Page 35 of Vanished in the Mist
Shanna lightly punched his arm and then bent over, struggling to catch her breath. “How are you not breathing hard?”
“You need to work on your cardio exercise.”
“Whatever.” She peeked around the corner, then hurriedly ducked back. “She’s coming up the driveway.”
Moments later, a low hum sounded as one of the garage doors raised.
She looked around the corner again. “The car’s parked. There, she’s coming out, heading toward the house.” She jerked back, both of them being quiet as the sound of shoes crunching on gravel announced Peyton’s location.
This time, Kaden leaned around the corner to take a look. “Clear,” he whispered. “Go.”
As quietly as they could, they raced across the side porch, rounding the corner to the front as Peyton pushed open the door. She blinked at them, her eyes widening in dismay, before she rushed inside.
Kaden reached the door just as it was about to close. He shoved both hands against it and angled his shoe in the opening to keep her from closing it.
Red spots of anger dotted her cheeks. “Let go of the door. Back off or I’ll call the police.”
Beside Kaden, Shanna held up her phone screen showing the copy of the bonfire picture that he’d found hidden in Tanya’s bookshelf. When Peyton saw it, all the color seemed to drain out of her face.
Peyton’s throat worked. “Where—where did you get that?”
“Kaden found it in one of Tanya Jericho’s books.” She lowered the phone. “Would you like to explain the picture to us or the police? Choose.”
Peyton slowly opened the door.
SHANNA SET HERphone on the coffee table, turning it around so that Peyton could see the damning picture.
Peyton stared at it, twisting her hands together on the couch across from the one where Shanna and Kaden were sitting.
“You lied to us,” Shanna said. “At my sister’s cabin, you swore you’d never even met Tanya, that you and your friends never hung out with her. And yet, here’s a selfie she took with you and your friends in the background, out in the woods having a bonfire. Explain that.”
Peyton’s chin lifted defiantly. “You just explained it yourself. It’s a selfie. She must have been in the woods, snooping on us, and took that. We didn’t even know she was there. She’s hiding in the bushes. Can’t you tell?”
“Oh, I can tell. And I agree that she probably followed your group. Maybe she heard about the bonfire and wanted to join you, make friends with the popular kids. Is that what happened?”
“What? No. We didn’t know she even took that picture. I mean, we never saw her. We didn’t know she was spying on us.”
Shanna zoomed the photo. “That story doesn’t fit what I see in this picture. You, Tristan Cargill and Jack Neal are all looking directly at the camera. You saw her.”
“No. No, we didn’t. We were just looking in that direction. It’s a coincidence.” Her knuckles were turning red and raw from rubbing and squeezing her hands together.
“Peyton,” Kaden said. “What did you do when you and the others saw her taking your picture? Did you yell at her? Run after her?”
Peyton shook her head, looking down at her hands. “No. We didn’t know she was there.”
“This picture tells me otherwise.”
Peyton looked away.
Kaden gave Peyton a hard look. “Did you chase her? Knock her down? Warn her that you’d hurt her if she ever followed you again?”
“No. I wouldn’t do that. I’m not like that.”
“What about one of the guys?” Shanna asked. “Sam Morton was a football player, big, intimidating. Maybe he got rough trying to scare her and knocked her around. I can see that. I’ll tell Chief Dawson to bring Sam in for an interview and—”
“No. Don’t. Sam’s a good person. He’d never hit a woman. He’s not the one… He didn’t…” She squeezed her hands harder.
“Ah, I see,” Shanna said. “Tristan. Spoiled little rich kid beats up the annoying girl who dared to intrude on your little party in the woods. I can see him doing that and—”
