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Marj came home from cooking class with a vat of spaghetti and meatballs. Come help us eat it. Ryan is coming over with a couple bottles of wine.
My stomach growled again. Spaghetti and meatballs sounded great, but I didn’t really want to run into Brooke again. Still, having my meal made for me would be a godsend. I would just have to wake up Melanie and tell her we were going.
I hadn’t yet told Talon what had happened to Melanie. I couldn’t leave her home alone. I’d have to wake her up and tell her we were going to Talon’s for dinner. She might not want to.
I texted Talon that I’d have to pass.
Are you sure? We need to discuss what to do about Felicia. I asked her to come over tomorrow morning for a talk with us.
Crap. My brother needed me, but so did Melanie. I had failed them both.
I sighed. It wouldn’t hurt to try. Maybe Melanie was hankering for spaghetti and meatballs, and she would want to go.
When I walked up to her door, I heard footsteps. Good, she was already awake. I knocked gently.
“Is that you, Jonah?”
“Yeah.”
“Come on in.”
I walked in, and she was taking a file out of her cabinet. She sat down on the floor and opened it.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m just looking through some files.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes. I have this strange feeling…”
“What is it?”
She looked at me, her green eyes glimmering. “What if Gina didn’t commit suicide? What if she was tied up, pushed into a garage, and left to die—like I was?”
The skin on the back of my neck began to burn. “Did you remember something?”
“She always told me the uncle who raped her was dead, but she could never tell me how he had died. I told her to ask her parents, but every time I asked her what they said, she said she had forgotten to ask.”
“I suppose it’s possible she just didn’t want to talk about her uncle to her parents.”
“Yes, that is definitely possible.” She bit her lip. “But Jonah, I know a lot about suicide. I’m writing a book about preventing suicide in teens. If someone was suicidal, I’d see the signs. I didn’t see them in Gina.”
Melanie was grasping at straws, clearly. Trying to convince herself. I didn’t know what to say to her.
?
?You don’t believe me, do you?”
“We can look into it,” I said. “I’ll pay for the best investigators if you want.”
“Oh, no, I’m not after your money.”
I chuckled. “I know you’re not after my money, sweetheart. But I have money in abundance, and I want to help you through this. Right now, though, I’m starving. How about you?”
A smile pulled at her lips. “You know, for the first time in days, I am actually famished. Not just hungry, but I want to eat something good.”
That was an excellent sign. “It’s your lucky day then. We’re invited to Talon’s house. Marj brought home a ton of spaghetti and meatballs for all of us.”
