Page 32 of The Engagement Party

Ruthie shrugged. “I’m trying to understand.”

“Hope you have better luck because we’ve been trying for twelve years.”

Ruthie’s eyes narrowed at Mitch’s comment. “The police thought you killed her.”

“Ruthie. What the fuck?” Will tugged at Ruthie’s arm, trying to get her to sit back or shut up.

Alex hoped she’d take the hint.

“No, she’s right to ask. I would want to know if I were her.” Mitch waved off all concern. “I was questioned. Emily kept adiary and for some reason Jake and I were mentioned in it, so we both got called in and interrogated for hours.”

“Back then the security video system on and around campus wasn’t as extensive as it is now, but the police saw Mitch’s truck near the museum for the drop-off. That plus the diary reference led them straight to him,” Will said.

Mitch made an odd sound. “Having a killer for a mother probably didn’t help my case.”

“What did the diary say about you?” Sierra almost whispered the question.

Whether to keep her calm or forge a connection, Mitch put his hand on her leg. “The police insinuated stuff, asked if I had a crush on her. It’s a blur.”

Ruthie frowned at him. “Come on. Really?”

“Yeah, you’d think my second time as a murder suspect would have been easier.” He stared at Ruthie for a few beats before continuing. “A photographer snapped a picture of me coming out of the police station early in the morning and that reignited all the online shit about my mother.”

Alex jumped in because he didn’t want Mitch to get mentally thrown back in time. Protecting Mitch, shielding him from loads of paralyzing crap, turned out to be a hard habit to break. “The police were checking phone records and camera footage when the focus on Mitch and Jake stopped and that text from Brendan Clarke leaked. He’d threatened Emily.”

“He jumped off a bridge after being questioned,” Cassie explained in a flat voice. “He landed on the rocks. Most people thought the suicide proved his guilt.”

Alex was done. Time to shut the whole thing down. “That’sall we know. The investigation stopped. Whatever evidence the police collected clearly showed Brendan killed Emily. It was awful and abrupt, but none of it explains why Tyler is dead now.”

“Of course it does.” Ruthie snorted. “One of you thinks Mitch killed Emily and is pushing him to confess.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ruthie

Everyone froze.

“You don’t know when to stop.” Cassie’s cool voice chilled the room.

Ruthie was not in the mood for Cassie now or ever. “I didn’t say I believed Mitch did anything wrong. I’m saying one of you does. That’s the only way Tyler’s murder makes sense.”

She’d looked at this terrifying mess from every angle. Pulled apart what she knew and focused on what she didn’t. If one of these supposed friends thought Mitch killed Emily and got away with it, framing him for Tyler’s death would be a good way to turn Mitch’s world upside down and shake the truth loose. Drag him out of his comfort zone and ramp up the tension. Take away any tools he had to control his anxiety then destroy what little control he thought he possessed.

After all, that last part described her exact plan for all of them this weekend. It wouldn’t surprise her if someone else created the same playbook.

Mitch nodded. “My mother is a killer, so I must be a killer. Is that it?”

His deadly quiet voice vibrated through the room. Ruthievowed not to let his sad backstory and that attractive face derail her. He knew more than he was telling. She could hear it in each carefully worded sentence he spoke.

“I’ve said this ten times already. I wasn’t with you all back then. I’m trying to figure out which one of you arranged this nightmare before one of us, metaphorically or actually, joins Tyler in the back of that car.”

“I appreciate the honesty,” Mitch said.

Cassie slammed her wineglass down on the table. “Well, I don’t.”

The Queen of Deflection. Leave it to Cassie to muscle her way into a conversation and misdirect it. Ruthie saw the obvious behavior for what it was now—manipulation and ass covering. “That’s shocking.”

“Okay, no.” Sierra shifted to the front of the cushion and threw her arms wide as if refereeing a fight. “Before you two launch into Round Two . . . ”

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