Austin stepped around me, eyes wide with wonder at the monstrosity of our house on full display now that the lights lit it up. We got that a lot from new visitors.

“Vera had told me you lived in the Execution Estate, but I had no idea the house was so humongous! Can I see the room where the family got whacked?” Austin turned to Oliver with wild-eyed interest.

“No!” Oliver grumbled. “This is my—our—home, and you’re already trespassing.”

“Oh, come on.” Austin’s excitement picked up steam. “You know everyone still talks about what happened in this house. Do you ever see ghosts or hear strange noises?”

Yes, but I would never admit it out loud. It was hard enough keeping the rumors away from Sydney and Eliot’s curious little ears. It took months to wean Eliot out of my bed the first time he came home from school crying over one of his classmates’ Execution Estate ghost stories.

In the harsh floodlight, I skimmed Vera’s words. “Are there more of these?”

Austin shook his head. “It’s the last one I have.”

“How did you get this?”

He tossed his head, shifting his hair out of his eyes. “A few days before Vera ran away, she was at my house and I started looking through the entries. By then she had already told me her plan to find some dying long-lost relative, and I was afraid that if someone found this journal mentioning details about me, they’d think I was behind it. So I ripped out any entry that mentioned my name.”

Dying relative? Was that just another one of Vera’s lies, or was someone baiting her with a sob story?

“Really looking out for numero uno, aren’t you?” Oliver snapped.

“I had no choice! I’m the only protection my mom has from her psycho husband, and if something happened and I was taken away again, he’d end up killing her for sure. Besides, I told Vera not to go. We even had a huge fight about it the night she left because I told her that she hadn’t thought it through and she should just talk to you guys first, but she could be pretty hardheaded. Guess I don’t have to tell you guys that.”

Yes, I knew exactly how stubborn Vera could be. She got that from me.

“You lied, Austin,” I said bluntly. “You told me you weren’t home the night Marin dropped her off in front of your house.”

“Of course I lied. I promised Vera I would if anyone came asking. Snitches get stitches. All she wanted was to meet some relative before it was too late. I knew where she was coming from. My real dad died in prison and I never got to say goodbye.”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner? You’ve held on to this for six months, Austin.”