Reap The Whirlwind
Book 2 of the Killian Kendall Mysteries
By Josh Aterovis
Copyright 2026
Chapter 20
Everything was pretty much cleaned up by the time I returned to the apartment. Killian and Aidan were chatting in the kitchen, while Asher stood in the doorway, still looking upset.
"I'll get our coats," he said loudly when he saw me. He started down the hall toward my old bedroom where everyone had thrown their coats earlier.
"Killian, I want to thank you for all your help with this," I said quietly as I joined him and Aidan in the kitchen. "Even if we never find anything out for sure, at least I'll know I tried."
"You don't have to thank me, Will," he said. "I love doing this, and you're a friend. I'm just glad I can help."
"It's not caused too much stress on you and Asher, has it?" I asked, knowing full well it had.
Killian shrugged. "I dunno. I don't know what's going on these days."
"I can tell you what's going on," Asher snapped.
I spun around to find him standing there holding their coats, his usually handsome face twisted in undisguised anger.
"Not now, Ash," Killian sighed.
"Why not? Will asked, so let's give him the whole story. You know I never wanted to get involved with this in the first place."
"Ash—" Killian tried again, but Asher was running at full speed and there was no stopping him.
"I only went along with this stupid investigation — against my better judgment, I might add — because I could see how much you wanted to be involved. Why you'd want to get involved in another murder investigation after the last time, I still don't understand, but I agreed anyway. But it's different now. People are being killed. I want out. I want you out."
He wheeled around to face me, and I physically flinched.
"You should all drop this before one of you gets killed."
"We don't know that Keiyara was killed," Killian said. I pressed back against the counter, wishing I was anywhere but stuck in a small room while they had a fight. Aidan was looking back and forth between Killian and Asher like he was watching a tennis match.
"For God's sake!" Asher yelled. "What do you need? A signed confession? Do you want Will to get killed? Or your own cousin? We're not professionals, Killian. We don't know what we're doing. We have no business being involved in this."
"You're just overreacting because you're scared," Killian said, and I grimaced. Even I knew that was the wrong approach.
"Yes, I'm scared!" Asher bellowed. "What blows my mind is that you're not."
"We're getting close, though, Ash, I can feel it," Killian said. He was unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. "I've only been involved from a distance so far, and that's not going to change. I'm not in any danger. You're not in any danger. This is completely different from last time."
"What about the rest of them? They're the ones putting their necks on the line while you play puppet master. Are you even listening to me? Don't my feelings matter at all?"
"Of course they do, but I can't leave Will like this. He needs me."
Don't drag me into this, I thought.
"Well, I need you, too." Asher shouted. He dropped the coats and spun away, rushing toward the door.
Killian threw me a helpless shrug and ran after him, scooping the coats up as he went. "Sorry," he said, pausing in the doorway.
"Don't apologize. Just go after him."
He nodded and started to turn. "And Killian," I called, "if you need to drop out of this, I'll understand."
"No, somehow I don't think that would be the best idea," he said quietly.
I heard the apartment door close as I turned to Aidan. "Maybe this was all a mistake."
He shrugged. "They'll work it out. They've been through a lot worse. If we're right and someone did murder Joey — and maybe Keiyara — we can't just let them get away with it. Besides, you saw Killian. This stuff is in his blood. He wants to be involved. Hell, if we let him, he'd be out there knocking on doors himself."
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know. I just feel like this investigation is doing nothing but causing problems, and we're no closer to finding the killer than we were when we started."
"Hey," he said, pulling me in for a hug. "That's not true. We know who sent you the letter. We know there's somebody out there who may have heard the killer. We may even have the actual murder weapon in our possession."
I wrapped my arms around his back and squeezed. "You're right. Thanks for always being there to talk me down," I mumbled into his chest.
He kissed the top of my head. "Just doing my job."
Aidan and I went to see Keisha as soon as I got home from work the next day. We were gambling that we'd be able to catch her before she went to dinner or evening classes. We got into the building using the same tactic as before, but when we got to her floor, we were stopped by yellow crime scene tape stretched across the door of the room she had shared with Keiyara.
"Duh," I sighed. "We should have known. Now what do we do?"
"I didn't know they used crime scene tape for a suicide," Aidan said thoughtfully, fingering the tape as if he hadn't even heard me.
