Page 55 of Begin Again

“Shadow Grove does not have a serial killer.”

Celeste rolls her eyes at me. “Yeah, yeah, weallknow a serial killer is someone who kills more than three people over a significant period of time. You said it yourself—there’ve been at leastfourmurders over the past twenty-seven years, and only two happened at the same time. That sounds like a serial killer to me.”

I turn to Orion, who is now running a hand down his face like he’s already regretting this conversation. “I didn’t say serial killer,” he corrects. “I just said that there were murders that could be linked that have happened here over the past thirty years.”

“Yeah,” I say, watching him carefully now. “Mo and I figured it out a couple of weeks ago.”

There’s a shift in Orion’s posture. A flicker of sharpness behind his expression. I don’t like the way he looks at me now—like he’s sizing me up, reassessing his view of me.

And suddenly, it clicks.

I straighten, I can’t believe I didn’t put it together when Selene told me her brother is the one that was at Mo’s the other night. “Wait.You’rethe one Mo caught hacking into the sheriff’s database?”

Orion’s gaze hardens. The room goes still.

“How do you know about that?”

Selene’s head jerks toward me, then Orion. “What is he talking about? What are all of you talking about?”

Celeste claps her hands together, delighted to deliver the chaos. “Oreo here wanted to look into Theo to make sure he wasn’t like your last boyfriend—”

Orion’s jaw tightens. “Celeste.”

“—andwhile he was looking into him, he found an old police statement Theo made when he was nine that seemed suspicious, so he started digging into his parents’ deaths. And guess what? They weren’t just in a car accident—well, I mean, technically that’s what actually killed them, but before that? Poison.”

My stomach twists, but not in shock. I alreadyknew. I just wasn’t expecting to hear someone say it so bluntly.

Celeste barrels on, voice picking up speed. “So then Orion looked into why they were out late, at night, in a storm—turns out, they were visiting Theo’s aunt. And you wanna know what happened to her latest husband?” She waits a fraction of a second, then answers her question. “Dead.He was in a coma for a while, but guess what put him there? Poison. And before that? She had another husband who also died in a freak accident, do you know what was found in his autopsy—say it with me—poison!”

The air has been sucked from my lungs.

Orion claps his hands together once, breaking the thick silence. “All right. That was a lot, but Barbie here summed it up perfectly, if a little ungracefully.”

Groaning, Celeste whines, “You know I loathe that nickname.”

The air feels heavier now.

Orion speaks up, cutting through the tension. “If you already know about the murders, then you know this isn’t just a coincidence.”

I nod slowly. “Mo and I have already started looking into it. But we don’t have enough yet.”

Orion exhales, rubbing his jaw. “Then we work together.”

I blink. “What?”

“You, me, and Morgan,” Orion lists. “Tomorrow night. We lay everything out, compare notes, figure out what we’re missing.”

I exhale slowly. “Fine. Tomorrow night. But we all share what we know.”

Orion nods once, satisfied.

Selene folds her arms. “I can’t believe I’m the only one that was left in the dark. Celeste, when did you find out?”

Celeste grins. “Oh,sweet sister, I’ve known for aweek.”

Selene glares at her, and for once, Celeste wisely shuts up.

Just like that the mood is successfully ruined.

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