Reap The Whirlwind
Book 2 of the Killian Kendall Mysteries
By Josh Aterovis
Copyright 2026
Chapter 17
I awoke a few hours later, my back against his chest, his arms around me, our legs tangled. There were no misgivings this time, only a sense that everything was just as it was supposed to be. I wriggled around so I could see his face.
My stirring woke him, and his eyes fluttered open. I smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.
"It wasn't a dream," he whispered in an awed voice.
"No, it's for real," I said softly. "I love you, Aidan Scott."
A patented Aidan original grin spread slowly across his face, complete with dimples, and I realized how long it had been since I'd seen one.
"Say it again," he said.
I giggled. "I love you."
"One more time."
"I love you. I love you. I love you."
He kissed me again, and before long we were working our way toward another fireworks display — until my phone started ringing from my room across the hall.
“Mmm... let it ring,” Aidan murmured against my skin.
“It might be important," I said, though my resolve was already weakening. I'd never been good at ignoring a ringing phone.
“If it is, they’ll call back," he said, his lips trailing down my neck — making me forget entirely why I was protesting.
The ringing stopped...only to start up again a few seconds later.
I sat up. “It must be important.”
Aidan sighed. “Fine. But I’ll get it. Don’t move.” He stood, then leaned down for one more quick, lingering kiss. When he straightened, he just stood there for a moment, staring at me — like he couldn’t believe I was real, sitting naked in his bed.
I stared back, forgetting the phone altogether. He was almost too beautiful — like Michelangelo’s David, come to life. Dark blond curls framed a face that looked carved by an artist’s hand: high cheekbones, a strong, even nose, those full, devastatingly kissable lips. His eyes — deep, intense green — were locked on me. His body was muscled without being bulky, every line perfectly defined from years of working out.
Conflicting waves of emotion crashed over me — fierce love and desire, tangled with guilt for every time I had taken him for granted.
The phone started ringing again, snapping us both back to reality.
Aidan gave me a look that was half amused, half exasperated and dashed out of the room. He returned a moment later, holding out my phone.
"It's Laura," he said.
I took the phone and answered. "Hello?"
"Will?" Laura said. "What's going on? I didn't think you were ever going to answer. I called the gallery, and Nikki said you had the day off. And then when you didn't answer I started to freak out. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," I answered, smiling up at Aidan. "Everything is great."
"You weren't still asleep this late, were you?"
"No, I wasn't asleep," I said carefully.
"Why are you being so weird? Well, weirder than usual," Laura said. "Anyway, I talked to my friend — the one who knows Keiyara — and I found out where she lives. She's in the dorms on campus. I thought we could go talk to her after work, but since you’re off today, how about going now?"
"Now?"
"Yes, now. I don't have class until later this afternoon."
"I can't."
"Why not? You have the day off. What could possibly be more important than finding Joey’s killer?"
"Nothing, it’s just—"
"Great, then let’s go."
"It’s, uh, not a good time."
"Then when?"
"I don’t know."
"For God’s sake, Will! Do you even want to do this? I thought you wanted to find Joey’s killer."
"I do!"
"Then act like it. We have to talk to Keiyara. Killian said it could be important."
I was running out of excuses. The truth was, I just didn’t want this moment with Aidan to end.
"You should go," Aidan murmured into my ear. He’d slid back onto the bed beside me, close enough to hear the conversation while lazily tracing circles across my chest.
"But...what about us?" I whispered, holding the phone as far from him as possible.
"We’re great," he said with a lazy grin. "Besides, I’ll come with you. I’m free. I slept through the only class I had today."
I sighed. Clearly, the current was moving too fast to swim against. If Aidan was willing to come along, there wasn’t much point in fighting it.
I lifted the phone back to my ear. "Okay, let’s do it."
"Awesome! How soon can you meet me in front of Tubman Hall?"
"I don’t even know where that is."
"I do," Aidan said.
"Two hours," I told her. We definitely needed showers, and maybe a quick breakfast. I’d worked up a sweat...and an appetite.
"Perfect," she said. I could hear the satisfaction in her voice. "Oh, and Will...was that Aidan I heard just now? Are you two...?"
She let the question dangle, but I knew exactly what she was fishing for. Smirking, I said, "Bye, Laura," and hung up.
Revenge was sweet — and nothing tortured Laura more than unanswered questions.
I tossed the phone off the side of the bed and turned back to Aidan. His arms immediately wrapped around me.
