“You can’t beat yourself up like that. There’s no way you could’ve known.”

“Yes, I should’ve.” Her eyes widened as she realized something, and she looked up at him. “The last time I saw Luke alive, he was going off with Lexi.”

“Who’s Lexi?” Daniel asked.

“One of those really pretty, creepy girls.”

“So he left the picnic with this Lexi girl, and then disappeared?” Daniel asked. “Did you tell the cops that?”

“No, I mean, yes.” She shook her head. “I told them what I knew, but that didn’t seem very important. He went home after the picnic and had supper with his parents. It’s after that that he left, then went missing. But he did go off with Lexi, for a little while.”

“You think that Lexi and Penn and that other girl are somehow involved with the murders? That’s what you’re suggesting?”

“I don’t know,” Harper said, then changed her mind. “Yes. I do. I think they’re connected.”

“At the risk of being accused of being a sexist pig, I’m going to say something—they’re just girls.” He took a small step back from Harper, as if he expected her to hit him, but she didn’t. “I get that it’s the new millennium and equal rights and girls can be serial killers just as well as boys. But those three girls don’t really look like they have the upper body strength to, you know, eviscerate somebody.”

“I know, but…” She furrowed her brow. “They’re evil, and they had something to do with it. I may not understand how yet, but I know it.”

Daniel watched her for a minute, thinking, then he nodded. “No. I believe you. Now what?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “But I’m not letting Gemma go anywhere near them again. I’ll tie her to the bed if I have to.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“Where is Gemma?” Daniel asked.

“She’s over at Alex’s.” Harper gestured to his house next door. “She’s comforting him.”

“So we know she’s safe and taken care of?” Daniel asked, and she nodded. “Good. Then why don’t we do something that you want to do?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. What do you like to do?”

“Um…” Her stomach rumbled, since crying always made her hungry. “I like eating breakfast.”

“That’s so weird.” Daniel grinned. “Because I like making French toast.”

“That works out, doesn’t it?”

Together, Harper and Daniel made breakfast. Her dad came in when he smelled it cooking, and the three of them ate together. It could’ve been a little awkward, but it wasn’t. Daniel was respectful and funny, and Brian seemed to like him.

She knew that when Daniel left, her dad would be full of inquiries about the nature of their relationship that she wasn’t prepared to answer. But it was still worth it.

TWENTY-ONE

The Island

Being on the island brought back memories. It had been far too long since either Harper or her father had been out to visit Bernie McAllister, so when Brian invited her to tag along with him that afternoon, she happily accepted.

With Gemma still over at Alex’s, it was just the two of them, and that was a bit of a shame, since Gemma had always liked Bernie, too. Although, to be fair, Harper had never been that sure if it was the old man or if she really just loved the island.

Brian had borrowed a boat from a friend to get there, and he pulled up to Bernie’s dock, which was almost hidden among the bald cypress trees that grew out into the water. There was a narrow path to the boathouse, but otherwise the island was almost overgrown with cypress trees and loblolly pines. The trees towering above them were nearly taller than the island was wide.

“Oy!” Bernie shouted.

Harper shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight that managed to break through the foliage, but she couldn’t see Bernie anywhere.

“Bernie?” Brian asked. He climbed off the boat first, onto the dock, then helped his daughter do the same.

“I thought that was you coming ’round there,” Bernie said, and Harper finally spotted him trotting down the path and waving his hand. “I wasn’t expecting company today, but it’s a nice surprise.”

“I tried calling,” Brian said, “but the number didn’t work. Do you still have a phone out here?”

Bernie waved it off. “The storms were always taking it out, so I just got rid of it.”

“We aren’t intruding, are we?” Harper asked as she and her father walked down the dock to meet Bernie. “We don’t want to bother you.”

“Bother? Ha,” Bernie teased in his cockney English accent, “it’s never a bother getting a visit from a pretty girl such as yourself.” He winked at her then, making Harper laugh. “And your old man ain’t so bad, either.”

“So how have things been, Bernie?” Brian asked.

“Can’t complain, though I still do.” Bernie turned around to start leading them from the dock and gestured widely to the trees around them. “Come on. I’ll show you what I’ve done with the place. Things have changed since you’ve been here last.”

Nothing looked all that different to Harper as she followed Bernie up the worn path toward his house. Everything still smelled of pine and creeping Charlie, just the way she remembered it. As Bernie and her father talked about all the things they’d been up to over the last year or so, Harper wandered more slowly behind them, admiring the place from her childhood.