Page 46 of Kings & Carnage

"Exactly," Neo said. "You left the keys in the Mercedes right? Daisy will be by to pick it up first thing in the morning.”

“Yep, as instructed,” Oscar said. "It's not the Porsche, but it is one nice car.”

"Not like she can't spare it," Neo said.

"What's her story?" I asked. "If it won't betray her confidence, I mean.”

I was definitely being nosy, but I couldn't pretend not to be curious.

Oscar glanced at Neo, who gave him an almost imperceptible nod.

"She was part of a crazy murder that happened here a few years ago," Oscar said.

"That happenedhere?" I wasn't easily spooked but the big house in the middle of nowhere at the top of the falls was the actual definition of spooky. The idea of spending the next few days there knowing a murder had occurred within its walls wasn't exactly comforting.

"Not at the house," Rock said. "In Blackwell Falls.”

"You're kidding." It was impossible to believe the warm girl with haunted violet eyes that had done so much to help us was a murderer.

"Well, she didn't actually do the murdering," Oscar clarified.

"Maybe you should just start from the beginning,” I said.

"Daisy's older brother was murdered at the base of the falls," Neo said. "When the cops got there, Daisy was standing over the body with three friends of hers. Daisy was holding the knife that had killed her brother and the men that were with her were covered in blood.”

I looked at Oscar. "I thought you said she didn't do the murdering.”

"She didn't," Oscar said. "At first they claimed none of them had done it. Said they'd found Daisy's brother already dead at the falls. But then one of the guys confessed and the other two said they'd helped him do it.”

"They all went away for the crime," Oscar said. "Except for Daisy, probably because her dad is as rich as Midas.”

"And because of the three dudes who confessed to the crime," Rock said.

I shook my head, trying to reconcile this new information with the image I already had of Daisy. "So wait, Daisy was a murder suspect until three guys confessed and went to prison for it?”

"That about covers it," Rock said.

"It was a big deal in Blackwell Falls for months," Neo said. "The story is kind of a legend now. The newspapers called the three guys ‘the Blackwell Beasts.’”

"Wow," I said. "I don't know what I'd expected when I asked about Daisy but it definitely wasn't this.”

"The three guys were assigned a court-appointed attorney, but Daisy's dad hired the best criminal lawyer in the country," Neo said.

I didn't know what to say. Was Daisy a murderer who’d let three guys take the fall for her?

It was hard to believe but I’d learned the hard way that people could surprise you in all kinds of ways, and not all of them were good.

The kitchen fell into silence until Neo pushed back from the table and stood. "We should cut the lights. It's dark.”

They told me about a notorious murder that happened at the base of the falls and now it was time to turn the lights out for the night?

Great.

"I'll get the candles," Rock said.

He sounded dejected and I couldn't blame him. We’d been chased and shot at — twice — and were in hiding in the middle of nowhere.

"Any ideas for how to pass the time?" Oscar asked.

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