“THE WAY I SEE IT,” T.J. SAID. HE SWALLOWED hard and gripped Meg’s hand tightly under the table. “The way we see it, whoever wrote the diary is behind everything.”
They’d decided on the walk back up to the house not to mention that the journal might have belonged to a dead girl. Meg was worried that the news might put Minnie over the edge, but in the end, it wasn’t like it really mattered.
What they had to do now was figure out a way to survive until morning.
No one reacted, just continued to stare at the diary, which sat in the middle of the table. It was as if the shock of all the deaths had numbed their senses, slowed down their reactions. Meg felt it herself. When she and T.J. finally returned to the house, the two additional red slashes on the wall somehow didn’t hold the same terror they had earlier in the day. Meg distinctly remembered staring at them, marveling at the fifth slash with complete concentration, like it was a Picasso she needed to interpret. It perfectly cut through the other four on the diagonal, centered and without a single drip of red paint to mar its symmetry. It had been made carefully. Precisely. Whoever did it wasn’t concerned about getting caught. They’d taken their time.
T.J. called Gunner, Minnie, and Kumiko downstairs to the foyer and they each reacted much the same. No hysterics. No panic. Meg could see the same dull look in their eyes as they marched through the foyer. Acceptance.
Death was the new normal.
Kumiko was the first to break the silence. “Really?” She folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. “Isn’t the most logical explanation that one of us is the killer?”
Meg flinched. Well, of course it was the logical explanation. The first thought that popped into everyone’s mind. But considering the five individuals who were currently huddled around a dining room table, lit only by a battery-operated lantern and a half-dozen candles, the idea sounded ludicrous.
T.J. remained calm. “We’ve been over this.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”
“Who then?” T.J. asked. “My best friend? Meg’s best friend? You?”
Kumiko didn’t answer.
“I’ve known Gunner since I was ten. Meg, when did you and Minnie meet?”
“Seventh grade.” Meg smiled at Minnie, but she wasn’t looking.
Kumiko pursed her lips. She clearly wasn’t buying T.J’s argument. “Just for kicks, I want to point out that any of us could have committed these murders.” She glanced around the table, taking in each person. “Any of us.”
“But I was with you,” Gunner said. “For, um, most of them.”
Meg caught a slight roll of Kumiko’s eyes. “Yeah, but logically speaking, no one else can confirm that.”
“Well, Meg and I were together when Vivian was killed,” T.J. said. He squeezed Meg’s knee under the table. “You may not believe us, but I know for a fact we didn’t do it.”
Meg opened her mouth to back up T.J., then paused. Yeah, they’d been together most of that morning. The perilous trek down to the boathouse in the storm of the century and all. But there had been a moment. Just a few minutes when T.J. had run back up to the house to get the flashlights. It would have been enough time....
T.J. caught Meg staring at him. His eyes were so trusting, so soft. Meg shook off her doubts. She was being ridiculous. The stress of the day had made her paranoid.
“Bottom line,” T.J. said, still looking at Meg, “we all trust each other.”
“Speak for yourself.”
It took Meg a few seconds to realize that it wasn’t Kumiko who had spoken.
It was Minnie.
Gunner was the first to react. “Huh?”
“You heard me, Gun Show.” Minnie’s voice was razor-sharp. “I trust you about as far as I can throw you. And that goes for the rest of you, too.” Minnie pushed her chair away from the table and stood up.
“Minnie!” Meg said.
“What?” Minnie laughed. It was cold and barking. “You think I trust you?”
Meg straightened herself. “Yes, of course.”
Minnie looked unconvinced. “Why?”
Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because I’m the only one who knows your secrets? “I’m your best friend.”
“Really? You’re my best friend?”
“Of course.”
Minnie leaned across the table. “Then why have you been trying to steal my boyfriend?”
Had Minnie lost her mind?
Kumiko leaned into Gunner. “She’s into you too?” she muttered.
Gunner slipped his arm around her back. “Um … er … Wait, are you?”
“No,” Meg said. She may not be sure about many things in her life anymore, but her disinterest in the Gun Show was not one of them. “No, I’m not.”
“Not that one,” Minnie said. She pointed to T.J. without looking at him. “That one.”
Meg felt the color drain out of her face. She thought of the make-out session she and T.J. had just shared and felt a pang of guilt. She’d known for years that Minnie was in love with T.J. She’d pushed him away. Without any luck.
“Boyfriend?” T.J. asked.
“Yeah,” Minnie said.
“Minnie, I was never your boyfriend.”
Minnie crossed behind the table and caressed his shoulder with the tips of her fingers. “You should have been.”
T.J. flinched away from her touch. “Minnie, I was never going to be your boyfriend.” His voice was harsh. “Ever.”
“See?” Minnie said. “You’re angry. That means you care.” She laid a hand on his chest.
“Get away from me,” T.J. said. He pushed her arm away. “You’re fucking crazy.”
“She’s not crazy.” Meg said it on reflex. She was so used to defending Minnie she didn’t even realize she’d done it again.
“Don’t defend her!” T.J. barked. “Why are you always defending her? She does nothing but treat you like dirt.”
“It’s not her fault, okay?” There she was, sticking up for Minnie again. Why was it never the other way around?
T.J. stormed across the room. “For chrissakes.” He leaned his back against the wall and folded his arms across his chest.
Minnie mimicked his stance, folding her arms across her chest as well. “She was only nice to me so she could steal you. She sabotaged me.”
T.J. laughed. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Is it?” Minnie said, her voice shrill and tense. “Then why did she start a rumor saying that you asked her to the Homecoming dance?”
“Hey!” Meg said. “I didn’t start any rumor.”
T.J. looked straight at Minnie. “Maybe because I did ask her to the Homecoming dance?”
Minnie’s eyes grew wide. She swung around and faced Meg. “I knew it. I knew you were lying to me. You told me he didn’t ask you.”
Now all the blood rushed back into Meg’s face with a vengeance. Turning T.J. down was one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but Minnie would never have forgiven her.
“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Meg said lamely.
Minnie glared at her. “You should have told me the truth.”
“She canceled on me that morning,” T.J. said.
“Yeah, but she didn’t want to.” Minnie’s eyes never left Meg’s face. “She wanted to go with you. She cried her eyes out over that.”
T.J. turned to Meg. “You did?”
“How did you …” Meg froze. She hadn’t told Minnie that. She hadn’t told anyone. She only wrote about it in her …
“Oh, no.” Meg felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. She was dizzy as reality dawned on her. “Minnie, you didn’t.”