Page 96 of The Summer that Changed Everything

“AndIwanted to see Aurora get justice.”

“You believe that happened?”

“Yes! My God, there’s no one else who could’ve done it!”

“Youcould’ve done it,” Ford said.

“Why would I ever do something like that?”

Ford rubbed his temples. Was he accusing an innocent man? “I don’t know. Maybe you wanted more from her than she was willing to give. I know you were hoping for a relationship with her, and she wasn’t interested.”

Chet shook his head helplessly. “Lucy’s making you believe some crazy shit, man. Why would I everkillanyone?”

Thatdidsound outlandish. Butsomeonehad killed Aurora. And Chet had been with her that night. He didn’t have an alibi, either, not one that could be verified by other people. He used to sneak out all the time without his parents knowing. Ford had done the same thing. “Chet, Lucy has been through enough. If you know anything about what happened to Aurora, you’d better tell me, because we’re going to get to the bottom of it eventually.”

“I said goodbye to her at the party, Ford. That’s the last time I saw Aurora.”

“Then you found the Zampinos’ boat floating in the river and took it back to them without telling the police or anyone else.”

For a moment, Ford thought he caught a glimpse of fear in Chet’s eyes. But it was gone so quickly, he couldn’t be certain. “Nothing says the killer used that boat. All I did was find it and take it back where it belonged.”

“I’m going to turn the screenshot of the texts Aurora sent Stephanie right before she was murdered over to my investigator and the police. So, again, I hope you’re telling the truth.”

“Go ahead,” he said with a wild gesture. “I don’t know why the police don’t already have those texts. Why didn’t Stephanie turn them in during the original investigation?”

“She told Lucy the police settled on McBride before she could turn them over. Then she thought they didn’t matter.”

“Are you sure that’s the reason?” he said. “Because Aurora’s body wasn’t found for well over a week. That’s a lot of time to deliberate. And the way she and Stephanie were fighting that night... Stephanie told me before she left the party that she hated Aurora, that she hoped she never saw that ‘crazy bitch’ again.”

Stephanie hadn’t mentioned this to Lucy or Lucy would’ve told him. “What were they fighting about?”

“Aurora told Lance Zampino that Stephanie wanted to give him a blow job, but it would cost him fifty bucks. He gave Aurora the money, then he started hitting on Stephanie. Stephanie assumed he liked her and was willing to make out with him, but when he tried to take her to his bedroom, she wouldn’t go. That made him angry because he’d already paid Aurora.” He adjusted his seat belt. “You know how straitlaced Stephanie was. She was embarrassed and infuriated, and it only made it worse that Aurora thought what she’d done was so funny.”

“If Aurora and Stephanie were fighting, why would Aurora text her for a ride home?”

“Who knows? They were both drunk. And Aurora was so used to her friends sucking up to her and giving her whatever she wanted, she probably didn’t think twice about it.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard anything about this,” Ford admitted.

“Because it was just normal party drama, man—didn’t figure into the case. And Stephanie was never one to make a scene, so maybe I was the only one who knew about it.”

“Other than Lance.”

“And a few of his friends,” Chet admitted. “But it wasn’t as if he was going to admit to offering fifty bucks to an underage girl for oral sex. Steph was seething, though. I remember that.”

Seething.Had she gone back to pick up her “best friend,” after all? Was that how Aurora had ended up in the river?

Ford could believe it, except... “I can’t imagine she would’ve had the strength tostranglesomeone, especially someone close to her own size.”

“I’m not saying she did. I believe McBride killed Aurora. But, on the other hand, Aurora was so drunk she could’ve passed out somewhere. Then Stephanie could’ve done anything—including strangling her and tossing her into the river. The boat coming to my house doesn’t have to mean a thing, which is why I never thought it was important enough to even bother remembering.”

Ford had never felt more torn. “I hope you’re as innocent as you say you are.”

Chet looked wounded. “I can’t believe you’d accuse me of something like that!”

Would they ever really know the truth? Ford sighed. “Neither can I, man. I’ll take you back to your family.”

Damn it!What was he going to do? Chet hadn’t known that Aurora had texted her best friend before going out on the boat with him that night. Once he got home after dumping her body and then returning the boat to the Zampinos, he’d realized he still had her purse, phone, shirt, bra and sandals in his room and had shoved everything under the bed until his parents left to go to the store and he had the chance to bury it in the yard. But he’d been too filled with panic, too desperate to avoid discovery and moving too fast to try to guess the password on her phone, so he didn’t know who she’d texted or who she’d called. He’d just known he had to get rid of that stuff as soon as possible and make sure he put it in a place where no one would ever find it.

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