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“What—my grief?” I took another step back, snorting. “I only knew her a few months. What right do I have to grieve?”

His shoulders sank. “That came out wrong. I wasn’t saying⁠—”

“No, I know exactly what you’re saying.” I crossed my arms against my chest. “I’m too emotional to do something like this. You killed a man in a blind rage with your bare hands, but I’m the irrational, emotional one, right? I list my reasons, half a dozen of them, but because it was just a silly little friendship, I shouldn’t be so angry. I should be able to accept that this happened to Delilah, that she will never get justice, that Evan is going to go on to destroy another young woman’s life, because this is just how life goes. It would be okay for me to think this way if it were my sister he killed, but not my friend. We were just a couple of silly girls, doing our hair and makeup together for a while. It sucks she’s not around anymore, but too bad, so sad, right?”

He lifted both hands to his face to rub his eyes. “I shouldn’t have said that. I was wrong. I’m sorry. I’m just trying to get you to think⁠—”

“Right, because I don’t think. I’m too emotional, too irrational.” My phone buzzed in my pocket. I shuttered it. “You’re a hypocrite. You don’t want to help me, fine. Don’t help me. But don’t pretend you understand.”

“I’m not saying that you’re too emotional, or that you’re irrational,” he said. “I’m just saying that you can’t act surprised when someone’s a little resistant to help you intentionally murder another human being, Gwen.”

“Sure, if I showed up at a pacifist’s door, this reaction would make sense to me.” My phone buzzed again. Annoyed, I yanked it out of my pocket at lightning speed. Simone lit up the screen. To Sebastian, I said, “But I saw the body of a man whose jaw you had ripped off. You can say no, but you can’t play the altruistic, holier-than-thou card with me, Sebastian.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but I clicked the green button and held it to my ear. “What’s up, Simone?”

“She was just here.” Simone’s voice trembled. “Angela. David’s mom. She was just here. She ambushed me at the salon, and, and—Holy shit, I can’t breathe.”

2

SEBASTIAN

“What do you mean she ambushed you?” Gwen said into the phone. “Are you okay?”

Gwen had yet to say so, but I had the feeling I knew.

After Edwards approached us at Light Up Night to make Simone aware of Angela’s pressure on the sheriff’s department to find David, I had done a deep dive. I used a private server on Wi-Fi at the public library, of course. That way, there was no paper trail of me snooping on David’s family.

Angela was a problem on her own. She had only gotten off probation for battery six months prior. Her poison was alcohol, judging by the many DUIs and license suspensions that went back all the way to her twenties.

She didn’t seem to be involved in the drug world, at least not to the same extent David had been. But she had spent the night in jail on many occasions. Unlike her son, she’d never served real time. She knew enough about that world, though, and I had no doubt about what came next. Angela wouldn’t be the kind of suburban mom who sat back when her child vanished off the face of the earth. She came here for answers, but given her violent record, she wouldn’t stop until she had a body of her own to bury.

Which perfectly illustrated why now wasn’t the time to plan another murder.

“What’s going on?” I whispered.

Gwen held her finger up at me. “Okay. Alright. Send your client home. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

Simone said something else, but her voice muffled. I couldn’t make it out with the phone pressed to Gwen’s ear.

Gwen rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I wouldn’t be happy if my appointment got rescheduled last minute, but I have the feeling she’ll be a lot less happy if you ruin her hair, Simone.”

Another moment of silence.

“Okay, do her hair then, but maybe warn her you’re on the edge of a panic attack first?” Another eye roll, and another moment of silence. “Alright. Whatever. I’ll see you soon.”

As she shut off the phone, I said, “What happened?”

“David’s mom. She walked into Simone’s salon and said some vaguely threatening shit.” She stowed the phone in her pocket. “I don’t know. She’s freaking out. I gotta go calm her down.”

“Lizzie’s out with Aubrey anyway, and I don’t have work today,” I said. “I can come with you, if you want. We can talk about⁠—”

“I thought you wanted to stay far away from all this,” she said. “That’s why you hid your identity from me for all this time. Because the more people who know, the more opportunity we have for someone to screw up. Isn’t that what you said?”

I slouched my shoulders. “Yeah, but the cat’s kind of out of the bag now, don’t you think?”

“No.” Zipping up her hoodie, Gwen headed for the door. I stayed close behind. “Simone barely knows what happened. All she remembers is finding David’s blood on my boots. She figured it out, but I was careful about what I told her. Never mentioned the anonymous texter who stole the body. If you want to stay safe, to keep your name out of this, and your land where the body is buried, just let me handle it.”

This wasn’t about self-preservation. I wanted to be there for her. She found out that her friend died last night. She learned that I, too, was a murderer.