"Keisha obviously isn't here," I said. "How are we going to find her?"
"Let's try the room next door," Aidan suggested as he dropped the tape, strode to the room next door, and knocked.
The door was quickly opened by a giggling heavy-set girl with black hair and clothing, black lipstick, purple eyeshadow and heavy eyeliner. "Yeah?" she said with a toss of her hair.
I was almost blinded by the reflections off her ear jewelry, studded in multiple piercings all the way around the outside edge of her ear. There was enough metal there to forge a small sword.
"We're looking for Keisha. Do you know where she's staying?"
"No, I don't know. Ask the girl over there," she said and indicated the door opposite Keiyara and Keisha's. "She's tight with Keisha." She shut the door without further comment.
"Nice girl," Aidan mumbled as he started across the hall.
A pretty Black girl answered his knock. Her dark eyes took us in before she spoke. "Yes?"
"We're looking for Keisha," Aidan said again. "Do you know where she's staying?"
"Why are you looking for her?" the girl said in a challenging tone.
"It's okay, Lake," Keisha said, appearing next to her in the doorway. "They're cool."
Lake gave us a final once-over and must have decided we didn't look too threatening. She stepped back and allowed Keisha to take her place in the door.
"Well, well, well," Keisha said with a small, unconvincing smile. "Two visits in one week. Careful there, stud, or I might think you gots the hots for me."
Aidan smiled. "I'm sorry about Keiyara," he started.
Keisha snorted. "Now I know you didn't come up here to extend your sympathy about my loss. I made it clear last time you were here that I couldn't stand the girl. Just 'cuz she's dead doesn't mean I suddenly think she was my best friend. So let's cut the crap. Why are you really here?"
"We're still trying to figure out what happened to my friend Joey," I said, deciding it was time to step in.
Keisha gave me a look. "Yeah, you mentioned that last time. But I'm not sure I wanna be involved. How do I know that isn't why Keiyara ended up DOA?"
"Do you think Keiyara killed herself?" Aidan asked suddenly.
Keisha's eyes grew wide, and she looked up and down the hall as if she were afraid someone was listening. "What the hell are you doing, Aidan? Get in here, before you get us all in trouble."
We followed her into Lake's room, and Keisha shut the door behind us. Lake was studiously pretending to read a book, giving us the illusion of privacy.
"You can't go around just saying stuff like that in the middle of the hall," she said tensely. "What's wrong with you?"
"You don't think it was a suicide, do you?" Aidan pressed.
"I don't know what to think," Keisha said with a sigh.
"What happened? How did you find her?"
"I came back from a class, and when I opened the door, there she was, on the floor face down, not moving at all with a little puddle of blood under her. I knew she was dead as soon as I saw her. There were empty pill bottles on the floor near her with some pills spilled out and a gun in her hand. It didn't look like a peaceful death, if you know what I mean. I just slammed the door and called the cops."
"Pill bottles?" I interrupted. "Do you think that's what killed her, an overdose? Or was it the gun? Did she shoot herself? Where did the blood come from?"
"I don't know. I didn't exactly stick around to find out, and nobody has told me anything more than what was on the news. But the pills are really what's confusing me. Keiyara wasn't a doper, especially not sitting in our room all alone. Maybe at a party or something she'd smoke or pop some E, but she wasn't a druggie. I never saw her doing anything stronger than that. I don't even think she was on any prescriptions besides antibiotics for an occasional STI. I had to explain to her how to refill a prescription one time."
"So where did the pills come from?" Aidan asked.
"Beats me."
"Then what about the gun?"
"Don't know that either."
"Would you have known if she had a gun in your room?"
"You saw her side of the room. She could have had a rocket launcher over there, and I wouldn't have known."
I jumped back in. "Do you know if anyone in the building heard a gunshot?"
She shrugged and glanced at Lake, who was still pretending not to listen — badly. Rolling her eyes, she looked back at us. "I didn't hear anything. I was in class. Most of us are in the afternoons. I only ever run back to my room after lunch if I forget something."
"Had she been acting any differently since she found Joey's body at the party?" I asked.
"Not that I noticed, but like I told you before, I try to stay out of her business."
"What happened when the cops arrived?"
