Page 104 of Darkwater Lane

“No, I showed them a photo of Rowan because she was the most likely suspect. They didn’t recognize her. They just said the woman had dark hair and always wore a hat, but that could have been Madison in disguise.”

“I still don’t see how you’re making the connection here, Gwen.”

“She knows Melvin’s grave number,” I tell him. “In the podcast, she recites the number. She says it was meant to stay anonymous but that no secrets stay buried forever. That was the exact quote: ‘No secrets stay buried forever.’ Just like Melvin’s body. She knows, Sam. She knows because she’s the one who dug him up.”

“You said she mentions the grave number in the episode. What if someone else somehow heard it and they were the ones that dug him up?”

I shake my head, even though he can’t see me. “His body was already gone when she recorded that. That’s why it didn’t matter if she told the world where he was buried. And don’t forget, she was in Knoxville to meet us when Leo was murdered. She was the reason we left the house in the first place.”

Sam still doesn’t seem convinced.

“During one of our interviews, she compared you to Melvin. She suggested that you had me fooled the same way Melvin did. She was trying to turn me against you, Sam.”

That hits. I can hear his growl through the car speakers. “Fuck.”

I need you to call Mike and fill him in,” I tell him. “I’m about twenty minutes outside Norton, where cell service gets a little patchy. I should be there soon.”

“Absolutely,” he says.

“Call me back and let me know if they want me to go straight to the Norton PD to give a statement tonight.”

“Will do.”

“And Sam? I love you.”

I hear the smile in his voice. “I love you too. Come home to me safe.”

I tell him I will and end the call. I push the car faster, anxious to get back. Giddy that I’ve figured out who the sicko killer is, and it’s not Sam I’ll have to deal with the guilt of having doubted him later.

By the time I reach Norton, I still haven’t heard from Sam. I try calling him again, but it goes straight to voicemail.

Worst-case scenarios spiral through my head. What if Madison figured out where they were? What if she went after them?

When my call doesn’t go through again, I try Lanny. Thankfully, she picks up. “What’s up, Mom?”

“Where are you?”

She sounds confused. “At Kez’s, why?”

“I’m trying to get ahold of Sam but he’s not picking up. Can you put him on for me?”

“Sam’s not here.”

My heart skips a beat. “What do you mean?”

“He went out after you called.”

“Out where?”

“He didn’t say.”

I try to keep my panic under control. “Can you do me a favor and pull up the location app? Does that show where he is?”

Lanny’s instantly alert. She can tell by the tone of my voice that there’s a problem. She does exactly what I ask. “Looks like he went back home.”

“The Stillhouse Lake house?” I ask.

“Yeah, home.”

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