“She looks like a nice person,” Miles commented first. “I wasn’t there that night, so I can’t help you. I wish I could.”
Nyla looked up from the picture. “She was a pretty girl, she said softly.”
“She looks like June a little around the eyes,” Deron said, returning his gaze to the photo to study it intently. “Sly loved girls with long blond hair, so she’d have fit right in at the party.” Deron glanced at June. “I don’t recall seeing her.”
“Please think hard,” June pressed. “I realize it was a long time ago. I don’t think she would have been dancing or in the center of the action. Can you remember anyone sitting alone? Someone who looked like she didn’t belong?”
Deron shook his head. “I’m sorry. To be honest, I was more likely to be in the center of the action back then. I didn’t necessarily reach out to the shy kids, if you know what I mean.”
June nodded. “Of course, I understand. What about when you left the party? Did you drive past the accident like Cameron did?”
“I didn’t. My house was in the opposite direction.”
June’s shoulders slumped. “Right. Well, thank you again for answering—”
“Who else is on your list?” Deron asked. “I was a regular at Sly’s parties.”
June lifted her phone, scrolled to the list, then handed her phone to Deron again. “Any chance you remember any friend who talked about getting their car fixed in the days after? The police looked into local body shops, but that was another dead end.”
Deron frowned as he studied the names. “No. No memories of anyone with car problems. The only person I know on this list is Anson. The other names aren’t at all familiar. Which isn’t all that surprising, since some came to one party and never came back.”
“I bet my sister would have been one of those.” June spoke almost to herself. “She probably wanted to see what a college party was like. Knowing how she was, I don’t think she’d have gone back.”
Lifting the phone from Deron’s fingers, June dropped it into her bag, then glanced at Cameron.
He got the message. It was time to head home.
“You spoke with Gran about this?” Nyla asked June before Cameron could rise.
“I did.” A tiny smile lifted June’s lips. “She has a way of getting things out of you that you have no intention of revealing. She seemed to empathize with my mother’s pain.”
“The $20,000 was to help you find the driver who hit your sister and left her there.” Nyla’s expression gave nothing away.
“Yes.” June expelled a breath. “A PI is expensive. I’d hit so many dead ends that I was beginning to lose hope.”
“What’s that old saying about it being darkest before the dawn?” Miles surprised them all with the comment. Then he leaned forward and met June’s gaze. “Don’t give up until you’ve overturned every rock. If you still don’t have answers, then move on, knowing you’ve done all you can do.”
“That’s the plan.” June rose. “Thanks for a lovely evening.”
“You haven’t spoken with Anson yet?” Deron arched a brow.
“Not yet.”
“Perhaps he’ll have some answers that will help,” Nyla offered.
“Perhaps.” June’s lips quirked in a humorless smile. “I’m past ready for some good news.”