What had I done?

Something knocked against the window. Olivia let out a muffled shriek. Startled, I jumped in my seat. A man peered in through the driver’s window, possibly in his late twenties or early thirties.

“Open the door,” he commanded in a voice that said he was used to people obeying him.

I stared at him wordlessly. Was he a cop? He didn’t look like a cop, unless cops had started wearing long dusters and cowboy hats in Pennsylvania. I might’ve laughed.

His mouth was a hard line, jaw locked. “Open the door, Ember.”

My heart did another crazy leap. I slammed my hand down on the lock before the guy could yank the door open. There was no reason this stranger should’ve known my name. Just like Hayden in the library. Two strangers in one day who knew my name didn’t seem likely.

The man hit the window, shaking but not shattering it.

Olivia was getting worked up in the back seat, snapping me into action. I shoved the key into the ignition, hands shaking.

“Don’t!” The man pulled on the door handle like he intended on ripping the door open. “Ember!”

The instinct to flee overpowered me. I turned the ignition and slammed on the gas. I caught a glimpse of the man jumping back before the tires ate a speed bump and curb.

We hit the main road, and I drew a shaky breath.

Olivia sniffled. “Emmie, what’s going on?”

I gripped the steering wheel. “I’m sorry, Olivia. I’m so sorry.”

She started crying again, and I think she knew what’d happened in the parking lot. Perhaps that was what she’d sensed earlier. Something bad had happened. Olivia had warned me, but I hadn’t listened.

“I’m sorry,” I said again.

Olivia only cried harder.

* * *

Numbness had taken over by the time we got home. I put away the groceries blindly and ordered Olivia to go to bed without looking at her. I sat down in the living room, ignoring Adam’s text messages. With the sound of every car that passed the house, I expected flashing red and blue lights. Any strange noise from outside had me peering out the window, expecting to find the cowboy or the police bearing down on our house.

Hot tears burned my eyes but didn’t fall as I stared at my cell. Several times I’d reached for the phone, fully intending to call the police and turn myself in. They had to have found Dustin’s body by now, and even though my touch hadn’t left any visible mark on him, his death could not be ruled natural. But then I thought of Olivia… and Mom. It wasn’t so much the question of who would take care of them, but the fact that I couldn’t leave them.

At some point during the night, Olivia came downstairs and crawled up on the couch. Carefully, she placed her head in my lap. The tears came then, coursing down my cheeks as I kept my hands shoved under my arms.