“This is a mistake. I can’t go back. Coming here was a mistake. I shouldn’t dig up the past if I can’t carry the weight.” Emma took in a gulping breath.
A startling thought struck hit him. Emma thought her sister hurt herself on purpose and that Emma had been the catalyst. For Liz’s sake, and Emma’s too, he had to disavow Emma of the burden of such a terrible thought.
“No, Emma, listen.” He reached for her hands, holding both. Her clammy fingers felt like a cadaver’s. Her genuine fear permeated to her bones. He shouldn’t tell her about his suspicions without tangible proof. But he couldn’t watch her suffer. “She was meeting someone that night and never made it. I believe Liz was murdered. I don’t know why or how.”
Emma sniffed, staring at him through watery eyes.
He squeezed her hands.
“That…changes everything,” she whispered.
He nodded. It did. Closure might finally be achieved, but how many other lives would be upended in the process? Liz’s death didn’t spark a wave of homicides and suspicious tragedies. Her fatal fall had been a one-off and the only untimely death for nearly fifteen years, until a car accident outside town. And before Owen’s accident.
Emma pulled her hands free and folded her arms again.
This time, the gesture looked more like she gave herself a hug than shoved off the outside world. “I’m sorry for everything you and your family have endured. I want to get the truth of what happened.”
“I found a note,” Emma whispered. “I didn’t tell anyone. It was just one word on a scrap of paper. Sorry.” She shuddered.
He wanted to reach out and touch her shoulder, wrap her in his arms, hold her as she sobbed. He could be a rock for her. Had she carried this burden since that night? “Anything else?”
She shook her head.
“The note could have been anything. Maybe it was for someone else and fell out of her pocket. One word is also hard to identify as someone’s handwriting. Anyone could have dropped it.”
Emma pressed her lips together, scrunching her face. “I withheld facts. I hurt the investigation.”
“You didn’t do anything to impede law enforcement,” he added, hoping he reassured her. “You were a kid in distress. It’s understandable. The sheriff at the time didn’t look too deep. He couldn’t fathom a murder in his town so he didn’t poke and prod like he should. If he had, he would have approached you, and you would have told him.”
With the passage of time and her admittedly faulty memory, she was no longer a key witness.
Mrs. T’s plea to make the most of every moment replayed. She’d encouraged him to open his heart to the one who got away. Before he could do so, however, he had to include her in his confidence.
“I feel like…” He ran a hand over his face, wiping the corners of his eyes. If he spoke to her frankly, he couldn’t go back. Emma would be involved. She already was but lived in a bubble of innocence. “I need to tell you what is going on. Because I need your help. I’ve given you a lot to digest. I’m sorry. But I need to ask you to put it all aside for a moment. Lives are in danger. Including yours.”
She twisted her neck and shot him a terrified deer in the headlights look.
“Owen has spent his life looking for clues about that night. I haven’t shared my investigation with him or anyone. The case is closed. It’s been over for years as far as my department is concerned. No one wants to rip off a scab and poke an old wound. But he thinks someone at the camp that night killed her. He shared that much with me and told me of his reunion idea, to bring everyone back and get justice.”
Emma gasped.
“When he told you no accidents Liz, I believe he was seeing you and not a hallucination. Owen was shot before he got in the car at the camp. You might have been the target, and he got in the way. It’s shocking that he managed to drive at all. The fact he didn’t run you over is miraculous. But I think the car chased you and turned around to finish the job. I have reason to fear you are in danger. For all the perpetrator knows, Owen spoke with you and told you everything. Or you’ve been the main target all along. Did you hear anything?”
“The storm was so loud. I was walking away from the office when a tree branch cracked. And at the time…”
“Yes?” he supplied.
“I thought it couldn’t be lightning so close without the thunder rumbling the ground under my feet. The sound was more like a firework exploding. I thought I smelled smoke which is strange because of the rain.”
“Can you take me there when we get back to camp? The doctors recovered the bullet from Owen’s leg. I’d like to look for shell casings. We might find the match.”
She nodded, her head bobbing like a fly on the surface of the lake, teasing the depths. “If your theory is correct and someone got away with my sister’s death, why come back? Wouldn’t a return risk implication?”
Daniel shrugged. He only had theories and nothing solid enough to share. Tying up loose ends wasn’t enough motivation. Owen wasn’t any closer to answers before he issued the reunion invitations. Or he hadn’t shared any new leads with Daniel. The killer must have suspected Owen knew their identity.
“What does that mean for me?” she asked.
Owen remained the number one target, but Emma couldn’t be far behind. As the twin sister of the victim, she could have insight into the crime that threatened the culprit. “Don’t be alone with another person besides me or one of the Thomases.”
