Hoda swiped angrily at the tears that ran down her face. Sam had little doubt that Hoda was furious with herself for allowing her emotions to get the better of her. In some strange, odd way, Sam could identify with this kid with the chip on her shoulder. She hadn’t been that different when she was eighteen. Only the fact that she hadn’t been allowed to run wild had kept her from taking the path Hoda was on. “I know I’m in trouble. So what’s the point of this conversation?”

“The point is, we believe you know what happened at the Springers’ house the other night, and we’re willing to consider lesser charges for you if you’re able to help us get justice for the nine kids who were murdered.”

She was shaking her head before he finished speaking. “I don’t know anything about that.”

“We think you do.”

She continued to shake her head, but the tears pouring from her eyes told another story.

“Did you see who killed all those kids?”

“No,” she said, wiping up the flood of tears.

“Hoda...I know this is really hard, but if you saw something and you don’t tell us, it’s possible they could get away with it. We haven’t found a murder weapon. We have no sign of forced entry. We can’t find anyone else, other than you and Brooke, who was drugged up and out of it, who were still there when the murders happened.”

Hoda put her face in her hands as she continued to shake her head.

“Someone got Brooke out of there. We think that someone was you. Want to know how I think it went down?”

“No.”

“Let me tell you anyway,” Gonzo continued, speaking in a gentle, soothing tone. “I think Brooke went in the bedroom with Todd while you stayed out with the others, drinking, popping some pills, maybe fooling around with one of the guys. Perhaps you went into the bathroom and were in there when things went bad. Maybe they never saw you in there, but you saw them. You know who they were. You know what happened, don’t you, Hoda?”

She laid her head down on her arms and sobbed.

Freddie moved to the other side of the room and sat next to her, patting her back with the compassion Sam had come to expect from her kindhearted partner.

“The poor kid,” Faith said. “Imagine witnessing that.”

While Sam was empathetic to what Hoda had seen, she still wanted to hear the full story from her.

“Hoda,” Freddie said. “I understand how upsetting this is for you and how horrifying the images have to be that are trapped in your mind forever. But if you tell us what you saw, maybe you’ll feel better. Maybe you’ll get some peace if you help us get justice for the kids who were killed.”