“You were a mess? You stated a moment ago that you hardly knew her.”
“She was still our friend, and Andy is our best friend. It just felt wrong.” I shivered despite the heat.
“What happened the next day?”
“Nothing. We were all supposed to be trying to enjoy ourselves, but we basically just tried to keep Andy calm. Keep ourselves calm.” I gave a nervous laugh. Why had I done that?
“And the next day was when Mrs. Walker and Megan disappeared, correct? Yesterday?” He paced across the floor.
“Yes.”
“What’s Megan’s last name?”
“Graham.”
The officer wrote it down. “We’ll need a piece of her clothing for the dogs to do their search.”
“Of course.” I grabbed a shirt from her suitcase on the floor and handed it to him. He passed it to the officer behind him, who placed it in a bag right away and tucked the bag under his arm.
“Now, how did you know they were missing? Who discovered they were gone first?”
“Laura went for a jog in the morning, around sunrise, I think. By breakfast, she hadn’t returned. Brad pointed it out to me, and we planned to go look for her. While we were getting ready to go into the woods, I left Megan in the hut to go talk to Jaren and Natasha…it was when I had the theories about Megan being involved in Laura’s disappearance, and when we came back to talk to her, she was gone. We haven’t heard from either of them since.”
“Does everyone in your group get along with Mrs. Walker?”
“Everyone loves Laura. She is practically the glue holding us all together. She brought me into the group, Natasha, Brad. Brad brought Andy. Without Laura, I’m not sure if we have a group left.”
“So there weren’t any disagreements?”
“Well, of course, there were disagreements here and there. Which restaurant we should eat at. How much we should spend on the Christmas gift exchange. Who was hosting game night. But it was never anything serious.”
“Did Mr. Walker know about your involvement with Mrs. Walker?”
“I’m not sure,” I said, swallowing the excess spit that had filled my mouth without warning. Why did I seem unable to function normally? “Like I said, it was years ago. She is just my best friend now.”
“Was that her choice or yours?”
“She is…happily married. I’m happy for her.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“It was her choice, I guess. She chose to break off our relationship because she’d started feeling really serious about Brad. It was…God, it was more than twenty years ago. I’m over it. We’re both over it.”
“So why was it that Miss Graham had suspicions about the two of you, then? Why did she see what none of your other friends did?”
“Megan saw what wasn’t there. She worried about my friendship with Laura. How close we are. But she isn’t jealous. It isn’t like that at all. She trusts me. She knows I love her. We are engaged, for crying out loud.”
The officer stared at me, still and quiet for a moment too long. “What about Miss Graham? She is a newer member of your group as well, correct?”
“Yes.”
“How do the people in the group feel about her?”
“They like her, I think. She’s been part of the group for just over a year. She is the first serious girlfriend I’ve had in years.”
“Since Mrs. Walker?”
“Laura and I weren’t even that serious. And, no, there’ve been others since her anyway. But not in about seven or eight years, I guess.”
Knowles turned back to the officer, whose name I still didn’t know, and nodded. The man stopped writing. “Is there anything else you can tell us about either the death of Emily Bennett or the disappearances of Laura Walker or Megan Graham? Anything at all that you think might be able to help our investigation.”
“No, there’s nothing else. Just,” my voice cracked, and I paused, collecting myself, “just find them. Please.”
“We’re going to find them, Mr. London,” Knowles said, and I watched as the other officer slid the pen into his shirt pocket, followed by the notepad. “It’s a small island, and we have a very limited amount of suspects. We’re going to find out the truth about everything.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Andy
When the evening arrived, the sun lowering on the horizon, they finally released us from our huts. I’d told the police everything—every last horrible detail, and I knew what was coming.
I walked toward the water, wondering what it must’ve been like for Emily. How it must’ve felt as the water filled her lungs. It must’ve burned… Had she known it was the end? Given up early and let it happen? Or did she fight with everything she had to the bitter end?
Fresh tears filled my eyes at the thought. I missed her so much it hurt.
I wish I’d been there.
I wish I could’ve saved you.
When the water hit my bare toes, I sank down onto the sand, bending my knees up in front of me and wrapping my arms around them. I couldn’t deny the guilt I felt, though the police assured me it was misplaced. I had done the right thing, told the truth, but it didn’t make it any easier.
I’d broken a pact, betrayed a friend.
Still, Emily deserved justice for her death. Even if it meant doing something I’d never thought I’d do. I was a loyal friend—always had been. I’d never betrayed my friends, not in high school when it meant taking the blame for a note being passed I hadn’t written, or in college when it meant being expelled for a fight I’d only been trying to break up.
But this was different.
It had to be.
I hadn’t heard them approaching me over the sound of the ocean’s roar and my own tears, so when a hand touched me, I jerked my arm back, ready to attack.
“Andy?” Natasha asked, hardly fazed, sinking down beside me in the sand. “You alright?”
Jaren sat down beside her, and Nick and Brad took the space on the opposite side of
