"This morning," Drake said. "In his house."
"Who did it? Was it someone we know? Was it…" Her voice trailed away.
"Was it who?" I asked, seeing an odd look in Jenny's gaze.
"I don't know."
"You had a name in mind. You've been acting strange this entire week, Jenny."
"It's been a horrible week. Can you blame me?"
"You say you want to help," I continued, giving my old friend a speculative look. "But it seems like you mostly just want information. You always show up when something bad has happened. Who are you so worried about, Jenny?"
"I'm worried about Kelsey, about you, everyone. Why are you asking me these questions, Willow?"
I almost backed down, but there was something in Jenny's manner that wouldn't let me do that. Every conversation we'd had the past three days had been tinged with some hidden agenda I didn't understand. "Let's see. You've been very invested in the Gage, Carter, Kelsey triangle. Is it Gage you're worrying about? Carter? But you must have heard by now what happened to Carter."
"It's terrible," Jenny said. "And I'm not invested in their love triangle. I'm just concerned about my friends."
"Are they your friends?" I challenged shaking my head in confusion. "Something doesn't add up. If it's not Carter or Gage you're concerned about, who is it? Alex? James?" I caught the almost imperceptible shift in her gaze. "It's James."
"No. I'm not worried about James."
"Yes, you are," Drake said, his gaze narrowing on Jenny's face. "Why are you worried about him? What is James to you?"
"He's nothing to me."
"But you are worried about him," I said. When I told you the other day that James lied about where he was the night Melanie died, you had a strange reaction then, too."
"You're imagining things," Jenny said. "I don't even know why we're talking about me. I came over to see what you knew about Tom's death. I should go."
"Wait," I ordered. "Come on, Jenny. It's too late for secrets. Kelsey is missing. Carter is fighting for his life, and Tom is dead. If you know something, anything, you need to tell us right now."
"Do you know where James was the night Melanie disappeared?" Drake asked.
She stared back at us with indecision in her brown eyes. "Yes," she said finally. "James was with me."
"What?" I hadn't thought I could keep being surprised, but I was. "You and James were together? Why would you keep that a secret all these years?"
"Because he was dating Brooklyn. I knew it was wrong. I just liked him, and he liked me. I made a poor decision."
"Where were you that night? On the beach?"
"No. We were in the treehouse."
"Are you serious? That's why his car was spotted in town?" I asked.
"But he wasn't driving it; I was. I ran into him at the beach, and he had been drinking. We got in his car and started making out, and then he wanted to keep going. So, I drove him to my house, and I parked the car around back in the alley. He wanted to leave after we had sex, but he was still drunk, so I didn't give him his keys. I drove him back to the beach. I left him in his car, and I got a ride back to my house. That's the last I saw of him until the next day. But neither of us saw Melanie. We didn't lie about that."
I shook my head, feeling a heavy weight of cynicism. "That's what everyone says when they explain their lie. It's unbelievable how many people didn't tell the truth." I looked at Drake. "You were right. Everyone was lying. Everyone knew more than they were saying."
"Unfortunately, we still don't know who took Melanie away from us," he said harshly. "I suspect it's because someone has only told us half of their secret lie."
"I'm telling you the entire truth," Jenny said. "It's been eating away at me for years, but it got worse when everyone came back. And when Kelsey disappeared, I couldn't stand knowing that I was keeping a secret, even though I couldn't imagine that James was involved in Kelsey's disappearance any more than he was involved in Melanie's."
I thought about what she'd said. "You drove James back to the beach. So, you don't know where he went after that."
"I assume he walked to your house to meet Brooklyn, or maybe he drove there. I don't know. James isn't guilty of anything but drinking too much and cheating on his girlfriend."
"Easy to say, but you have no proof." Drake gave Jenny a scathing look. "You and Melanie were friends from the time you were little kids. And you protected James Connelly over your best friend. How could you do that?"
"I talked to James the next day. He swore he just went to Brooklyn's house, and I believed him."
"Because you were in love with him," I said. "You were the girl he talked to me about at the bonfire the other night. He mistook me for you, the girl who was too young but wanted him bad. For a second, I almost thought he was speaking about Melanie, but it was you." I paused. "Or was he also messing around with Melanie? You said you saw her looking at condoms."
"What?" Drake interrupted. "When was that? Was Melanie having sex?"
"I don't know," I said as his gaze swung to me. "Melanie never told me she was with anyone. But Jenny said she saw her looking at condoms in the pharmacy."
"I never heard that." Drake gave Jenny a hard look. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"We were just joking about condoms. I don't know if she was sleeping with anyone or just thinking about it."
"If she was having sex, then that person should be questioned," Drake added. "Who would it have been?"
"I don't know," Jenny said. "I'm sorry. Sorry for everything."
"How can I believe you're sorry when you're a liar?" he challenged.
She stiffened. "I'm not the only one, Drake."
"That's clear. This island is riddled with liars."
"At least, I'm owning up to it now," she said defensively.
"Bravo." He gave her a mocking clap.
Jenny bristled with anger. "I know what I did then was wrong, but what I did for you was even worse. I did not have anything to do with Melanie's disappearance, but I feel somewhat responsible for what happened to Kelsey."
"What do you mean—what you did for Drake?" I asked, confused by her words and the sudden tension between them. "And why would you be partly responsible for Kelsey's disappearance?"
Jenny turned to me. "Drake asked me to contact Kelsey, to get her to bring her wedding to the island. He wanted to get everyone back together. He's the reason you all came back."
"It was your idea?" I asked Drake, stunned once more. "I thought you were just acting opportunistically after the wedding got rescheduled."
"It was more than that," Jenny said, before Drake could answer. "Drake is as big a liar as everyone else."
I waited for Drake to defend himself, but his silence was damning. "What is she talking about, Drake?"