"A couple of hours, huh?" he said, voice low. "Plenty of time to pick up where we left off..."
He didn’t have to ask twice.
We were late meeting Laura. She was sitting on the curb, arms crossed, when we finally pulled up. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Aidan behind the wheel.
"He came along to help," I said as soon as I opened the door.
"At least you're here," she grumbled. "What took you so long?"
"We were, uh...in the middle of something when you called," Aidan said with a wide grin. I couldn't hold back one of my own even as I felt my face flush.
Laura glanced between us, her eyes narrowing, then widening in sudden realization.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "You two are finally together, aren't you?"
I blushed even harder, and Aidan just nodded happily.
"About damn time! When did this happen?"
"This morning," I mumbled.
"Twice," Aidan added with a snicker.
I thought my face might burst into flames.
"Jesus! Um, overshare much?" Laura said with a slightly stunned expression on her face.
For a second, I worried Aidan might have pushed too far — but then she lunged forward and pulled both of us into a fierce hug. Aidan just kept on grinning like a fool as she stepped back.
"Okay, enough mush," Laura said briskly. "Wipe that dumb look off your face, Aidan. As long as you're here, you might as well help."
"Yes, sir, madam, sir!" Aidan said, snapping to attention.
I giggled, and Laura rewarded me with a scathing glare. The emotional moment was over. I made an effort to become more serious.
"So what's the plan?" I asked, trying to redeem myself.
"Why do we need a plan? We're just going to talk to Keiyara," Laura said.
"All three of us?"
"Well, I didn't know Aidan was coming, did I?" she snapped.
"If we all show up, it might feel like an ambush," I pointed out.
"Good point," Aidan said.
"Do we even know if she's in her room?" I asked.
Laura hesitated. "No."
"I think we need a plan," Aidan said, earning a glare from Laura.
"Then come up with one," she said.
"First, we need to find out if she's actually there. Why don't you call up and check?"
Laura clearly resented Aidan stepping into the leadership role, but she couldn't argue with the logic. She stalked over to the call box and punched in Keiyara's room number while we followed.
A girl answered almost immediately.
"Is Keiyara there?" Laura asked.
"No, she's in class," the roommate said.
Laura glanced at us. I shrugged.
"Okay, uh, thanks," Laura said awkwardly.
"You want to leave a message?" the girl offered.
"No, that's okay. Thanks anyway."
Once she hung up, Laura turned back to us. "Now what?"
We stood there awkwardly.
"That was my only idea," Aidan admitted.
"We could search her room," I suggested.
"Search her room?" Laura echoed.
"Yeah, like we did with Joey’s room. Look for anything unusual."
"Will, I barely know her. How would I even know what's normal for Keiyara? And besides, how would we get in? You really think her roommate's going to let us just waltz in?"
"Her roommate sounded nice," Aidan said. "Maybe we could talk to her. Maybe Keiyara told her something."
"So, what, we just knock and hope for the best?" I asked.
"We need a plan!" Aidan said brightly.
"Here's a plan, dork," Laura said. "You distract the roommate, Will and I will poke around."
"I thought you didn't want to search her room."
"Well, I've changed my mind," she said huffily.
"Why do I have to be the distraction?" Aidan asked.
"Because you're hot."
"And I'm not?" I protested.
"You're cute. Aidan's hot," she said with exaggerated patience. "He’ll be more distracting."
"I think Will's hot," Aidan said, grinning.
"Thank you," I said, vindicated. "Besides, what if she's a lesbian?"
"Oh my God, focus!"
"How am I supposed to distract her?"
"You're a guy, she's a girl — you'll figure it out. Improvise!"
"I'm not exactly an expert on flirting with women."
"Wing it, Romeo."
"If he's Romeo, does that make me Juliet? I want to be Romeo."
"Hey, you're the one with a thing for balconies."
Ouch! I swung my cast at her, and she ducked, laughing.
"So I’m the bait while you two snoop," Aidan said. "Nice."
"You weren't even supposed to be here, remember? Adapt and overcome, that's what good leaders do," Laura said loftily.
"That’s what a good leader would do. What do you do?" he shot back.
"Very funny. Are we going to stand here all day or actually do this?"
"How do we even get in?" Aidan asked. "Don't you need a student ID?"
Laura whipped out her ID and scanned it against the pad. Nothing.
"You don’t even live here," Aidan pointed out.
