“She had her key card in her pocket, but not her phone?” Surely, my face expressed my annoyance. “What eighteen-year-old girl doesn’t carry their phone in their pocket? He must’ve taken it. It was a burner phone. We all use burners. If she did call him, if she did get in touch with him, and they’d met in the woods, he probably got rid of it. It wouldn’t be traceable after that.”
Edwards pressed his lips together again, as if to say,Tell me about it.
“We will look into all of that,” Mitchell said. “We really appreciate all your help.”
“What—that’s it? You’re just gonna ignore this? Me and Rhiannon—we’re the ones who see her all the time. We would’ve known if she was depressed. Right, Rhiannon?” I looked at her. “You seem as shocked by all this as I am, so you couldn’t have thought this either.”
She still nibbled on her nails. “No. I wouldn’t’ve thought this.”
“See?” I turned back to Edwards and Mitchell. “Don’t listen to her dad. He doesn’t know her. He doesn’t give a shit about her. If he did, he would’ve never let her date that grown ass man when she was just a little girl. He would’ve opened his doors when she showed up with a black eye. You can’t just ignore this. You can’t just let this asshole get away with murdering her.”
“We’re definitely going to look into all of the possibilities.” Mitchell frowned. “But thank you for all your help. Both of you. I’m sorry to meet under such poor circumstances. We just wanted to make sure you guys were aware.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head as he took a step toward the door. “No, please. Everyone ignored her. Everyone ignored what Evan was doing to her. Nobody cared. Nobody helped her.” My voice cracked. “Please. Please don’t let him get away with killing her. Please.”
His frown only grew tighter lipped. He gave a curt nod, exchanging a look with Edwards as he approached the door.
Once it shut behind him, and Edwards stood, I stood with him. “I’m not in denial, Edwards. I’m not.”
“I believe you,” he said, eyes still gentle. “And I’ll keep looking. But I’m an officer. I’m not a detective. I barely know Mitchell, so I don’t have pull with him. And if we can’t find evidence that supports this theory?—”
“It’s there,” I said. “It’s gotta be. Delilah wouldn’t have killed herself.”
He gave my shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll keep looking. You just hang in there, alright?”
He said that like I had any other choice.
“I’m sorry again, Rhiannon,” Edwards said, heading for the door. “If you find anything that might be important?—”
“Yeah, yeah. I have your number.” Rubbing a hand down her jaw, she couldn’t so much as look at him. “Thank you for letting me know.”
When the door clicked shut, I turned her way. “You don’t think I’m crazy, do you? Because I just can’t see it. I can’t. Delilah is happy, and bubbly, and—they’re wrong. They’ve gotta be wrong.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy.” She swatted at a tear that escaped her eye. “You’re probably right. They’re probably wrong.”
“Then why are you so calm?” Baffled, I scanned her for some sign that I was misunderstanding her body language. “Why didn’t you argue with them?”
A humorless laugh escaped, ending with a clear of her throat. “You did that for me, don’t you think?”
“But he didn’t believe me,” I said. “That detective, he didn’t believe me.”
“We’re used to that, aren’t we?” She swallowed hard. “Not being believed.”
A deep, visceral pain reverberated through my chest, like a horse had just kicked me.
Rhiannon shook her head and shut her eyes. “I’m sorry. I still need to process this myself and I shouldn’t talk about it until I do.” She placed a gentle hand on my arm. “Are you okay? Do you need a ride up to your cabin?”
I bit my now quivering lip. “I’m okay.”
Before she could respond, I was heading for the door.
“If you need to talk?—”
“I have your number,” I said under my breath.
I couldn’t rememberthe conversation we’d had last night.
Ever since I walked out the rec center doors, I replayed seeing Delilah at dinner in the cafeteria last night.