"They evacuated the building as soon as they showed up. Two cops, a man and woman, came to talk to me after a while. They told me they thought it was suicide and that I couldn't return to the room. As if I wanted to. No thank you. They said if I needed anything out of the room, I was supposed to give them a list and they'd get it for me. Seemed a lot of trouble to go to if a girl had just committed suicide. I asked if she'd left a note, and they looked at each other and then the woman said no. I asked them if they were sure it was suicide. The man got kind of snotty and said they knew what they were doing and that it was in everyone's best interest if I didn't suggest it was anything but a suicide."
"The two cops weren't named Grafton and Hammett by any chance, were they?" I asked, although I was fairly sure I already knew the answer.
Keisha looked surprised. "Yeah, they were. You know them?"
"We've met," I said wryly.
I remembered Detective Hammett on the news and wondered once again why homicide detectives were involved with a suicide? Did they think there might be a connection between Keiyara's death and Joey? She did find his body, after all. If so, why were they so intent on passing this off as a suicide? Were they covering something up? What was going on?
"You and Keiyara never talked about her finding Joey?" Aidan asked while I was thinking.
"We never talked about anything. I knew she'd found some guy dead in a pool but only because everybody on campus knew she'd found him."
I pulled up a picture of Joey on my phone and showed it to her. "Did you ever see her with this guy?"
She stared at my screen. "Isn't that the guy who died?"
"Yeah. Did you ever see them together before he died?"
"Never saw him at all before his face was all over the news."
A flash of inspiration hit me. "What about this?" I pulled Joey's necklace out from my shirt. "Have you ever seen this? Maybe in your room?"
Keisha took a closer look. "Maybe. If it's the same one I'm thinking of, yeah. She showed it to me, asked me who was on it. As far as I know, the girl never set foot in a church, but she knew I went every week. I guess she thought I'd know who the saint was. I tried to explain that there's a big difference between Catholics and Baptists, but she didn't get it. I swear, talking to her was like talking to a wall sometimes."
"So Keiyara did have this necklace then?"
"Well, I can't say for sure — I don't know a saint from my elbow — but I think so."
"Did you ever hear her mention my name? Will Keegan?"
She gave me a funny look. "No. Why?"
"We think she mailed this necklace to me, but we don't know why or how she knew my name."
She shrugged. "Sorry, I can't help you with that."
I looked at Aidan and an unspoken message passed between us. We were done here. Aidan thanked Keisha for talking to us, and we left with more questions than we'd started with.
All the way home, we discussed the different possible scenarios created by the new information we'd just gleaned from Keisha. We came up with nothing. The things Keisha had told us just didn't make sense.
Did Keiyara commit suicide or not? And if not, why were the police saying she did? How did Keiyara know my name and where I worked? The whole situation made me uneasy.
Maybe an emergency meeting was in order.
As soon as we got home, I called Laura, Gabe, and Caitlin, and scheduled a meeting for the following night. Then I had Aidan text Killian to let him know, but made sure he understood that we didn't expect him to show up, especially if it would cause more trouble with Asher. I had a feeling he'd be there anyway.
Adam called twice the next day with questions about the wedding, but other than that, it was a quiet Sunday. I was afraid to do anything until we talked to the rest of the gang and got their take on the situation with Keiyara.
Aidan was working out while I tried to distract myself with painting when he suddenly dropped his weights with a thump and turned to face me.
"Will, I have a question, and I think it's something we need to talk about before the wedding."
That didn't sound good. I put my paintbrush down and gave him my full attention. "Is something wrong?" I asked nervously.
"No, at least I hope not. It's just...we haven't really talked much about this whole wedding thing once Adam took over. It's less than a week away, and I just want to make sure we're still on the same page. I'm not pushing you too fast, am I?"
"Are you having second thoughts?"
"No! I mean, I know I want to do this, but I want to be sure you do, too. We can't get married just because you think I want it or out of some sense of guilt. It has to be because you want it as much as I do."
"Well, it's all happened pretty fast. I mean, two weeks ago we weren't even a couple. But yeah, I'm pretty sure I want to do this. I know I love you, and I know without a doubt that you love me." I smiled at him. "Besides, this is exciting, isn't it? Getting married and surprising everyone, starting a real life together, putting all the past behind us and looking only to the future — our future."
