Amy bit down on her lower lip as she watched a swarm of fireflies in her line of vision. Pete was single. Cady was single. At least she thought she was. Pete was going to see her on Saturday. “Do you want us to genuflect?” she sniped.

“I was making conversation, Amy. Look, you were the one who called me to come over here. I’m here. Let’s get to it, whatever it is.” He turned to Andy. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at a loss for words. Say something, for God’s sake.”

“How’s this for starters. Cady Jordan is back in town. Twenty years after the fact. What if she dredges up all that old crap? How are we supposed to respond? What do you think the people in this town who patronize our businesses will have to say about us then? Don’t you think it’s more than a little strange that she hasn’t contacted any of us? We were a tight little group if I remember correctly. That’s my contribution to this conversation,” Andy snarled.

“You’re a lawyer, Pete. What can happen to us?” Amy demanded as she jumped up and started to pace the small porch. “I should have called Boomer. If I knew how to reach him, I would have called him. He’s in this as deep as we are. Well?”

“There’s no statute of limitations on murder, Amy. One of us killed Jeff with those rocks we were pitching. We let everyone believe Cady did it. We were gutless and let them pin it on her. The truth is, we deserve whatever happens to us. I don’t know if you thought about this or not, but maybe Cady never got her memory back. If that’s the case, it would explain why she hasn’t called any of us. Think about it; at this stage, we would be like strangers to her.”

“Jesus Christ, Pete!” Andy exclaimed. “We left her there to die! She could have died, too, so don’t try to tell me differently. It doesn’t matter if we thought she was dead or not. She was alive when we left, and we were too damn stupid to know it. It’s a miracle she didn’t die. Think about those three years they said she was partially paralyzed. She’s got to hate us for that. I sure as hell would.” Andy was sputtering so badly, spittle flew in all directions.

Pete’s tone was patient-sounding. “The law would call what happened to Jeff death by misadventure. There are no criminal charges attached to that. Now, if it will make you both feel any better, we could go down to the police station and confess. If you two agree, I’ll go along with it. The big question is, before or after Boomer takes office? Or, we can wait it out and see what Cady does.” Pete looked at them and waited, knowing exactly what they would say. He wasn’t disappointed.

“Are you crazy?” Andy asked. “I’m not confessing to anything. It was an accident. We were throwing those rocks to get Jeff away from her. In case you forgot, we were trying to help Cady.” He stared off into the night, refusing to look at either Amy or Pete.