"Hey, it was worth a shot."
Just then, a red-haired girl with earbuds exited, oblivious. I caught the door before it shut.
"Problem solved," I said, grinning.
We slipped inside and took the stairs to the third floor.
"Okay," Laura whispered. "Aidan, you knock. Will and I will hide around the corner."
"Why are you hiding?"
"We just are! Stop arguing."
"I'm not arguing, I'm asking sensible questions—"
Laura knocked and dragged me around the corner before he could finish.
From my spot, I could just see Aidan but not whoever answered the door. He looked completely out of his depth.
"I...uh...hi," Aidan stammered.
"Hey, Aidan," said a female voice, confused. "What's up?"
Relief flooded Aidan’s face. He obviously knew her.
"Keisha! Hi!"
"So, what are you doing here?" she asked. "Miss an assignment?"
"Assignment? Oh, no. I, uh..."
"How did you even get in?"
"I, um..."
She laughed. "Boy, you are not trying to hit on me!"
"What? No! I mean...yes?"
I couldn’t hold back a loud snort of laughter. Laura elbowed me hard.
"Is someone with you?" Keisha asked suspiciously.
"Um...yes?"
Sighing, Laura pulled me out of hiding and walked over. I followed, still choking back laughter.
"Hi, I’m Laura," she said smoothly. "And this is Will."
Keisha studied us warily.
"We were friends of Joey Taylor," Laura said.
Blank stare.
"The guy who died at the party about a month ago?"
"Oh, right."
"We heard Keiyara found him and we were hoping she might have said something to you about that night."
Keisha shrugged. "We’re not exactly besties. She doesn’t tell me much, and I don’t tell her anything. Honestly, I can’t stand her. She’s like the Energizer bunny—guys in and out of here all the time. I have to study at my girlfriend’s place or the library."
"You two don't get along?" I clarified.
"Oil and vinegar. I'm sure somebody in campus housing thought they were doing us some kind of favor by pairing us up, but they can fuck right off. Just because we're two black girls does not mean we have anything in common."
"Would you mind if we looked around her stuff real quick?" Laura asked.
Keisha grinned. "Help yourself. Hell, take whatever you want. It's such a mess, she probably wouldn't even notice."
"We’re not stealing anything—" I started, but she waved me off, ducking inside.
A moment later, she reappeared with a backpack slung over her shoulder.
"I'm off to class. Room’s all yours. Just leave my stuff alone and nobody gets hurt."
She slipped past us and headed for the elevator. We stood there, slack jawed, watching her until the doors slid closed.
"We have a class together," Aidan said unnecessarily.
"You are such an imbecile," Laura growled.
"What? I got us in, didn't I?"
"No, Will and I got us in. You almost got a date."
"We can stand out here and argue, or we can take a look inside," I said as I started into the room. Laura and Aidan followed.
You didn’t need to be a detective to figure out which side belonged to who.
Keisha’s half of the room revealed a type-A personality. Her bed was neatly made, the corners of her khaki-colored duvet tucked tight like hospital sheets. A small collection of framed photos — smiling family members, a dog in mid-bark, a very butch lesbian in a wooded setting — sat arranged on her desk beside a row of neatly stacked textbooks. Above her bed, a carefully pinned lesbian pride flag added a much-needed splash of color.
Keiyara’s side, by contrast, was pure chaos. It looked like a garbage truck had taken a wrong turn and dumped its entire load. Fast-food bags oozed the scent of old grease, and half-empty cups sweated rings onto the battered nightstand. Discarded makeup products, crumpled papers and other junk cluttered the desk, while clothes lay in tangled heaps on the floor, chairs, even the window ledge.
I suddenly felt very bad for Keisha.
"How do people live like this?" Laura said with disgust. She nudged the closest pile cautiously with her foot, as if afraid that something alive might be hiding in it.
"Where do we even start?" I asked.
"With a shovel?" Aidan suggested.
"We'll never find anything, even if we knew what we were looking for," Laura lamented.
I picked up a pile of papers and flipped through them. They were all school assignments. I dropped them back in their place and picked up another pile which turned out to be the same thing.
With a matching pair of sighs, Laura and Aidan started pawing through piles of their own. We worked for a few minutes, trying to keep things pretty much where they were just in case Keiyara did have some sort of order to the chaos.
"Hey," Aidan called, just as the door handle rattled. We all jumped to our feet, instinctively clumping together in the center of the room.
