Page 74 of What We May Be

Abel made no mention of the fact she was in his room, no remark about the rumpled bed behind them, and paid barely any notice to Trevor as he opened the bathroom door. All Abel’s attention was focused on Charlie. “There’s been another murder.”

“Where?” Trevor asked, at the same time Charlie and Sean asked, “Who?”

“The HU natatorium.”

“Fuck.” Trevor raked a hand through his loose hair. “Ophelia.”

Abel nodded.

“Who?” Charlie asked again.

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he approached Charlie and grasped her shoulders. “Charlotte, you need to brace.”

Sean’s stomach sank. This was bad, worse even than Julian. “Who is it, Abel?”

“Craig Rowan,” he said, eyes still locked with Charlie’s. “They found him in the pool along with twelve dozen red roses.”

* * *

“Stop the video, Charlie.” Sean meant it as an order, same as he had the last three times he’d given it.

Charlie, sitting to his left on the fourth row of metal bleachers, ignored him, same as she had three times before, her index finger sliding the cursor back across the tablet screen and replaying the horrific death scene.

With each viewing, Charlie’s pale skin blanched whiter, her eyes grew wider, and her body shook so badly the tablet wobbled on her knees.

As wobbly as those cinder blocks had been in Craig Rowan’s lap.

Yet she remained transfixed, unable to look away. Then again, Sean wasn’t sure which sight was worse: Craig’s nocturnal death tableau or his lifeless body lying on a stretcher in the light of day, next to the pool blanketed in red roses.

Either sight was terrifying, both confirming what Charlie had suspected. What he had feared. This case wasn’t over, and the evidence pointed strongly to a connection to Charlie, Trevor, and the Henby family.

“Charlie, stop the damn video and hand me the tablet.”

When she still didn’t respond, he shot out a gloved hand and snatched the tablet from her grasp. He turned it off and placed it in the evidence bag Maggie had left at the end of the row. Snapping off his gloves, he turned back to Charlie and found her staring at her empty, shaking hands. He took one then the other in his own and rolled off her gloves.

“How many people know?”

“Know?” She seemed confused by his question.

He rubbed her ice-cold hands between his, trying to ward off the shock and refocus her. “About what Craig did to you at that party.” Together with what he’d learned yesterday, Sean finally understood the hostility he’d witnessed between Charlie and Craig. And why Trevor hated him so much too. He was the root of so many tragedies, including those in the lives of the people Sean loved. Scooting closer, he squeezed Charlie’s hands, offering as much comfort as he could in a building full of cops and crime scene techs. “How many knew, Charlie?”

Charlie curled her fingers around his, closed her eyes, and took several deep breaths. “I called Cal and Trevor that night. Trevor showed up. And the only other people I ever told were Abel, Annie, Maggie, and Rachel.” She blinked her eyes open, and the haunted look was still there but so were bone-tired weariness and lingering anger. “Craig talked, though. He told people we had sex that night even though we didn’t.”

“Fucking bastard,” Sean cursed through clenched teeth.

She swept a thumb across his palm, cooling his anger.

“And the alumni party last year?” Sean asked.

Another of Craig’s sins called out in the video.

“Wasn’t in our jurisdiction,” Charlie answered. “With Thomas being Craig’s best friend…”

“It was hushed up.”

Charlie nodded. “And our killer knew about both.”

Feeling her pulse quicken as her eyes drifted to the pool again, Sean tightened his grip on her hands. She needed something more to focus on, tangible police work to settle into, or else she’d spend all morning staring at those roses and imagining the worst. “Hand me your phone. Unlocked.” She dug the device out of her pocket, entered the passcode, and handed it over. He opened her notes app, then handed it back. “You need to make lists. Best you can remember, everyone who knows the truth about what happened at that party, everyone involved in the HU incident last year, and everyone who knows the truth about your mother’s death. Let’s see if there are any matches. In the meantime, I’ll follow the roses, and Marsh can hack the tablet.”

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