grabs me. “If you don’t tell me everything, and I mean everything, right now, I will kill you myself.”
I lose the battle and pull her to the bed, the whole story spilling out in nearly incoherent sentences, but she’s smart and seems to follow it all well enough, knowing better than to interrupt me with a million questions.
When I finally finish, she grabs the paper and folds it up, stuffing it into my hand. “You are going to tell the girls everything and then, with me, we are all going to the police.”
I stare at her. “You think we should? What if they get to me first?”
“They have to get through me, and I’m not on any stinkin’ Hottie List, thank God.” She pulls me off the bed. “I can find that trailer again. Come on.”
God, I love her. “Okay, let’s go.”
She peppers me with questions during the drive out to the country, but I can’t answer many of them. Including why I haven’t heard from Levi in hours.
“Maybe that’s how he wants it,” she suggests.
“What do you mean?”
For the first time, she doesn’t answer right away, pretending to be focused on the dark road and the beams of her VW headlights.
“Come on, Molly, you can’t drop a bomb like that and not tell me what you mean.”
“I mean …” She shifts in her seat. “I don’t think he’s good enough for you, Kenzie.”
I grunt. “You don’t know him.”
“I don’t have to know him. He’s got a reputation.”
“Like I said, you don’t know him. You know his reputation, which is based on hearsay and rumors and, okay, maybe he had some issues back at his old school, but he’s really trying to turn his life around.”
“Are you going to just ignore the elephant in this car?” she asks.
“The elephant in the car?” I try for humor. “Who says that?”
She doesn’t laugh. “He almost killed a girl in a stolen car. And that’s not just a bad reputation, Kenzie. That’s on the Internet.”
I inhale slowly, a little sick that she cyberstalked him.
“Don’t be mad,” she says. “I’m your bodyguard, remember?”
“It was …” An accident. But I can’t even say the words.
“And he admitted he was at the quarry. And he left Starbucks right before Chloe died.”
“He was with me when Amanda and Kylie went off that bridge,” I insist.
“A perfect alibi. What if something was done to their brakes?”
I hate where she’s going with this. Hate it. He has been in the wrong place at the wrong time more than once.
She doesn’t reply, but turns onto the dirt path and we drive in silence, the little Bug jostling us over the ruts, each one making my heart ache. Not Levi. Not Levi.
And then her headlights shine right onto his Kawasaki, parked directly in front of the trailer. Oh, Levi. I can’t even breathe.
“What’s he doing here?” Molly asks.
There are three other cars parked on the grass, and I immediately recognize them as belonging to Dena, Shannon, and Bree, who probably brought Candace and Ashleigh. They’re all here … with Levi?
“What is he doing here?” I repeat Molly’s question because nothing makes any sense right now.
“Guess we better find out.”
As she stops the car, I put a hand on her arm. “Would you consider staying here until I find out what’s going on?”
She smirks. “No.”
I’m not going to fight her, so we get out and walk toward the trailer, the only sound some crickets and a soft night breeze, the only light a dim bulb in the living room.
“It’s quiet,” Molly whispers.
It sure is. What’s going on in there? My heart is crawling up to my throat, the pulse so hard and steady it’s vibrating my whole body. I walk up one step to the front door and raise my hand to knock.
“What’s that smell?” Molly asks.
I sniff, getting a whiff of something putrid.
“Whoa, that stinks.” She covers her mouth. “Like rotten eggs.”
Everything inside me turns ice cold. “Oh my God.” I slam my hand on the doorknob, not even thinking, not even caring what’s on the other side. I recognize that smell. “It’s gas!”
The door flies open with almost no pressure and I practically fall into the tiny living area, the smell so strong I nearly gag.
“Kenzie, look!” Molly points to the sofa, where Dena and Candace lie perfectly still, eyes closed. On the floor are Bree, Shannon, and Ashleigh.
I lunge toward them, thoughts of Levi gone as I pray they’re still alive. Molly’s already leaning over Shannon’s body, lifting her