Page 34 of Dead Man's Hollow
“Because I didn’t think it was relevant.”
He throws his hands up at the half-truth. “Oh, so it’s okay for you to make judgment calls, but not for me?”
“You did more than just make a judgment call. Maisy said every single witness statement was suspiciously similar. She might even have used the word identical. You came up with a story, then you got everybody together and convinced them to stick to it, didn’t you?” Her voice shakes with emotion.
He lowers his head and says nothing. She’s about to repeat the question when he looks up at her. “Ifsomeone suggested we all stick to the same story, what makes you so sure it was me?”
She laughs. “Please. You were the alpha male of your little group. Brett, Chris, Frank—all those guys—did whatever you said. And half the girls in our class had a crush on you. There was basically a mass day of mourning when you started dating Julia.”
He gives her a little smirk and spreads his hands wide. “What can I say? I’m a natural leader.”
She can’t believe he’s being smug, now, aboutthis.She bites back her urge to cut him down to size and focuses on what he’s admitting. “So you did tell everybody to lie.”
“No, I told everybody to focus on the important facts,” he corrects her. His tone doesn’t betray his rising anger, but the red flush creeping up his neck from under the collar of his t-shirt does. “Nobody lied. We may have strategically omitted certain facts that weren’t relevant—just like you did. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Well, it’s going to look like you did because Maisy’s not going to let it go. Everyone who listens to her podcast will come away thinking that our classmates stonewalled the police and you orchestrated it. You interfered with the investigation.”
He’s red-faced now and the tendons in his neck are throbbing. “I knew this podcast was a bad idea. She’s not going to find anything else. She’s just stirring up crap and making people look bad.”
Amy’s spine stiffens. “Why are you so sure she’s not going to find anything? Do you know something, Rich?”
“I can’t believe you just asked me that.” He slams a hand on the counter.
“The question’s long overdue,” she shoots back.
“Are you even listening to yourself? I don’t know what happened to your sister, but let’s be realistic. If she hasn’t turned up by now, she’s dead somewhere. And Maisy Farley ruining a bunch of people’s reputations, people who have kids of their own, isn’t going to bring her back.”
He grabs his phone, wallet, and keys from the bowl by the door and storms out, slamming the door behind him so hard that the plates rattle in the cabinet.
Amy remains at the island, unmoving, until the car engine roars to life in the garage. Then she refills her champagne flute with shaking hands, paying no attention to the marker line drawn on her glass.
ChapterNineteen
Maisy spots Jordanacoming out of the lecture hall and beeps her horn to catch her attention. Jordana turns her head toward the sound, then says goodbye to her friends and sprints toward Maisy’s vehicle.
She throws herself into the passenger seat with a small, celebratory whoop. “That was my last final. It’s over!”
“Don’t you want to go out with your friends and celebrate?” Maisy gestures toward the group of students walking across the green.
“No, most of them still have another exam or two. Besides, we’re going out to Dead Man’s Hollow today.”
“It’ll still be there tomorrow.”
Jordana turns and gives her a serious look. “I want to do my job. I know you think I’m missing out on some sort of college experience, but I’m not, okay?”
Maisy raises her hands in mock surrender and notes, not for the first time, that Jordana seems to have acquired some of Sasha’s single-mindedness. “Okay, okay.”
“Anything interesting happen while I was in class?”
“I got a call from Amy Marino this morning.”
“What did she have to say?” Jordana looks up from buckling her seatbelt as Maisy puts the car into gear.
“She talked to Rich last night and got him to admit that there was a fight. Apparently,he’sthe one who got everyone to conform their statements, but he insists the fight wasn’t relevant, so there was no point in getting anybody in trouble.”
They exchange a look.
“And the guy?”
