Page 81 of No One Can Know

“So which of my sisters are you suggesting is a murderer, then?” she asked. She thought of Daphne. Daphne, so quiet and serious and strange. Daphne with blood on her clothes, Daphne who had been in town for God knows how long and hadn’t said a thing.

“What do you know about what Juliette’s been up to since she left?” he asked.

“A bit,” she allowed. If he thought she would give him anything now just because he was treating her with a modicum of civility, he was wrong.

He dipped his head, all deep consideration, taking his time about speaking again. “Did you know she has an arrest record? Possession. Assault,” he said. She twitched, chin tilting slightly with interest, and his gaze sharpened in answer as he confirmed he knew something she didn’t. “Seems she had a fondness for getting into fights.”

“Recently?” Emma asked, and she knew from the silence that it wasn’t. Old news. “What happened messed me up for a while, too. I’m not here to talk about my sister. I’m here because—”

“Because you want to know why Nathan called Ellis,” Hadley finished for her, and once again she had the sensation that she was standing on a beach with the waves stealing the sand out from under her feet. Nothing was solid. “But that’s what we’re talking about,Emma. Nathan called the station because he found something. Something to do with your parents’ murders.”

Emma’s fingers curled into tight fists in her lap. She could hear her own pulse thudding in her temples. The dog at her feet looked up and whined, as if he could sense the tension. “What was on the drive?” she asked.

Something flashed in Hadley’s eyes. He sat back. “He only said he’d found something, not what it was,” Hadley said. “He was going to bring it by the station the next morning. But we got your call instead.”

Emma said nothing. The dog sat up, tucked its chin in her lap. She buried her fingers in its curly hair. It was small and wiry under all that fur, vibrating like a plucked string.

“Emma, I know you didn’t want anything to happen to your sisters back then. But you have to consider your own well-being,” Hadley said.

Emma was looking off to the side, her fingers loosely splayed over her mouth as she thought. “Juliette wouldn’t have threatened Addison James,” she said, letting her hand drop. “She doesn’t know a fucking thing about my life. She wouldn’t have cared enough to bother.”

“Who would?” Hadley asked.

“No one,” Emma said. Hadley gave her a pitying look, but she felt none for herself. She’d chosen her own life. “Juliette was the one who gave Nathan the keys to the carriage house. If there was something in there she didn’t want him to find, she wouldn’t have done that.”

“If she even knew it was in there.” He thumped the side of his thumb idly against the table. “The threats against Addison James might not be connected.”

“Maybe none of it is,” Emma said. “Did you ever think of that? Maybe we’re just cursed. Maybe it’s all just random and none of it means anything at all.”

“Do you think you’re cursed, Emma? Because I don’t,” Hadley said. “I think that you’ve been dealt a shit hand in life, sure. But I think that’s someone’s fault. And I think you know who it is. Even if you don’t want to admit it to yourself.”

“You know what’s funny?” Emma asked. She tipped her chin up as she looked at him. “You aren’t really admitting that you were wrong, are you? You’re just saying your aim was a little off-center. You want one of my sisters because then you didn’treallyget it wrong.”

“I just want the truth,” Hadley said.

“It wasn’t Juliette,” Emma said, and tried to believe it. Doubt made her voice shake.

“Nathan found something, and he was dead within hours,” Hadley said. “I saw the video footage. Juliette was there earlier that night. All three of you lied back then, Emma, but Juliette is the only other one in town.”

Emma froze for a moment, not answering, and by the time she collected herself it was too late—Hadley’s brow furrowed.

“Is Daphne in Arden Hills?” he asked.

“I haven’t spoken to Daphne in years,” Emma said, but the hitch in her voice betrayed her. She stood abruptly, startling the dog to its feet.

It had been a mistake coming here.

“I can help you, Emma,” Hadley said.

“That’s what you said back then, too,” Emma reminded him. She turned to go, feeling sick. Juliette had swooped in to help. Daphne had been at the house. Were they checking up on her?

Or were they watching her?

40EMMA

Then

Emma sits on the bed in Gabriel’s room. Her bag is packed on the floor next to her, but she hasn’t touched it. Eventually, the front door opens; his footsteps approach down the hall, and he looks in on her.

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