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“I’ve been waiting for you all day,” the girl said in a rush. “I heard you went to see Freya’s mum and dad.”
“I did,” Gabi confirmed, struggling to adjust to this vivacious personality. After a moment, she realised it wasn’t excitement jolting through the girl. It was manic energy. Gabi wondered where her parents were; given the time of day, they were likely still at work. “Skye Dawson?”
Skye nodded, a blur of movement that made her dark curls ruffle. “It has to be Brent,” she blurted out.
Gabi wrote down the name, raising an eyebrow for Skye to continue.
“They were arguing, and they’dneverargued before, so how could we know what he’s capable of when he’s angry? You hear it on true crime podcasts all the time—guys get angry, and they’re so sweet that you’d never expect it but that doesn’t make it less real. It was probably an accident, but you never know—”
“Skye,” Gabi interrupted, then remembered to soften her tone. “Who’s Brent?”
“Freya’s boyfriend. Macon Brent.” Gabi made another note. “They’d been seeing each other for four months, which is—it’s kind of a while, you know?”
Gabi nodded, glad Skye had slowed her speech slightly so she could keep up. “That must have been a serious relationship.”
“Yeah, exactly. He seemed nice. I mean, he’s been hanging around with us ever since he and Freya got together and he doesn’t even swear, but you just can’t know someone.”
“What were they arguing about?” Gabi asked, watching Skye glare, presumably at her memory of Macon Brent’s face.
Skye exhaled a rough breath, pinning a heavy look on Gabi. “Don’t tell anyone this, okay? No one knows except me and Brent.”
“Okay,” Gabi lied, her pen hovering over paper.
“She cheated on him.” Skye’s brown eyes were wide—she looked eager to speak to someone about it. “It was Scott, you know that spotty guy from year eleven?”
No, Gabi did not know Scott, that spotty guy from year eleven. “You said Macon knew Freya had cheated?”
“Yeah. She told him. What an idiot! She actuallytold him. I mean, they got back together after going on a break, and theyseemedalright for a few days. But you just can’t tell with the quiet ones, can you?” She leaned towards Gabi, the look she gave her conspiratorial. “You know what they say.”
Gabi nodded, hoping she appeared thoughtful and not rude as she scratched down the important points in her notebook. “I know what you mean.”
Beware the quiet ones.
“Oh God,” Skye blurted suddenly, flapping her hand expressively. “Pleasedon’t tell her mum and dad. I wasn’t meant to tell anyone.Please. I don’t want them to think she’s a slut.”
Because that was the worst crime a woman could commit, Gabi thought sourly. She took a breath, thinking of a way to keep Skye talking without lying. “I won’t tell them unless I need to.”
“Thank you.” Without warning, Skye burst into tears—full, ugly sobs. “I miss her. Already. That’s stupid, right? It’s only been a few days.”
“No,” Gabi disagreed, her voice naturally gentle. She put down her pen.
She knew how quickly missing someone could creep up on you; her mum’s face flashed behind her eyes.
“That’s not stupid at all, Skye.” She handed a tissue to the girl, feeling like a bitch for dragging her through this. But if Gabi failed to get an important piece of information, a killer could go uncaught. At some point down the line, they could kill again. Gabi was always conscious of that possibility.
Skye sniffled, tissue pressed to her nose. “Thanks.”
Gabi smiled in acknowledgment, and asked in as gentle a voice as she could muster, “Is there anything else that stood out in the past few weeks?
Skye blew her nose. “Not really. Freya was just … normal.”
“You spent a lot of time with her?”
“Yeah.” Skye shrugged, brushing away an errant tear. “Less than normal because of the food drive.”
“The food drive?”
“At town hall. They were asking for tins of food and stuff. Freya was there all weekend helping out.”
