know I could stumble on the truth.

The truth. Had Derrek Sidney acted alone?

“Geneva,” I said. “I’m just at the beginning of this. It’s going to take me more time to understand all the evidence in this case. I need to talk to other witnesses. Probably the families of the other victims. You do understand that, don’t you?”

She looked up at me. “What could their families tell you that I haven’t? They weren’t there. All that would do is cause them pain. I don’t want to do that. Please don’t.”

It might be a reasonable request under normal circumstances. If a thing like this could at all be normal.

“If the theory is Sidney had help, then someone either guided him through that house or he knew the layout beforehand. I need to know as much about your friends and what was going on in their lives as I do you. So you need to decide right here. Right now. I won’t do this by half measures. If I continue with this case, I’ll turn over every stone. Do you understand what that means?”

“I think so.”

“It means I may come to a conclusion that you don’t like. And I need your full cooperation. Whatever I ask of you, you do it. If you can’t live with that, tell me right now.”

“Mercy,” she said. “I need to know who’s doing this to me.” She waved her phone in the air. “I need to face what happened that night. I cannot let it rule me anymore. So yes. Okay. I’ll cooperate.”

I sat back in my chair. She was convincing. Once again, I came back to the same question. Why would Geneva want me involved? Why would she pay me to reinvestigate this case if she had something to hide?

“Tell me about your relationships with each of the girls,” I asked.

Geneva sighed. “We’d been friends since junior high. Certain times I was closer with different people than others. You know how it is in high school. But we loved each other. We shared everything. I knew Annabelle the longest though. We went to elementary school together. I probably had the most in common with Maisy. Sarah was more distant. Emily was just the peacemaker of the group. I don’t know what you want me to say. We were just a bunch of normal teenage girls. It was about to be a big time in our lives.”

Was she hiding something in that answer? What was in that yellow file of Holland’s? My own curiosity burned within me. Could I walk away myself? Even if Geneva were involved?

“Okay,” I heard myself say. “Then we’re clear. I need you to be careful. Stay safe. Be smart. If you ever feel like you’re in danger, you call the police. Understand?”

She nodded. “You’ll help me? You’ll see this through?”

Be careful what you wish for, a voice inside me whispered.

“I will.”

Geneva rose on unsteady legs. She said a hasty goodbye and showed herself out. As soon as I heard the outer door close, my father appeared in my doorway.

“How much did you hear?” I asked.

“All of it,” he answered. “Thin walls. Are you sure about this?”

“No.”

“But we’re doing it anyway,” he said. It was a statement, not a question.

I nodded. A slow smile crept across his face. “That’s my girl. I’ve still got a contact or two with the state police. I’ll see if I can’t get a hold of the full materials from Geneva’s poly. It’s a long shot. They don’t have to keep records for very long.”

“I need to know more about Sidney’s known associates. Someone helped him escape custody. I’m going to find out who it was.”

Dad raised a brow. “You really think there’s ground there that hasn’t been covered?”

“It hasn’t been covered by me. By us.”

His smile widened even further. “What’s your next step?”