“I know. I’ve already spoken to the detectives. I need to ask you. Was Melody seeing someone? Did she have a boyfriend?”
Gracie’s soft features take on a sharpness. “Why do you want to know?”
“There’s just a possibility that the cops got it wrong. Please, you don’t know me well, but—”
“I know enough,” she says bitingly.
What does that mean? Did Gideon tell her? Sound vanishes from the world, like the chirping birds and the whistling wind have been strangled.
“I know you hurt Gideon. He won’t tell me how, though.”
I exhale, relieved. “You’re right. But this isn’t about Gideon. This is about your sister and about making sure no one else gets hurt. Please, just tell me. Was she seeing someone?”
“I already told those detectives,” she says with a sigh. “My sister went out with a guy a few times. But she never told me his name. Just that he was great, funny, smart. Nothing helpful to the cops. I didn’t know Seth, but apparently he was a real bookworm. And the rest of it…” She shrugs.
I pull in a scorching breath. “That’s all she said?”
“Yeah. Why? Do you know something?”
I shake my head. “No, no. If the cops say it’s Seth, then it’s Seth.”
She looks at me warily. “That’s it? Well, bye, Cassidy.”
I nod, even though her back is already turned to me. She lopes down the path, tossing her hair in exasperation.
I take a frantic step back toward the parking lot, fumbling in my backpack for my keys, so I can unlock my bike. Thanks to Laura’s ever-looming presence, I’ve spent most of high school immune to Brandon’s charms. But even I’ll admit I was putty in his hands the night of the party.
Maybe I’d been right when I joked about Melody crushing on him. If they hooked up, they’d both want to keep it a secret from Laura.
And knowing Brandon’s obsession with Laura, he could have spotted her with Seth. What better way to get rid of your rival than to frame him for murder? Whoever took Melody out to the log had been planning it. Thoughtfully. Meticulously. And keeping his relationship a secret—from everybody—was all part of the plan. If no one knows your identity, no one can blab your name to the cops. Did I have the right killer on day one and let him slip away?
I dig deeper into the backpack, but my keys aren’t turning up. Grunting, I dump the bag’s contents into the dirt and plunk down alongside them. Tears drip over my books and pencils as I rummage through the pile, still not hearing the familiar jangle.
“Cass?” I look up to see Gideon. His reserved expression strikes me as completely foreign.
Then I remember we’re strangers now. He said it himself.
“I can’t find my keys.”
“Want help?”
“Sure,” I mutter, leaning away from the now-filthy heap.
He bends down to sort through the paraphernalia. A moment later, he lifts his hand, and keys dangle between his fingers.
“Thanks.” I take the keys, but my hand lingers. “Giddy, I know you don’t want to talk to me, but if I don’t speak to someone… I just don’t know what to do.” My voice cracks and Gideon kneels down in the dirt beside me.
“What is it? Laura?”
“No.” I shake my head. “I mean yes, but it’s not about the fire. I wish that was it. I—can we walk? I don’t want to talk about this here.”
He stares at me for too long, distrustful, but nods. “Sure.” He pulls me to my feet and releases my hand. We amble down the road from the school, and I kick at uneven patches of asphalt that refuse to smooth. Gideon’s hands are in his pockets. “What’s going on?”
My gaze flicks to the trees. The killer—whoever he is—has eyes everywhere. How else could he have known Laura and Seth were together when no one else did? “I spoke to Laura,” I whisper. “Actually, she spoke to me. She said she was Seth’s secret girlfriend. That she was his alibi, but she’s never told anyone because the killer keeps leaving her threatening notes.”
“What?” His voice is drenched in skepticism.
“That’s what I thought. But why would she lie?”
“Maybe she’s wrong about the timeline.”
“That’s the thing. She said she left right after us, during seventh period, and went straight to Seth’s house.”
Gideon’s brows furrow. “We have to tell someone.”
We’ve wandered off of the road and are shrouded in greenery and shadows. The occasional car zooms past. Houses stagger the opposite side of the woods, too far away to make out their shapes through the foliage. Even so, I keep my voice low. “I know, but if we do, the killer could make good on his threat. Laura says he’s been putting cards on her windshield, telling her to keep quiet. He put that hair in the trunk of Seth’s car.”
“Does she know who it is?”
“No. Don’t get mad, but I think it was Brandon. Just hear me out,” I say before he can groan. “He was in love with Laura. Melody and Seth were the two people who came between them.” I take his silence as a good sign. “So, I think he killed one and framed the other.”
Gideon’s eyes widen, and hope flickers in my chest. Maybe he’ll finally open up to the possibility that I’m not some unhinged, selfish killer.
But Brandon is.
“It’s not enough, Cass.” My hope fizzles again. “Some cards, you thinking it was his voice. It doesn’t trump the photos and the DNA evidence.”
“But Seth didn’t do it. He has an alibi!”
“Then we’ll tell the cops. They can figure it out.”
“But what about Laura? We can’t just let Brandon do something to her like he did to Melody.”
Gideon turns, pressing farther into the woods.
“Where are you going?” I call, following him.
“I don’t know. I just…can’t think clearly.” He paces back and forth, rubbing his temples. “If Brandon’s still in love with Laura, he wouldn’t hurt her, would he?”
“To silence her? Of course he would!”
“Where is Laura?”
“Back at school. I’m supposed to be with her at practice, but I wanted to talk to Gracie.”
He swivels to face me. “Did you?”
“Yeah. She said Melody was seeing someone.”