“But he didn’t.”
“No.”
“You never checked?”
Tanya wiped her face.
“We thought he had told you.”
“For how long?”
Silence.
“When did you realize he had not?”
Phoebe lowered her eyes.
“After the memorial.”
“And then?”
“We were ashamed.”
“You were teenagers.”
I stood.
“You were not teenagers for twenty years.”
Phoebe flinched.
Holly reached toward me.
I stepped away.
“I need to leave.”
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To hear him say it.”
Sheriff Kahn had retired years earlier.
He lived in a small brick house near the edge of town.
When he opened the door, he wore house shoes and an old sweater.
His face changed the moment he saw me.
“Olivia.”
He did not pretend not to know why I was there.
“You knew Teresa went back for Phoebe.”
His shoulders lowered.
“Yes.”
My hands shook.
“You let me believe she died trapped in that car.”
“I told you the vehicle was swept away.”
“You left out the only part that mattered.”
“You had just buried an empty casket.”
