Page 19 of Little Stolen Memories

I was about to learn the true meaning behind those words.

“Whatever happened back then, no matter how awful it was, I need to know,” I said. “It’s important.”

One minute went by.

I placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

Cora looked up at me and said, “All right. Aidan and Jackson invited Xander to hang out with them one night at the park. They told him they were sorry about how they’d treated him in the past, and they wanted to make up for it.”

“I’m assuming Xander went?”

“He did, and we knew he would. If anything, I always got the impression Xander wanted to be accepted by the rest of us.”

“What happened at the park?”

“They were nice to him at first. They’d taken a bottle of vodka from Aidan’s dad’s liquor cabinet, and the guys were laughing and doing shots together. Except, Aidan and Jackson were pouring themselves a single and not taking the whole shot. They were giving Xander doubles. After giving Xander a few shots, he was drunk, and I mean, blackout drunk. I don’t think he’d ever had liquor before. He passed out.”

“What happened next?”

“Aidan and Jackson thought it would be funny to strip Xander’s clothes off, down to his underwear, and they did. They leaned him against a tree and tied a rope around his waist. Then they dangled a piece of paper from his neck, a note that said he was a stalker and a pervert. The next morning, a jogger found Xander. He called the police. And that’s not even the saddest part. Even after all they did to him, Xander refused to tell anyone who’d done it.”

Thinking of what Xander had been put through, it wasn’t hard to imagine the elation he must have felt to get an invitation to hang out with a couple of the most popular boys in school. Only to arrive and have his hopes dashed when he was stripped down to his tighty-whities and left for all to see. It was the ultimate humiliation.

“Aside from Aidan and Jackson, who else was at the park that night?” I asked.

“Brynn and Aubree … and me.”

And there it was—Cora’s role in all of it.

Cora may have not assisted in what had happened that night, but she was there. She was there, and she did nothing.

“I would do anything to take it back now, to stand up for him,” she said. “I’m so ashamed.”

“We’ve all done things we’re ashamed about. What matters is that we learn from our wrongdoings and strive to do better.”

I handed her a few tissues, and she blotted her eyes.

Cora scooted back on the bed so she could lean against the headboard, saying, “I wanted to go back to the park after we left to untie him.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I worried about how angry he’d be and what might happen if we were alone together.”

“I know it wasn’t easy for you to tell me what you just did. Thank you for telling me the truth. I have another question. Did you tell the police your friends were responsible for what happened to Xander at the park, after the murders happened, I mean?”

She shook her head. “I know it was a mistake. I was ashamed about my role in it all. Ashamed or not, I was scared, but it shouldn’t have stopped me from telling the truth. It’s the reason I’m telling you now. I meant it when I said I thought Xander was innocent back then.”

“Seems to me he had a clear motive. Why didn’t you consider him a suspect?”

“I was in the hospital during the funerals. I heard he showed up at every single one, and he cried at all of them. He cried like he’d lost his closest friends.”

CHAPTER 10

I sat in the hot tub with a glass of bubbly in hand, reflecting on the day. It wasn’t long before Giovanni joined me. He scooted next to me, putting his arm around me. “What’s on your mind? I can see the wheels spinning.”

I took a deep breath in, nestled into him, and said, “It was a long day. I took on a new homicide case today. It’s a cold case, one Harvey worked on back when he was a detective. I feel a lot of pressure to solve it, not just for the families who’ve been waiting for closure all these years, but for Harvey. I know how much solving this case would mean to him.”

“Tell me about it.”

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