The door swung open to reveal a rather startled-looking girl with long braids and just a little too much makeup. She was wearing skin-tight jeans and an equally tight, low-cut shirt that made the most of her considerable assets.
"Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my room?"
"Hi, Keiyara," Laura said quickly, her voice too bright. "Keisha let us in. I'm Laura Duvier. We have a class together?"
Keiyara blinked, still confused. "Okay, but what are you doing here? And who are they?" She motioned sharply toward Aidan and me.
"These are my friends, Will and Aidan. We just want to talk."
Her eyes flickered uneasily over us before locking back on Laura. "Talk about what?"
"You found Joey Taylor at that party, right?"
Immediately, her whole body stiffened. "Yeah. So?"
"We were friends of Joey. We just have a few questions."
Keiyara hugged her books tighter against her chest like a shield. "Look, I’m busy. I don’t have time for this."
"It'll only take a minute," Laura coaxed.
"I can't help you," Keiyara said, inching deeper into the room. Her voice had an edge — brittle and anxious.
"But you don’t even know what we want to ask."
"I already told the police everything," she snapped. "I found him. That's it."
"Please, Keiyara," Laura said softly. "Just listen."
For a moment, Keiyara hesitated. Then she dropped her books on the desk with a sharp thud. "Fine. One minute."
"How did you find him?"
She swallowed hard. "I needed air. I stepped outside and...there he was. Floating face-down. It was..." Her voice trailed off, her eyes glazing as the memory seemed to replay itself.
"Was anyone with you?" Laura asked gently.
That snapped Keiyara back into the room like a whip crack. "No! I was alone."
"You’re sure?" I pressed. "When I went inside, there were people smoking out back."
"You were there?" she asked sharply, eyes narrowing. "Wait. What did you say your names were?"
"Laura Duvier," Laura started, but Keiyara waved her away.
"Not you. Them."
"Aidan Scott and Will Keegan," I said.
Something shifted in Keiyara’s face—panic? Recognition? Whatever it was, Keiyara hesitated, visibly calculating. "There was no one else around when I found him. The backyard was empty."
It felt like we were getting nowhere. I was ready to leave, but Laura clearly wasn’t done. She had that look — the one that said she smelled a lie and wasn’t about to let it go.
"Who else was with you?" she asked, voice deceptively casual.
Keiyara's eyes flashed. "I said no one!"
"Who's the guy, Keiyara?"
"For Christ’s sake, are you calling me a liar?"
"Who was he?"
"Get out. Leave me alone."
"Not until you tell me. If you didn't see anything, maybe he did."
"I said nobody saw anything!" Her voice cracked on the last word.
"What are you scared of?" Laura pressed, her voice low, almost kind.
"I... I'm not scared." The lie rang hollow.
"You know it wasn’t an accident. What do you know?"
"I don't know anything!" Keiyara produced her phone from her cleavage. "I'm calling campus security."
Aidan shifted uneasily beside me. Maybe we had pushed too hard.
"Just tell us who he was," I said. "Then we'll leave."
Keiyara hesitated. Then, with a choked sound of frustration, she relented. "I don't know his name, okay? I was fucked up, high as shit. He was just some guy. Cute. Sweet. We wanted some privacy, so we went out to the pool house. No one was around."
"What happened then?"
"We were... busy." She looked embarrassed but kept her chin up. "And then he said he heard voices. I told him to ignore it. He did. Afterward, when we came back outside, that's when we found...him."
"And the guy?"
"He freaked. I screamed and he just bolted — jumped over the fence like it was nothing. Left me there with a dead body."
"That’s awful," Aidan said softly, but I barely heard him. I was back in that moment — the scream, the guy vaulting over the fence. I remembered. I'd talked to him.
We'd gotten what we came for. Sort of.
"Thanks for talking to us," Aidan said politely, as if Laura had actually given her a choice.
"Just get out," she snapped. "And stay the hell away from me."
The door slammed behind us so hard the walls shook. Down the hallway, a few doors opened and curious faces peeked out, like prairie dogs at the zoo.
Laura flashed a smile. "It’s cool. We're good."
The heads retreated.
"That was a little intense," Aidan said cautiously. "Do you think we were a little hard on her?"
Laura shrugged. "It worked, didn’t it? We know someone else was there with Joey."
"All we know is that some guy thought he heard voices. We don’t even know his name or even what he looks like."
