“What? N-no. That’s impossible. Chelsea wasn’t even in Las Vegas. She was in Portland.” My legs began to tremble. I had no control over them—as if they had suddenly turned to mush.

Mason caught me just as I was about to go down, half guiding, half carrying me over to a chair at the kitchen table. I hardly noticed that either. I could barely hear the detective over the blood rushing in my ears.

“Your sister’s fingerprints were on file from when she was a child. It’s a program a lot of schools have in case a student ever goes missing. Between that and the match to her identification, we know it’s her.”

My fingers began to tingle, and I realized I wasn’t breathing. “How?”

“Do you know if your sister struggled with depression or addiction?”

“What? No. Neither of those.” The question gave me a jolt of adrenaline that my system desperately needed. “She’s one of the healthiest people I know.” Chelsea wouldn’t even let herself or her kids drink soda, saying it was poison.

“Sometimes, people can hide that kind of thing from the ones they love the most.”

Derek’s face flashed in my mind. I knew all about the things people could hide. I knew how those lives could rip apart your existence. But I also knew without a shadow of a doubt that this wasn’t a lie Chelsea would’ve been wrapped up in. It had taken almost a decade for my sister to even speak to me again. Another year before she believed that I was telling the truth, that Derek had lied to the police about my involvement in his operation.

I’d missed so much. Her wedding. The birth of her babies. I’d missed supporting her when her marriage fell apart just weeks after Lyla was born. I’d missed Thanksgivings and Christmases and birthdays. The only thing I hadn’t regretted missing out on was seeing my so-called parents. They had been something I’d been happy to leave in my past.

“She wouldn’t.” I said the words with finality. “She’d never do that to her kids. To me. To herself.” My voice cracked on the last word, but I refused to let the tears come.

Mason wove his fingers through mine, squeezing tightly. I didn’t have the heart to pull away. In that moment, it felt like he was the only thing tethering me to this Earth.

“She had a lethal dose of methamphetamine in her system when she was discovered at a motel just off the Strip.”

My hand clamped down on Mason’s, squeezing hard. “There’s been a mistake. You have the wrong person.”

“Ms. Foley, there’s been no mistake. I’m sorry, but your sister is gone. I know this has likely been a shock for you, but I do need to ask you some questions.”