Page 54 of What Lies in the Woods

“The guy who saved you?” Ethan’s eyebrows raised.

“More than once,” I said, half to myself. “He and Oscar used to be friends.”

“But not anymore?”

“Not anymore,” I confirmed. I could pinpoint the end of thatfriendship to the minute. The smell of gasoline and asphalt in the air, fingertips bruising my ribs.

“Do you have his number?” Ethan asked. “Would he talk to you?”

“Yes. To both,” I said. Cody had his job. A pregnant wife. He’d gotten out of Chester in a way few of us ever managed, and I didn’t want to drag him back into this.

“You don’t have to do this,” Ethan said, seeing my expression. “You could walk away. Or tell the police what you know, and let them handle it.”

I shook my head. I had to finish the work Liv had started. “I’m not going to stop now,” I said. “I’ll call him.”

Cody picked up right away. “I was so sorry to hear about Olivia,” he said as soon as I told him who it was. “Are you back in Seattle yet?”

“No, I’m staying in Chester for a while,” I said. I sat in my motel room, alone, too conscious of Ethan’s presence two rooms away. “I’ve got to head back to Seattle for the weekend for work, but otherwise I’m planning to stick around. Until the funeral, at least.”

“Have they set a date?”

“They’re still waiting for the body to be released,” I said.

“I see.” He paused. “I didn’t know Olivia very well. She didn’t talk to me like you did.”

“I don’t remember talking to you. I remembertryingto talk and stammering a lot,” I admitted. He gave a low chuckle.

“You were a sweet kid. Too smart for your own good. All three of you, really, each in your own way.”

There was an intimacy to talking like this, just Cody’s voice and mine, like the world had narrowed down to the reality we shared. Those brief moments where our lives had intersected, which it seemed like no one else would really understand.

I didn’t want to break that sense of shared reality, but I had to. “Cody, I’m hoping you can help me with something.”

“Anything you need,” he said immediately.

“Did you know a girl named Jessi Walker?” I asked. There was silence on the other end of the line. “I think she was friends with Oscar.”

“Yeah,” Cody said finally. “I know Jessi. Knew her, I guess. I haven’t seen her since— God. Must be almost twenty-five years. Why are you asking about Jessi?”

“There’s a chance she might have been one of Stahl’s victims,” I said.

“Jessi’s not dead,” he said. “Is she?” Uncertainty made his voice crack.

“She was reported missing. After she left town no one ever saw her again,” I told him. “My dad said she hung around with Oscar, and I figured if she spent time with Oscar, she must’ve spent time with you.”

“We were friends,” he said, sounding disturbed.

“What can you tell me about her?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think she ever talked about herself much. I got the sense she came from a bad background. She hitched into town and charmed Marsha into offering her a shift. Inside a week she had a second job at the diner and she was even helping out in the office at the mill on the weekends, which is where Oscar and I met her. She was—the word that springs to mind isvibrant. Funny and brash. She had these moments of sweetness, too. You really think she’s dead?”

“Yes. I do.” I didn’t say how I knew. Let him think it was instinct.

He let out a long breath. “Jesus. We all assumed she just left. She always said she wasn’t going to stay long. She hitchhiked sometimes, I know that.”

“Did you see her the day she left town?” I asked.

“No. I was pissed, actually. I knew she was leaving but she didn’t say when, and she didn’t say goodbye. Just took off.”

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