Aidan smiled back. "Yeah, it is pretty exciting. I guess I just want to be sure that you're sure, you know what I mean? With your background and all, I know this can't be easy for you."
"My background?"
"Well, you were raised in the church. Your dad's a pastor. He won't even talk to you. I know that early on you thought that God would hate you because you were gay. We talked about it once, on the balcony, remember? Do you still think that? Or what?"
"I mean, like I said the other night, I still feel like there's unfinished business with my parents. But everything else...I think I made my peace with it a while ago. Honestly, I'm not even sure I believe in God anymore. I mean, if there is a God, I don't think I'd want anything to do with one who doesn't approve of our love.
"I thought a lot about what you said — about the Bible being mistranslated over the years, about people twisting it for their own purposes — and I realized that what I feel in my heart matters more than what I was told as a kid. It's actually kind of freeing, realizing you can think for yourself instead of blindly accepting everything you're taught. There were always things that didn’t sit right with me, but I never had the courage to question them before.
"It’s still hard sometimes. I catch myself thinking something or reacting in a certain way — when you’ve heard the same thing your whole life, it sticks with you — but...it doesn’t weigh me down anymore."
Aidan sat and grinned at me.
"What?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious.
"You are so amazing," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"Most people who have been through what you have would have driven themselves crazy with guilt."
I frowned. "Guilt isn't what makes me crazy."
"Will, you're not crazy."
"I jumped off a balcony..."
"You were having a rough time. You were depressed. That doesn't make you crazy."
"What about getting engaged and married within one week? Does that make me crazy?"
He laughed. "If so, at least we're both crazy. I'm certainly crazy about you."
I pretended to gag. "Okay, that's enough cheesy mush for one day, you meathead. Go lift something heavy and let me paint in peace."
He laughed again but grabbed his dumbbells without arguing, and we went back to working in companionable silence.
Killian, sans Asher, was the first to arrive for the emergency meeting I called that night.
"Where's Asher?" I asked him as I let him in.
"Don't ask," he grumbled.
"Did you have another fight?" Aidan asked.
"Another? We're still having the first one. I didn't even tell him about this meeting. I knew he'd just flip out."
"What if he finds out?"
"I'll worry about that if it happens."
Another knock came at the door. This time it was Caitlin.
As I took her coat, she leaned in and whispered into my ear. "Can I talk to you after the meeting?"
"Sure. Is anything wrong?"
"We'll talk later."
I was still trying to figure that out when Laura and Gabe arrived. I couldn't help but notice that Gabe looked an awful lot like the proverbial cat that ate the canary. He couldn't hide a smug smirk, and I wondered what was going on. Laura looked a little cross, so whatever it was he knew, I was willing to bet he hadn't shared it with her yet. I hoped that whatever news he had would help untangle some of the mysteries we were left with after our meeting with Keisha.
Since I was the one who had called the emergency meeting, I started things off. "I asked you all to come here tonight because Aidan and I talked to Keisha yesterday, and I thought it raised more questions than we got answered. We thought it was significant enough that we all needed to talk about it together."
With Aidan's help, I gave them a detailed rundown of what we had learned from Keisha.
"So was it a suicide or not? That's the question, right?" Gabe asked when we'd finished.
"That and, if it was murder, why did the police label it a suicide?" I added. "Wouldn't it be better to have the campus warned if a killer was running around?"
Killian sat forward. "The police may not want to create panic."
"I think it's obvious that she killed herself," Caitlin said. "You're all blowing this out of proportion, trying to find a mystery where there isn't one. She was a troubled girl who got in over her head and offed herself."
"Then why wasn't there a note?" Laura asked.
I looked down at my lap. "Not every suicide leaves a note," I said softly.
A heavy silence fell over the room, and I glanced up to find horrified expressions on everyone's face. No one seemed to know what to say.
"God, Will, I'm so sorry," Laura said. "I'm always putting my damn foot in my mouth these days."
"It's all good," I said, deliberately keeping my tone light.
Aidan spoke up, shifting the attention back to our discussion. "Will's right, though. We learned that in our psychology class."
"So what's the consensus?" Killian asked, picking up on Aidan's cue. "Did she kill herself or was she murdered?"
"We don't even know for sure that Joey was murdered?" Caitlin said before anyone could speak. "I mean, it looks like this Keiyara chick wasn't exactly wrapped that tight. Maybe she found the necklace and made the rest up."
