It was called the perfect murder. Swapping the body of an old lady with that of a recently murdered girl was smart. No one paid close attention to a little old lady sitting slumped in a chair or a wheelchair staring into space in the middle of the psych hospital.
In the days that followed, Ashlea’s death was ruled as suspicious and then homicide.
Dane, Kelsey, Bobby, Ashton, Stacey, Dylan, and I were all questioned but were quickly ruled out as suspects.
But the fact that one of our friends was murdered near us while we we’re in the vicinity didn’t bode well for our reputations after that.
Especially Stacey.
Stacey Miller became the town’s pariah after that night. Her parents’ reputation was surely in tatters. Only time would tell whether people would still turn up at the church. However, they’d probably only turn up to gossip.
And me? I became a hero of sorts.
I became the butt of all jokes and the topic of all rumors for months.
But I didn’t care about that.
They could talk.
They didn’t know what I knew.
There was more than one killer out there. And it was probably one of the people in the hospital that night.
It was probably one of my friends. Or two.
But I didn’t tell anyone that.
After all, who would believe the ramblings of a crazy older woman?
I didn’t get the evidence or destroy what I had planned to destroy when sneaking into the hospital, but I got something far more important.
The only problem was telling my dad what I did and didn’t do.
That night, when he came home, he smelled strongly of wine and woman’s perfume. He also seemed joyful. I didn’t want to ruin his mood.
I had ordered myself a pizza earlier and left a few slices in the fridge, if he wanted it later, then headed up to my room to read, a can of soda in my hand.
Only a few minutes after I parked my butt on my bed and leaned back against the pillows, something hit my windowpane. I jumped out of bed, heart rate skyrocketing. I set down my soda can and book and headed to the window.
Dane was standing below. He waved up at me.
I opened up the window, and he climbed up the tree that stood between our houses, between our bedroom windows, its branches creating a bridge between them, between us.
It had been two weeks since Ashlea’s murder and the party at Summervale Cove Psych hospital.
He landed on my floor with a thud.
“Shh. My dad’s downstairs,” I whispered.
“Sorry. I just had to see you.”
He walked toward me and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into him. I leaned up and kissed him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“Your dad’s been out with my mom tonight.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
“He, um… he proposed.”
I froze in place, my heart leaping into my throat.
I just stood there frozen in place, staring up at my now forbidden boyfriend.
“Oh.”
To be continued in
book 2 of the Summervale series,
Kiss and Tell.