"Actually," I said, "I do."
They turned toward me, twin expressions of shock.
"You do?"
"Yeah. Caitlin and I were in the front yard that night. We heard Keiyara scream. We were still there when a guy jumped the fence. I talked to him. I think I’d recognize him if I saw him again."
"Great," Aidan said dryly. "So what now? Set up a line-up?"
I shrugged. "Maybe Killian will have ideas."
"Either way," Aidan said, "we know something else too. Keiyara's the one who sent you the necklace and the note."
Laura lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "And how do you figure that?"
Aidan grinned and pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from his pocket. It had four words typed in bold: IT WASN'T A ACCIDENT.
I gasped.
"Rough draft," Aidan said smugly. "She messed up the grammar — ‘a accident’ instead of ‘an accident.’ She must’ve fixed it before she sent it."
"How considerate," Laura muttered.
"But how did she know where to send it?" I asked. "Why send it to me at all?"
"That I don't know," Aidan admitted. "Maybe she heard or saw more than she admitted."
"Should we go back and confront her?" I asked.
"Not now," Aidan said. "She’s too wound up. Give it time."
I glanced at Laura. She wasn't listening. Her forehead was furrowed in deep thought. I waved a hand in front of her face. "Hey, you good?"
She blinked. "Huh? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. Just...something’s bugging me but I can't figure out what."
"Just one thing?"
She looked back at Keiyara's door.
"Well, should we get going then?" I asked.
"You two go ahead. I'll call you later," she said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I just need to think."
There was no point arguing, we'd driven separately, so Aidan and I headed for the elevator.
"What was that about?" I asked when the doors closed.
"Who knows?" Aidan said, shrugging it off. "Laura's always up to something, isn't she?"
We were pulling out of the parking lot when I spotted a familiar face walking across campus.
"Oh hey, hang on," I said to Aidan, releasing my seatbelt and jumping out of the car.
"Caitlin!" I called.
She turned at the sound of my voice and waited while I jogged over.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking past me to the car where Aidan still sat in the driver's seat.
"We found Keiyara. We just finished talking to her."
That brought her attention back to me with a quickness. "Really? Where does she live? Did she tell you anything?"
"She's in Tubman Hall," I said, pointing over my shoulder. "And yeah, apparently, she was the pool house when Joey died," I said. "But she was...preoccupied."
Caitlin’s confused look shifted as the implication clicked. "Does she see anything?"
"Not really. The guy she was with thought he heard voices. I think he's the one we saw jump the fence that night."
"Did you get his name?"
"Not yet. Keiyara insists she doesn't know. That’s our next move."
Caitlin nodded thoughtfully, staring over my shoulder at the dorm. "Interesting. I should go. I have class."
We said goodbye, and I walked back to the car.
Aidan looked a little put out when I climbed into the passenger seat, but I leaned over and kissed him.
"Hey," I said. "I'm all yours. I promise."
He smiled. "You better believe it, Mister. Let's go. We've done enough sluething for today. I can think of better things for us to do, things that don't involve Laura or Caitlin."
"Oh really?" I could hardly wait.
I woke up the next morning, and for a few disoriented moments, I couldn't remember where I was. Then I felt Aidan's arms around me, and it all came back to me. After we got home, we'd only left his bedroom long enough to grab our food delivery for the rest of the night. Aidan insisted that it was our bedroom now, which made sense since it was the bigger room, but I would miss my view of the river — though not enough to argue. And I definitely wouldn't miss the fire escape and all its associated memories.
I lay for a while just watching him sleep. I didn't want to get up, but I had to get to work.
I carefully slipped out of bed without waking Aidan. I started the shower, then went into my old bedroom to get my clothes. When I went back into the bathroom, I was startled to find Aidan waiting for me in the shower. Before I could say a word, he pulled me under the hot spray, boxers and all. He cut off my protest with a passionate kiss.
"Why didn't you wake me?" he asked while I caught my breath. He took the bar of soap and started to wash me while I slipped out of my wet underwear.
"I was going to after I took my shower."
"I woke up, and you weren't there."
"I'm sorry," I said with another kiss. "I won't let it happen again."
"Good," he said as his soapy hands slid down my sides. "See that you don't."
"Aidan, I have to go to work," I protested faintly.
"I'll drive you."
"How does that make a difference? I still have to be there at the same...ooohhh," the rest of my case was cut off by Aidan's convincing counterargument.
