push some salad around, looking down, thinking of Levi. “The kids who were there? Do they know who they were yet?”
“I don’t know,” Mr. Russell says. “They haven’t released any names. Those kids could get in trouble for trespassing.”
Was that all they could be in trouble for? “So they’re sure it was an accident?”
“So far,” Mr. Russell says. “I guess they’re still investigating.”
Mrs. Russell shakes her head, sending a warning look to Molly. “Those kids were drinking and smoking pot.”
“Duh,” Molly says with a sarcastic choke.
But her father is eyeing her just as hard. “Will there be drinking at this party tonight?”
“I don’t know, Dad,” she says. “But Kenzie and I don’t party. No worries.”
“It’s not you I worry about,” he says. “It’s the idiots who can’t handle the peer pressure. But, okay, you girls use common sense.”
“And call if you need anything,” Mrs. Russell adds. “Even a ride.”
The conversation is so foreign to me, I’m in stunned silence. My mother would have gone ballistic over the whole topic. This is so much better, so much easier and nicer and more normal. God, I want that. I know our family’s broken and we can never fill the void of Conner’s death, but couldn’t we at least try?
“We’re good, Mom,” Molly assures her, pushing away from the table. “Let’s get going, Kenz.”
I get up with her. For the moment, anyway, I’m at the Russell house and I’m going to a party and I just want to revel in the fun and normalcy of that.
“Hey.” Hunter grabs his sister’s arm. “Saturday is your cleanup day.”
Her face falls and she looks at her mom. “Can’t we switch for tomorrow?”
Mrs. Russell nods and shoos us away. “Come and say goodbye before you leave.”
Hunter starts to balk, but Kayla jumps up to offer to do Molly’s cleanup. A little chaos ensues while we slip out of the kitchen and I’m surprised at how much I’d love to just sit around that table for hours with a family that is so whole and happy.
But I have only myself to blame for that.
CHAPTER X
Holy crap, the Colliers are rich. Molly parks her car at the end of what feels like a half-mile-long driveway, lit up by fake gas lamps. At least fifty cars are in the drive and along the street. Some I recognize from the lot at school, some I don’t. This “little gathering” has to have a hundred kids already, and we’re early.
“Hey, Kenzie!”
I turn at the sound of a girl’s voice and see one of them emerging from a group of kids, coming toward me. In the dim light, I can’t quite make out who it is.
“It’s Chloe Batista,” Molly supplies under her breath.
She’s wearing superskinny jeans and boots, her cropped top riding high on her bare midriff. She’s cute—and has to be freezing—but, really, nothing extraordinary to look at. “How did she ever get number two?” I whisper.
“Are you forgetting the blow jobs?”
Oh, yeah. “Hi, Chloe,” I call back to her.
“Hey, you,” she says, super friendly, as she threads long blond hair highlighted with pink tips through her fingers. When she reaches me, I can see a tiny nose stud and false eyelashes that she didn’t have on at the school today. Guess a lot of us tried a little harder for the party tonight.
“Hey, do you know Molly Russell?” I ask Chloe.
Forced to acknowledge my friend, Chloe barely nods. “Hey.” Then she takes me by the elbow and guides me a few feet away. “Can I talk to you, like, privately?” she asks.
I turn to Molly, ready to say No, she’s my friend and stays with me, but Molly nods. “I’ll see you in there, Kenzie.”
“No, Molly, come on,” I insist.
Chloe squeezes my arm and gives me a purposeful look. “We can’t, Kenzie. List rules.”
I open my mouth to say Screw the list, but Molly holds up both hands to stop me. “Seriously, Kenz, I’m fine. Come and get me when you’re done.” She gives a quick smile to Chloe, not quite hiding the disappointment in her eyes.
Before I can stop her, Molly takes off and Chloe slips her arm through mine, a whiff of lemon body spray emanating from her. “We’re going into the woods.”
“Why?” I ask, walking with her because curiosity has gotten the better of me and I’m still hoping for answers about what happened to Olivia.
“Because it’s where we meet.” She tightens her squeeze a little and checks out my confused face. “We, the sisters, hon. Except, of