“You’d think so. But Detective Forsythe implied that Parker and I are close enough that he would have lied for me. Or even helped me . . . you know. Kill her.” James was staring at his clasped hands. “Also, we’d all been drinking that night, which makes Parker a less-than-reliable eyewitness.”

I could feel the mug of tea cooling in my hands. “But it’s still just speculation. They don’t actually have any evidence tying you or anyone else to her death.”

“Right. They can’t make a case on what they have. But that’s exactly why they pushed me so hard yesterday. I think they were hoping I’d break down and confess under the strain.”

“Which you didn’t.”

James finally looked over at me and frowned. “Of course not. Why would you even ask me that? You know I didn’t.”

“Well, it turns out that I know a lot less about you than I thought I did. I learned today that you and Hannah got engaged that weekend.”

James’s expression was hard to read. “Parker told you that?”

I shook my head. “No, I went to Miami to talk to Diana Barlos. You knew her as Diana Gillespie, but she and Nico ended up getting married. And then divorced.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I was hoping she’d remember something that would exonerate you. That she might have seen someone suspicious hanging around, either before or after you got to the campsite that day. Nico said that she has a great memory.”

“Oh my God—you spoke to Nico, too?”

I nodded and took a sip from my now-cool tea. “Yes. I was trying to help you.”

“I asked you to stay out of it.”

“And yet, I didn’t.”

James ran a hand over his face. “I know you want to help. I get that. But you can’t. This is a really complicated situation—you can’t just swoop in and fix this.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you and Hannah were engaged?”

James shook his head, back and forth, back and forth. Finally, he said, “Because I didn’t see the point. By the time you and I met, I thought Hannah had drowned. I didn’t want you to feel . . .” His voice trailed off.

“Second best?”

“Second anything. I’d completely fallen in love with you. I wanted a fresh start. There was no point in dragging up the past.”

“It would have been honest,” I suggested. “I would have known I was agreeing to marry a man who actually wanted to be married to someone else.”

“You had boyfriends before we met. How is this any different?”

“For one, I wasn’t engaged to any of them. And more importantly, if Hannah hadn’t disappeared that night, you might still be married to her right now. You and I wouldn’t have gotten together, Paige wouldn’t exist . . .”