Ava’s heart was beating so furiously she was surprised it hadn’t leaped out of her chest. “Who?” And then, suddenly, it hit her. She remembered the figure on the lawn. The look of betrayal and disgust and horror on his face. Her heart broke into a million pieces.
“Alex Cohen,” Peters said, looking at her. “He lives on the same block, I understand? And I believe he said you were his ex-girlfriend?” Peters smiled grimly. “I guess he didn’t want to be dating a girl who is now under investigation for murder.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
PARKER HURRIED FORWARD TO THE entrance of the police station, where the other girls were stepping out into the sunshine. They all looked like shit. Julie had been texting her updates the whole time it took Parker to get here on the bus—that the cops were letting the girls go, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to charge them with Granger’s murder until they’d completely searched his house; that they’d taken their fingerprints and done DNA cheek swabs. They’d even taken their photographs under the harsh fluorescent lights. Parker couldn’t imagine Julie took that very well. She and Julie exchanged a look, and then Parker ran forward to pull her best friend into a hug.
“Don’t try pulling anything stupid,” Detective Peters called out from the front entrance. “We’re watching you—all of you,” he added, looking at Parker and frowning. Parker shivered. Her prints were already in the system, from what had happened with her dad. She was as much a suspect as the other girls.
Parker looked at the others after the cops left. Ava was sobbing. Caitlin clenched her jaw. Mac looked like she was going to throw up. “My parents are going to murder me,” she whispered.
“I can’t believe they called our parents,” Ava said miserably. Julie’s mouth twitched, and Parker took her hand, thinking of that horrible message that had gone around just an hour ago. But really, compared with this, did Julie’s secret really matter? Did anything matter?
Julie hung on to Parker’s hand as if it were the only thing keeping her upright. “They’ll realize they made a mistake,” she said in a level voice. “The police will realize we were framed.”
“Will they?” Ava’s eyes were wild. “We were there, Julie. Alex saw us. And our fingerprints are all over that house.” Tears streamed down her face. “I thought this would be over. I thought Granger was doing this to us. So now it’s someone else?”
Parker shivered. That thought had crossed her mind, too—they didn’t have this solved at all. She squeezed her eyes shut and reached far into her brain, trying to put together the pieces from last night. If only she could remember someone lurking outside Granger’s property. A mysterious car parked across the street. Something. But when she groped for the memory, there was only emptiness. All she could recall was running out of Granger’s house, her heart pounding hard. And then a chasm of darkness—she was probably curled in a ball somewhere, shutting down like she always did. And then meeting Julie a little later at the diner, groggy and spotty.
“Who was watching us last night?” Parker whispered.
“And is Granger Nolan’s killer?” Caitlin asked aloud. “Or did Nolan’s killer kill Granger, too—and make it look like us again?”
Ava frowned. “But why would Nolan’s killer need to kill Granger?”
Parker swallowed hard, considering this possibility. “Maybe Granger knew something about Nolan’s murder.”
“So we were looking for the wrong thing at his house all this time?” Ava asked.
“I don’t know,” Parker said slowly. She looked around the group. “But maybe everything we thought we knew isn’t true at all.”
Everyone shuddered. Caitlin tipped her head up, her brow furrowing. Julie looked as if her brain had just exploded. But Parker wondered, suddenly, if it could be true. Memory was a tricky thing, but reality was even trickier. Once you made up your mind about something, it was hard to comprehend that the truth could be something else. But what if it was? And how could they figure that out?
And what if they were too late?
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I AM SO PLEASED AT how this book came together. Alfred Hitchcock said, “Always make the audience suffer as much as possible,” and this series truly does that in the best of ways! I want to thank the brains at Alloy Entertainment for helping to put all the puzzle pieces in the correct places: Josh Bank, Les Morgenstein, Sara Shandler, Lanie Davis, and Katie McGee. Once again, for seemingly the millionth time, you guys are amazing and masterful. Many thanks to Natalie Sousa, Liz Dresner, and Elaine Damasco for designing the perfect cover for our perfectionists.
Big thanks also to HarperCollins for green-lighting this book project and going along on our crazy ride, namely Jen Klonsky, Kari Sutherland, and Alice Jerman. Thanks also to the brilliant filmmakers of yore who inspired not only part of the premise for this story but whose dark, twisted, devious dramas helped to create its ambience. And a huge, huge, HUGE thank-you to Jen Graham. You are a true talent, and this book wouldn’t exist without you!
BOOKS BY SARA SHEPARD
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Flawless