“My mom found it in a pawn shop in Silvercreek last year. She bought it for my birthday.”
“Oh. Right,” he said, looking mollified. “Sorry I snapped at you. I just…”
I held up a palm. “It’s okay. I understand.”
Trina leaned back, scratching at her chin. “So according to Hunter’s so-called evidence, you might’ve been the last one to see Lindsay, and you also had her necklace.”
“Yes.”
“Shit, Laney. That doesn’t look good for you.”
“I know.” I let out a sigh and folded my hands in my lap.
“So what actually happened today?” Adam asked. “With Hunter, I mean.”
“He asked me to come over to talk about it, and he told me everything he thought,” I said. “As soon as he did, I realized how suspicious I looked. But I explained what really happened. How I honestly had no idea my online friend was Lindsay, and how I never actually saw her or talked to her on the phone that night. Plus the whole pawn shop thing.”
“So you two are okay now?”
I nodded. “Yeah. We talked it over for ages, and he knows I didn’t do it now. I gave the necklace back, too. It didn’t feel right to keep it.”
“Wait. I don’t get it,” Trina said slowly. “If Hunter was so convinced it was you, why didn’t he just call the police and tell them?”
“I think he wanted a proper confession from me before he told anyone else.” I looked at Adam. “After your dad called him crazy, he seemed pretty certain that no one would believe him. Not unless he had solid evidence.”
Adam scrubbed a hand over his face and let out a short groan. “I wish he just fucking told me what was going on.”
“Me too,” I said softly. “Before now, I mean. But I get why he thought it was me. It really didn’t look good.”
“No shit.” Trina pursed her lips. “At least he actually listened to you when you explained everything, though.”
“Yeah.”
“So what’s happening now?” Adam asked. “When you say everything is okay between you two, do you mean you’ve forgiven him for being so horrible to you?”
“I didn’t exactly forgive him immediately, but I understood. And…” I hesitated and leaned forward again. “I told him I’d help him find Lindsay’s real killer.”
“So you believe us?” Adam said, brows shooting up. “You don’t think we’re in denial?”
I shook my head. “I wasn’t sure at first, but then Hunter showed me and told me a bunch of stuff that didn’t make sense,” I said. “Now I think he’s right. Something else happened to Lindsay that night. But the police won’t listen, and neither will your parents. So we need to try to get to the bottom of it ourselves. Otherwise you’ll never know the truth.”
“Can I help?” Adam asked with wide eyes.
“Of course. I was including you when I said ‘we’,” I replied. My gaze flitted between him and Trina. “I know it sounds impossible, but with all of our heads put together, we might actually be able to figure it out.”
Trina abruptly stood up, knocking the table with her hip and making our mugs and teaspoons rattle violently.
“Are you okay?” I asked, looking up at her.
She nodded. “Yeah. I just… I forgot it’s my dad’s birthday tomorrow. I’m meant to be helping Mom with the cake this afternoon so we can surprise him with it in the morning before he goes to work.”
“Oh. Right.”
She grabbed her purse. “Sorry. I really want to stay, but I can’t. I promised Mom,” she said hurriedly. “I’ll catch up on all of this tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.”
After Trina was gone, Adam turned his gaze back to me. “So… about this hunt of ours. Where would we even start?”