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Even if she showed us the grave, that proved nothing about Patrick. It had felt like it might, since it made her story true. But it could easily be half true. How would Patrick have wandered over to this area if he’d been following an established route? And I knew that was his habit. He wouldn’t go wandering off, creating his own trail.

The path began to ascend slightly. Finally, after what felt like another quarter mile or so, we came to a clearing with a grove of sugar pines to the right, and an open area between some other trees that showed a small section of the lake, its sapphire water shimmering.

Jordan walked to the grove of trees and stopped. There was a small pile of rocks forming a cairn to memorialize the rabbits. The dirt had obviously been disturbed, and there were a few yellow wildflowers placed on top of it.

“Do you expect me to dig them up to prove I’m telling the truth?” Jordan asked.

“No. Of course not.” I felt sick at the thought.

“Then are you satisfied?”

“I… and Patrick helped you? How did you see him? Did he dig the hole, or… tell me everything.”

“I’m not required to tell you everything,” Jordan said.

“Please.” I was losing more of my dignity every time I opened my mouth. But I didn’t care. I needed to know what she was keeping from me. It was a simple enough question. Why was she being obstinate? “How did Patrick find you?”

“How would I know? I was digging and I heard a voice behind me, asking what happened.”

“And then what?”

“What do you think?” She sneered at me. “He helped me dig. And he lifted them into their grave.” A sob came out of her throat. She took a deep breath. “Are you happy now?”

I walked away from her, calling Patrick’s name. Emily and Keith joined me. We began to spread out from the clearing, shouting his name every few steps.

“He won’t hear you,” Jordan said.

“How do you know?”

She laughed. “There are trails all over this area. There are thousands of trees. Tens of thousands. He could be anywhere. It’s not like you just call out for someone in a national forest that covers hundreds of thousands of acres and he’ll hear you.”

“He must still be in the area,” Keith said.

“He’s not! Or he’d be answering us,” I said. “Unless he’s hurt, or…” I whispered the last word so quietly, I don’t know if they heard me, but they knew. As I spoke the word, my throat spasmed and I started crying again. I couldn’t take this. One minute I was sure he was fine, and the next I knew without question that Jordan had murdered him. He might even be in that hole she was showing us. Every dark scenario that existed was taking shape inside my panicked brain.

I continued calling Patrick’s name until I was hoarse. Emily did the same. Keith joined in half-heartedly, but he’d made it clear he didn’t believe Patrick was anywhere within earshot.

“I’m going home,” Jordan said.

“You need to help us,” Emily said. “You owe us.”

“I don’t owe you a fucking thing,” Jordan said. “There’s too much death around here.”

The three of us stood motionless as she walked out of the clearing. All of us wondering if the deaths she was referring to were the rabbits or the man in our swimming pool, and Patrick.

THIRTY-NINE

SAMANTHA

I ran after Jordan, grabbing the hood of her sweatshirt.

“Let go of me!” She twisted, trying to pull the sweatshirt fabric from between my fingers. “Get your hands off me.”

“Don’t leave. We need to show you where we found Patrick’s day pack.”

“Why?”

“I want you to see the area, to tell me⁠—”