I go to the bottle of Rowan’s and whip the towel off. I pour her a shot and bring it to the table, setting it down in front of her. I pull out a chair for myself and sit across from her.

“I thought that was gone.”

“I lied.”

She eyes the shot. “Are you going to make me drink alone?”

“I’m cutting back,” I say.

She shrugs, slams the shot. She smacks her lips. “I needed that.” She reaches over and pats my hand. “Thanks. You know, Connor, I always thought you were really decent. All the students did. Really.”

I look at her hand on mine. Her hand is small, the skin red and raw. The nails bitten.

“Madeline, do you know who killed Sophia?”

For two seconds, she keeps her hand on mine. Then she pulls it back as if she’s been bitten by a venomous snake.

“Don’t ask me that.”

“Was it her husband? Zachary? Is he the one following you? Let me tell you something I saw one of those nights I walked by their house.”

“I don’t want to hear this shit,” she says. “You don’t know what you’re into. And it’s coming after me too. I don’t feel safe.”

“Then you should go to the police.”

“Drop it, Connor.”

“You know what? You’re right. If you go to the police, they might charge you for the time and effort they spent searching. They do that sometimes. If you fake your disappearance, you can face charges.”

“Quit snowing me. What were you going to say about Zach and Sophia?”

“Listen, they got in a fight, Sophia and Zachary. They were screaming at each other. They seemed to be arguing over a woman, like he’d had an affair.”

She watches me, wary. Her eyes shine with a feral intensity, ready to dash if the threat grows too great.

“And then he got aggressive with her,” I say. “He knocked her hand away. It looked like things were going to get physical between them, so I intervened.”

“He’s a fucking bastard, then, isn’t he? A fucking pig. There’s a lot of that going around, I might add.”

“Madeline, if you know who killed her, if you know it’s Zachary, you need to tell the police. We can call them right now, and they can come over and hear what you have to say.”

“So they can charge me with faking my disappearance like you said? Fine me? Haven’t you been listening? I don’t have any money.”

She pulls all the way back and knocks the chair over when she stands.

“Madeline, you need to listen—”

“No, you need to. You don’t really know what’s going on. I guarantee you don’t.”

“If you don’t tell them what you know, then I’m going down for it. I got suspended at work because of this.”