Influenced by Eva Robinson (best free ebook reader TXT) 📗

We’re not together. At some point, he came by with Nora, because she needed to see me before she went to sleep. And then Peter made the announcement: he got a huge grant for the teen center that would go toward the building. Honestly, I think we all had a little too much to drink that night.”

In her pocket, Hannah’s phone started buzzing, but she ignored it.

“Too much to drink?” Detective Stewart asked.

The ceiling fan whirred overhead, making the room feel too cold. “Well, there was punch, champagne. It was a night to celebrate. I don’t normally drink that much… I might have taken a little nap, even, on the soft grass. It’s been very warm out.”

“And do you remember when Peter left?” he asked.

She frowned, shaking her head. “Only vaguely.”

Detective Munroe leaned forward. “Tell us what you remember, even if it’s vague.”

Hannah’s phone buzzed again, and her attention drifted away. What if Luke was trying to tell her something was wrong with Nora? “I think he said he wasn’t feeling well, but he was going to walk home. He lived within walking distance.”

“He wasn’t feeling well,” Detective Munroe repeated.

Hannah shook her head. “It’s all hazy, I’m afraid. Everyone had too much alcohol—even Peter, I think. Maybe that was why he wasn’t feeling well. But you know how punch can be. Deceptively strong. Won’t be making that mistake again anytime soon.” She attempted a laugh, then remembered she should be more concerned. “Is Peter okay?”

Her phone was now buzzing for the fourth time, and even with the fog of Benadryl, she couldn’t take the suspense anymore. “One second. I just have to see if my daughter is okay.” She pulled her phone out. Four missed calls from Rowan. This was not a good time for this.

Hannah held up a finger, then rose to cross toward the hallway. She could feel the detectives’ eyes on her, but she huddled in the corner. NOT NOW.

The reply was almost immediate. I’M IN DANGER.

Hannah swallowed hard. Had Rowan lost her mind? She wrote back, Talk in a bit. I’m in an interview.

Three little dots pulsed at the bottom of the screen. Then, I’m getting death threats. Someone broke into my house. Laptop and phone stolen. I think they want to blackmail me. Meeting at Stella’s tonight.

Honestly—how reckless could she be, typing all this out? And after Hannah had just said she was in an interview? She turned off her phone.

When she turned around, she found both detectives staring at her. “Sorry about that. My daughter has an upset stomach, but she’ll be fine.” No, that was a mistake. A lie they could uncover later… She crossed back to her chair, and it creaked as she sat in it. “Anything else I can help with, or is that it?”

“That’s not it,” said Detective Stewart. “We want to know about Arabella’s laptop.”

She stared at them. “What?”

“Arabella’s laptop was stolen just before she died. It was turned on in this neighborhood. Sunday, May first, at six thirty p.m.”

Her heart was pounding louder now, the beat cutting through her haze of calm. How would they know where a laptop was turned on? “It wasn’t me. I wouldn’t be on a laptop then. That’s right after Luke drops Nora off, and I’d be feeding her before bedtime.”

Detective Munroe leaned in closer, her arms resting on the table. “We thought maybe, with the history you have…”

“What history?” Hannah snapped.

“We want you to tell us what happened to Peter.”

“I have no idea.”

“But you were there,” said Detective Stewart.

“Did he do something to make you angry?” asked Detective Munroe.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“We researched your records, Hannah. You were interviewed in 2009, your senior year of high school. Witnesses saw you standing right next to Thomas Holbrook when he went off the bridge. They thought you pushed him.”

Hannah felt like the floor had fallen out from under her. “He fell.” But that wasn’t quite right, was it? “He jumped.”

“Is that right?” asked Detective Stewart. “At the time, you said it was an accident. That he fell.”

“It was ten years ago,” she stammered.

Detective Stewart shrugged. “Look, I can tell you’re a good person. You’re a mom; you worked in special ed. You just raised a ton of money for the teen center.” He gestured at the photo of her on the wall. “You look after your family.”

Her eyes had filled with tears. Why did he have to be nice? “Right.”

“So that’s why we just want your help clearing this all up,” he went on. “Because of what the witnesses said about you ten years ago, how maybe you pushed Tom…”

A high ringing rose in her mind. “I didn’t.”

“Of course you didn’t. I’m just talking about how it looks. No one else at Stella’s party has anything like that in their history. And none of them turned on the laptop of a woman who was murdered the next day.”

“If I were you, and if I wanted to stay out of jail, I might try to refresh my memory a bit,” added Detective Munroe. “I might try to remember what actually happened at that party. At least, that’s what I’d do if I had a daughter I didn’t want to leave behind while I went to jail.”

Hannah wanted to throw up. “I didn’t push him. I didn’t push Tom,” she said again. After all this time… She’d thought it was all over, sunk beneath the dark waters of time. But that night would never leave her. “And I had nothing to do with Peter. It wasn’t my fault.”

“Tom was Rowan’s boyfriend, wasn’t he?” asked Detective Stewart conversationally. “In high school. Someone thought maybe you were upset with him because he rejected you.”

Her blood went cold. “Rowan broke up with him.”

“It’s just interesting,” said Detective Munroe. “That all these people close to Rowan are cleared out of your way, and then you show up on her Instagram. Her new best friend. You’re getting your own followers now. Building your own brand. Dressing a lot like