That morning I learned that fireworks go off even in the shower.
Since Aidan did end up driving me to work, he had to pick me up, too. As soon as I got in the car, I could tell something was up.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Let's wait until we get home," he said, not looking at me.
"Aidan, you're scaring me. What's going on?"
He sighed and glanced over. "It's Keiyara."
"What about her?"
"She's dead."
I gasped. "What? When? What happened?"
"I don't know. Laura called right before I left to pick you up. She didn't have any details. She'd just heard it through the campus grapevine."
"Are we sure?"
He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road. "I guess it could just be a rumor, but that would be a wild coincidence, don't you think?"
I pulled out my phone and tried searching for her name, but nothing came up. I called Laura, but her phone went directly to voicemail.
We rushed inside as soon as we got home and turned on the TV, hoping to catch the local news.
Luckily, we'd only missed the first few minutes. The anchor, a heavyset guy who'd been on the channel for as long as I could remember, was talking about where you could go to see holiday light displays. I spaced out a bit while waiting for the next segment, but tuned back in when I heard him say, "We turn now to more disturbing news from Pemberton University. Just one month after the campus was rocked by the tragic drowning death of freshman Joseph Taylor at an off-campus party, the university is now facing another heartbreaking loss."
The scene cut to aerial footage of campus with emergency vehicles parked outside a residence hall.
"Authorities have confirmed that, late this afternoon, a student was found dead in their dorm room in what police are calling 'an apparent suicide.' The discovery was made by the student’s roommate, who immediately contacted emergency services."
A photo of Tubman Hall faded in, and my stomach dropped.
"The student's identity has not yet been released, pending notification of family. No details have been provided regarding the method or circumstances, but investigators say no foul play is suspected at this time."
Cut to a face I recognized. It was Detective Hammett.
"We understand the concern and heartbreak this brings to the community," she said. "At this point, we are conducting a full investigation and working closely with university officials to provide answers."
I frowned as they returned to the anchor. Detective Hammett worked homicide. What was she doing there if it was just a suicide.
The anchor continued, pulling me from my thoughts. "This latest tragedy has prompted renewed questions about student mental health and the emotional toll of campus life. We’ve reached out to Pemberton University administrators for comment, but so far, there has been no official statement. However, the university’s counseling center has announced expanded walk-in hours and emergency support services for students in distress.
"If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm, help is available. You can call or text the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, 24 hours a day.
"Coming up: What universities are doing nationwide to improve mental health access—"
Aidan turned off the TV, and we both sat staring at the blank screen.
Finally, I found my voice. "I don't think she killed herself," I said, my words barely above a whisper.
Aidan was quick to respond. "Don’t jump to conclusions. Maybe she saw more than she was letting on, and felt guilty. Or maybe she was scared we’d find out she sent you the necklace."
"Either way, doesn’t that make us responsible for her death?" My voice was small, filled with doubt.
"No!" Aidan said firmly, shaking his head. "We're only responsible for our own actions." But there was a hesitation in his tone, like he was trying to convince himself as much as me.
"But if it was suicide, what if confronting her was what triggered it? And if it was murder, maybe we somehow led the killer right to her. The timing is too convenient..."
"We didn't kill her, Will."
"What difference does it make if she's dead?"
"It makes a big difference. Maybe she would have done it anyway. Maybe she had something to do with Joey's death and she just couldn't live with the guilt."
"What?"
"We only have her word for what happened that night, and she admitted to being there."
"Don't forget that Caitlin and I saw the guy she was with jump over the fence."
"Right, but maybe he was involved, too."
"You think they both killed Joey and they're covering it up?"
"Stranger things have happened. Maybe Keiyara felt guilty and sent you the necklace."
"But why kill Joey at all?"
"I don’t know!" Aidan sighed, clearly frustrated. "I’m just throwing ideas out there. We don’t know anything for sure."
"Exactly. There’s so much we don’t know," I said, running a hand through my hair. "We need to find the guy she was with that night."
"But how?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "Maybe we need to get Killian involved. An emergency meeting."
"I'll text him and see if he and Asher can come over before Thursday." He pulled out his phone and started texting.
After a long moment of silence, I spoke again, the thought weighing on me. "I just can’t shake the feeling that she’d still be alive if we hadn’t gone to talk to her."
Aidan slumped back in his chair, letting out a deep sigh. "Yeah," he muttered. "Maybe you’re right."
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