Page 136
I don’t add anything to that remark because I know she’s right.
Aside from a handful of Wabanaki families whose roots in the area went back generations, Fairhope was a predominantly white logging town back then. If there was one good thing to come out of all the gentrification over the past decade, it was that the town had finally become more diverse.
“Do you have any idea how lonely that was?” she continues. “Starting kindergarten and already knowing you were different because there was no one else who looked like you?” Her voice grows rougher. “Brooke was the first girl who befriended me. She never made me feel different. Never made me feel like I didn’t belong. And when Peyton took a shine to her, Brooke made damn sure I was included too.” Moisture gathers along her lashes, but her face remains impassive. “She’s the reason I survived growing up in this fucking town.” Her voice breaks. “And you killed her.”
“Stop saying that! I didn’t kill Brooke. And just because she was good to you doesn’t mean she wasn’t vicious to everyone else. Maybe that’s why you two bonded in the first place. Kind recognizes kind.”
“Me?” Amber snarls. “What the hell did I ever do to you?”
I stare at her in disbelief. “Do you really want me to list it all out?”
She shoots me an incredulous look, as if I’m the one with a few screws loose.
“I know it was you, Amber.” I deadpan. “I know you were the one who got my mom’s mug shot and arrest records.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she shoots back, but I don’t miss the way her hands tighten around the steering wheel.
“Don’t you?” I press on. “Do you think I’m that stupid? That I wouldn’t notice the same name on every single arrest record? That it was your brother, Andre, who was the arresting officer.”
Something flashes across her face at the mention of her older brother.
“Did you really think that little detail would escape my attention?” I continue. “Tell me, Amber. What kind of trouble does a cop get into for handing confidential information over to a minor?”
“My brother didn’t give me anything,” she snaps. “Your mother’s arrests were a matter of public record. Andre wouldn’t lose his job over something he had nothing to do with, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“He might not have personally hand-delivered the records to you, but he sure as hell told you where to find them.”
“You’ll never be able to prove that.” Amber’s jaw clenches. “Besides, I’m not here to talk about me or my brother. I’m here to take you to the police station, where you’re going to confess to killing Brooke.”
“You’re what?!”
“You heard me. I’m driving you to the station so you can turn yourself in.”
She’s lost her God-given mind!
“Let me out of this car. Now.”
“No. Not until you admit you killed Brooke.”
“I’m not admitting to something I didn’t do! I wasn’t even at the B&B when she killed herself.”
“Liar!” She shouts just as her foot presses harder on the gas.
“Amber, slow the fuck down!” I snap my attention off her and to the road in front of us.
“Admit you did it!”
“Slow down! You’re going to get us both killed!”
“Just admit it!”
“I won’t because it’s not fucking true!”
“ADMIT IT!” She jerks the wheel as she screams, sending the car swerving across the center line before wrenching it back.
“Amber!”
“I know you did it! Brooke would never have killed herself!”
