Andy’s head dropped to his hands. His shoulders started to shake. Pete sighed as he reached over to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Amy remained impassive as she sipped at her coffee.

“Cady thinks the reason she could only hear the words you three were screaming was because she was on the zip line and had her eyes squeezed shut.”

“How convenient,” Amy snapped again.

“What the hell is your problem, Amy?” Pete lashed out. Andy’s head jerked upright at Pete’s language and his tone.

“You know what, I’m sick of all of this. It was all about little Cady Jordan. Now it’s all about big Cady Jordan. If you all want to say you were there, go ahead. I wasn’t there. Period,” Amy all but spat.

“Cady’s going to remember. She knows you were there. We know you were there. That’s four against one, Amy. Why are you going to lie? It will only make things worse. For you especially,” Boomer said.

“You were there, Amy, so stop lying,” Andy said. “I’ll swear in court you were there. So will Pete and Boomer. If you lie, you’ll just make it worse for yourself and your family.”

Amy broke out into a cold sweat. “Damn you,” she cursed. “If I tell, Arnie will leave me.”

“That’s the chance you have to take. The rest of us are putting our reputations and careers on the line. Why the hell should you be any different? Besides, you had the best pitching arm in Indigo Valley at the time. Everyone knew it, and they’ll start to remember. You never missed,” Andy said. “You always hit your target! Oh, Jesus God, you didn’t…Amy, you didn’t…” Unable to finish what he was going to say, Andy’s face turned paper white.

“What?” Boomer snarled. “Don’t say something like that and let it hang in the air, Andy.”

“I think what he’s saying is he thinks Amy hit Cady on purpose. Andy’s right, Amy had the best pitching arm. Hell, when she was ten her fastball had no equal.”

Amy slapped her palms down on the table. “That’s a lie! I would never do such a thing! How can you even think it, much less say it out loud? You’re my own brother!”

“Because it’s true,” Andy said sadly. “And you know it’s true, Amy.”

Amy grew so calm she scared herself. “It simply isn’t true. It was all twenty years ago. You’re all running around like chickens without heads. Your memories can’t be any better than mine. I refuse to admit to anything. You just want to get back at me because of Jill, Andy, and we both know it. Furthermore, I don’t care if you are the new police chief, Boomer. You won’t be for long when you tell that cockamamie story. And, by the way, just what the hell were you doing while your best friend was trying to hurt little Cady Jordan?”

“I was trying to figure out if the zip line would hold the two of them. In addition, Amy, I was the only one of all of us who knew how to swim at that time. I was worried about which one I would have to save. That’s some pretty heavy stuff for a thirteen-year-old. Yeah, I’m the one who pulled Cady to shore. I pulled Jeff, too, but he was already dead. I’m also the one who had the good sense to call the police. If I hadn’t, Cady might have died.”