"What did she have to gain?" Aidan argued. "Besides, she didn't strike me as bright enough to come up with all this on her own. No, I think she either knew something or someone thought she knew something and she was taken out of the picture."
"I agree with Aidan," I said. "I think someone killed Keiyara to silence her."
"I think she committed suicide, but I don't think that necessarily means Joey wasn't killed," Gabe said. "If Keiyara was murdered, then we're no longer dealing with someone who acts in the heat of the moment. They've moved into carefully planned and carried out premeditated murder."
"So, do you really think Keiyara killed herself, or would you just prefer that to dealing with a cold-blooded killer?" Killian asked.
Gabe grimaced. "Maybe it's more the latter," he admitted.
""But why would the police lie?" Laura asked.
"They may know more than they're ready to admit," Killian said. "For the record, I think she was killed. Just because Joey's death seems to be unplanned, it doesn't mean the killer couldn't feel trapped and think he had to kill again to protect himself."
"Well," Gabe said dramatically, his self-satisfied expression from earlier returning, "I have some information that isn't affected by how Keiyara died."
That got everyone's full attention.
"What information do you have?" Killian asked.
"I know who Keiyara's mystery man is."
Everyone began talking at once.
"Wait, wait, wait," he called, grinning the whole time. It was obvious he was enjoying the attention. "One at a time."
"Who is it?" we all yelled in perfect unison.
"His name is Robbie Meade," Gabe said, chuckling. "He doesn't go to Pemberton. He's from the tech school, but apparently he came with a friend from PU."
"How did you find this out?" I asked.
"More importantly, why didn't you tell me?" Laura demanded.
"I wanted it to be a surprise when I told everyone at once," he explained, wisely answering Laura's question first. "I just found out today. I swung by the frat house between classes and told them I was looking for someone who was at the party. The first guy I asked had no clue, but someone else overheard and said it sounded like his friend, Robbie. I asked him what his last name was, and he told me, but then he got all cagey and asked me why I was looking for him. I told him someone thought they saw him with my girlfriend, and the guy just laughed and said it sounded like Robbie. When I asked for his phone number, though, the guy clammed up, said he wasn't about to get his friend in trouble."
"Well, at least we have a name now," Killian said. "That's a lot more than we had before. We just have to find this guy and that should just be a matter of doing a Google search. If that doesn't work one of us can call the office at the tech school and weasel it out of someone there."
"Why don't we do it now?" I asked.
I was ready for this to be over, and it seemed like Robbie Meade was our last chance.
"Actually, now isn't a good time," Laura said quickly. "I should get going. I have a project due tomorrow that I haven't even started."
Gabe looked a little put out. "What? Since when?"
Laura rolled her eyes. "I've been talking about it all week."
Gabe frowned. "You have?"
"You never listen to me," she said with a sulk.
"Well, it's a good thing we drove separately," he said, still looking a little confused. "I'll stay and help."
"Is the meeting over?" Laura asked Killian.
We all exchanged glances. What was going on?
"Ask Will," he said. "He called the meeting."
She turned an expectant look in my direction.
"I guess," I said. What was she up to?
"Great," she said, bouncing to her feet. "Then I'll see everyone Friday night at Will and Aidan's surprise...whatever the hell it is."
She shrugged on her coat and started for the door.
"Maybe I should go see what that's all about," Gabe mumbled as he grabbed his jacket and rushed after her.
"That was a bit odd," Aidan said with a frown.
Caitlin sniffed. "If you ask me, she's a bit odd. Can we talk now?" she asked me.
"Sure," I answered.
"In private?"
"Oh, right. We can talk in my bedroom."
As we left the room, I could feel Aidan and Killian's curious stares on my back.
"What's up?" I asked once we were in my room.
"I've been thinking about that agreement," she said. I couldn't read her voice, and her expression was guarded.
"Yeah?"
"If I agree to sign it, I have concerns of my own."
"About what?"
"You and Aidan."
I blinked in surprise. "What about me and Aidan?"
"Now that you're dating, how does he feel about the baby being a part of your life?"
"He supports me. He said it's my decision."
"And how do I know you guys won't get some sort of gay baby fever and decide you want to take my child away from me?"
