‘Seven years later, I’m still stunned how quickly the police blew us off, insisting Hayden just vanished. After the police searched his room and spotted a half-packed suitcase, my parents noticed two more suitcases missing, along with most of Hayden’s clothes. The police asked if he had any reason to run off, and we told them absolutely not. Then when we told them about Beck, they drove over to her house and questioned her. She confessed she was pregnant and that they were planning on running away, and after a thirty-second, rudimentary “search” for his phone and car, they closed the case, saying he wasn’t a runaway since he was eighteen, but labeling him a guy capable of abandoning his family and the girlfriend carrying his child.’ Her voice was steady and assured as she said, ‘I promise you: that was not who my brother was. Even when he got into trouble as a little boy, he never tried to wriggle his way out of it.’

Alyssa was curious about something. ‘You said your brother’s suitcases were gone and another half-packed, and the police still closed the case as a willful disappearance. Did any of the authorities question why he would’ve walked away without the final suitcase, at least?’

‘Pfft. Not only did they not question it, they refused to listen when we brought it to their attention. They actually looked my parents in the eye and suggested that we hire a private investigator if we were so unhappy with their findings. Like it was the movies. There was no way we could afford to hire anyone, much less a private someone. Stupid, uneducated assholes.’ The words muttered under her breath were still loud enough for Alyssa and Cord to hear. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean that as an insult to you. I’m, it’s just, Del Luna’s police force has more than a little something to be desired.’

Alyssa must’ve missed the memo that came out stating today was Bash the Authorities Day. ‘No offense taken. Speaking of private investigators, why don’t you tell us about your meeting with Gabriel Kensington and why you weren’t thrilled when Elizabeth hired him?’

Either Rosalyn Benson was an Academy Award-worthy actress, or she had no idea what Alyssa was talking about, which shot all kinds of holes in her theory that the Benson family was somehow involved in the murders or Addis and Emerson’s kidnapping.

‘I never met with Mr. Kensington. He left a message indicating he wanted to, but it never happened. And then I saw on the news—And why would I not be thrilled that Beck was having someone open the investigation into Hayden’s disappearance? That makes absolutely no sense. I’m not sure where she even got that idea. Maybe she was projecting what she thought or what she was afraid of?’