“He chased me,” Vanessa said. “And I thought I was dead. I was scared out of my mind, either that he would kill me, or I would have to kill him. And then I was going to end up on trial and possibly in jail for something that was all his fault. I made it to the woods and hid, and that’s when I figured out the gun I’d bought wasn’t even loaded. I ran deeper into the trees and tripped on a rock and conked my head.” She rubbed her forehead near the bruise. “By then I was a mess. I was bleeding and disoriented. But I was also terrified, so I just kept moving through the trees toward the park where I saw a campfire flame. I’d been there before with Cooper, and I knew I could hide there and call for help.”

She pictured Vanessa stumbling through the woods, frightened and bleeding, and anger welled inside her.

“When I made it to the restrooms, I was shaking and bawling. I was cleaning myself up, and this woman came in, so I asked to use her phone. I was going to call the police, but then I realized I didn’t trust them. I wanted to call my sister, but it was the middle of the night, and she has little ones at home.” A tear slid down Vanessa’s cheek and she brushed it away. “So, I called Cooper, and he came to get me.”

Leigh looked at her, trying to absorb it all. She imagined Brandon’s face if he could see her having this conversation right now. Just the thought of his reaction put a knot in her stomach.

“By the time Cooper picked me up at the campground, it was like three a.m. My car had been towed, and I didn’t know what to do. So Cooper took me to the police station but as we pulled up, I started to freak out and second-guess my plan to talk to the police. I started to think maybe there was another way.”

Her voice had turned wistful, putting Leigh on edge. Now she knew where this was going.

“What other way?” she asked.

“For weeks, I’d been wishing I could just disappear. You know, hit reset on everything.”

Leigh gritted her teeth. “So, you decided to fake your own death? And—let me guess—make Mason take the blame?”

She sent her a sharp look. “I haven’t faked anything. All I’ve done is abandon my car on the highway. That’s not a capital offense.”

“You knowingly misled your sister, who’s been completely frantic for a week. You knowingly misled the police.” Leigh pictured Brandon again and those sharp brown eyes that saw through everything. “And you knowingly misled me after I’ve spent untold hours talking to your friends and sister and trying to figure out what happened to you.”