"What? That's crazy. I don't want to raise a child. I just want to be a part of its life. I'm just Uncle Will, remember?"
"I want it in writing."
"Fine. I'll talk to Ilana and have her add that to the agreement."
"I'm not saying that I'll sign this damn thing. I'll have to read it first, and think about it."
"That's...reasonable."
"I don't think you understand. I won't let anything or anyone hurt my baby...or me. And that includes you and Aidan."
I felt a chill run up my spine at her words. Was she threatening me or just trying to make me understand how much the baby meant to her?
"The baby means a lot to me, too, Caitlin," I assured her. "I want what's best for him or her, too. If that's what this is all about, then understand that I'm not trying to take it away from you. That's the last thing on my mind. I want to be a part of this child's life, and I'm certainly not going to do anything to intentionally hurt it...or you."
She smiled tightly, but the expression didn't quite reach her eyes. "Good. That's what I needed to hear."
She patted me on the cheek and slipped past me back into the hall. I got her coat for her and let her out.
Killian and Aidan were still in the living room, sitting close together on the sofa with their heads bent toward each other, speaking in soft voices. They stopped talking abruptly as I approached.
"What were you guys talking about?" I asked as I sat down on the other side of Aidan.
"Nothing," Aidan said, slipping his arm around me.
"If you were talking about nothing, then why'd you stop when I came over?"
They exchanged glances.
"What's going on?" I pressed.
"Maybe we should try calling this Robbie person," Killian suggested.
His attempt to change the subject wasn't even subtle, but I suspected my chances of getting anything out of either of them was slim to none, so with an exaggerated sigh to make it clear I knew what was going on, I gave in.
"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" I asked.
"I don't think it's a good idea to wait," Killian said. "What if the same thing happens to him that happened to Keiyara? Then we would never get the chance to talk to him, and we'd never know what, if anything, he saw that night."
"Good point," I agreed, and slid out from underneath his arm to grab my laptop from our bedroom. When I came back, I wiggled my way in-between the two cousins so we could all look at the screen.
We quickly discovered that we didn't know which spelling Robbie used on his last name. There were multiple people named Robert or Rob with last names spelled Mead and Meade and even one Mede in the area, and, of course, there was no guarantee that any of them was the Robbie we were looking for.
We decided that there was no way out but through. We just had to call them all until we found the right person. We struck out on the first three tries. Although all the Roberts were perfectly polite, they weren't the guy we were looking for.
I dialed the next number, putting the call on speaker while it rang.
"Hi, I'm looking for Robbie Meade," I said when a male voice answered.
"Yeah, that's me," the guy said cautiously. "Who's this?"
"Do you go to the tech school here in town?"
A pause, then, "Yeah."
I felt my pulse quicken, and, for a second, I didn't know what to say. I'd gotten used to all of us receiving negative answers to that question, after which we'd politely tell whomever we were talking to that we had the wrong number.
"Were you at the party the night Joey Taylor died?"
The line was perfectly quiet. For a panic-stricken moment I was afraid he'd hung up. "Please don't hang up," I said in a rush.
"I'm still here," Robbie said quietly. "Who are you, and what do you want?"
"My name is Will Keegan. I was there, too. We met briefly...right after you jumped the fence. Remember? You told me Joey was dead. Joey was my best friend. Please, I just have some questions about that night."
"What questions?"
"I think someone was with Joey right before he died, and I think it's possible they killed him."
"That's not a question."
"We talked to Keiyara," I said.
"Who?" He was playing dumb.
"The girl who was with you in the pool house."
I heard a sharp intake of breath. "Look, I'm sorry about your friend but there's nothing I can do to help you," he said with finality.
"Wait!" I called. "Please, just answer a few questions. Keiyara told us you said you heard voices. What did you hear?"
"I don't want to get involved."
"You're already involved. You were in the pool house with Keiyara that night. What you know could help catch a killer."
"I don't know anything. I'm telling you, I can't help you. I've been hiding in my apartment ever since my buddy called to tell me the girl I hooked up with was found dead in her dorm room. Then he called back yesterday and said some guy was asking around about me at his frat house. I'm not stupid. I can see what's going on. I'm next on this serial killer's hit list. I'm leaving town tomorrow for good. I'm moving to Maine to live with my dad."
"If you're leaving, then it can't hurt to tell us what happened that night."
"You're not listening to me. I didn't see anything."
"But you heard something."
"For fuck's sake, just leave me alone!"
"If you don't talk to me, I'll have to go to the police," I said desperately.
"No! Fuck! Don't get the police involved."
"Then just talk to me," I pleaded.
He sighed heavily into the receiver. "Look, I heard something..."
"Something?"
"Someone. Voices. They were talking out by the pool. I wasn't paying attention at first, except to hope they stayed out of the pool house until we were done, you know? Then they got louder, like they were fighting."
"Did you recognize the voices?"
He let out a short burst of nervous laughter. "Hell, no. That's why this is all so fucking messed up. I don't even know anybody at Pemberton except my friend. He's the one that brought me that night. Damn, I wish I'd never gone."
"Could you hear what they were saying?"
"I was kind of distracted at the time," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "I didn't catch what they were saying. All I know is that they sounded like they were arguing. The guy sounded...I don't know, pissed off. He was loud, sounded kinda drunk. The girl was quieter, but she sounded more upset than he did."
"Wait! He was arguing with a girl?"
"Yeah."
My heart was pounding. "Are you sure you don't remember anything they were saying?"
"I'm sure, man. I told you, I wasn't listening, and I was kinda busy, you know?"
"But you're positive it was a girl?"
"I'm not sure of anything. It sounded like a guy and a girl, but, for the last time, I didn't see them and I didn't hear what they were saying. Okay? That's it. That's all I know. I gotta go. I've got another call coming in."
"Wait..." I tried, but the line went dead as he ended the call.
I sat staring dumbly at my phone for several seconds until Aidan spoke up, "So...the killer was a girl?"
"A girl..." Killian said thoughtfully. He and Aidan exchanged a look.
"Okay, that's it," I said firmly. "I let it go earlier but enough of these meaningful glances between you two. Spill it."
"It's nothing," Aidan said quickly, but I fixed him with a glare.
"Tell me what you two were talking about or you're sleeping on the couch tonight."
"You can't kick me out of my own room!"
"Try me."
He sighed. "Fine, but you have to promise not to freak out. We were just talking about how it almost feels like the killer is always one step ahead of us...almost like they know what we're doing."
"Well, we've not exactly been secretive," I pointed out.
"Still, it does seem to be just a little too coincidental."
"So what are you saying? You think the killer is one of the Scooby gang? One of us?"
"Not just any of us," Killian pointed out. "According to Robbie, Joey was arguing with a girl."
"There are only two girls in our group," I said.
"Which narrows it down a bit, doesn't it?" Killian said.
"No. It's not Laura or Caitlin."
"How do you know?" Aidan asked gently.
"You can't be serious! I've known Laura forever. Just because you two have been butting heads lately doesn't make her a murderer. And Caitlin was with me when Joey was killed, so it couldn't have been her. Besides, what did she have to gain from Joey's death?"
They exchanged another look.
"I wish you two would stop that!" I snapped.
"Will, think about it," Aidan tried again. "You'd known Joey forever, too, but his behavior took you completely by surprise. So much so, in fact, that you didn't even believe me when I first told you about it. You had to see it for yourself. You have to admit that Laura's been acting strangely. What about the way she left here so suddenly tonight, as soon as Gabe told us Robbie's name?"
"That's why I thought it was important that we call him right away," Killian explained.
"And you remember she stayed in the hallway the day we talked to Keiyara after we left. Maybe she went back as soon as we left. There's just too much that doesn't fit."
"So you're convinced that Laura is the killer?"
"No, not convinced. It's just a possibility that we have to look at. To be honest, Caitlin is just as good a suspect."
"But she was with me when—"
"She was with you when Joey was found, not necessarily when he was killed."
"What do either of them stand to gain from Joey's death?"
"They don't need to gain from Joey's death. We've already decided that it was a crime of passion, committed in the heat of the moment, not planned out like Keiyara's murder."
"Well, I don't believe it. I don't believe it was either one of them. Caitlin just isn't a killer and, for all we know, there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for the way Laura's been acting."
Aidan and Killian exchanged one more glance.
"I hope you're right," Aidan said with a sigh.
I took a shaky breath. "Laura is like a sister to me. I can't lose her too."
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