I run through what happened yesterday and wonder if this is another trap. Except there was a rock with Will’s initials on it and Jane looked different. When she bent down and whispered to the ground, she seemed almost at peace.

Would they really be that stupid, showing us where Will was buried just to prove a point? Maybe they underestimated our sense of direction, or perhaps they don’t care because they thought Aaron’s abduction was enough to keep us quiet.

“Okay,” Nia says at last. “Are you ready?”

I’m not, but maybe I never will be. I don’t want to see what’s buried beneath that stone, yet it’s the only way to protect us. Jane’s threat will be like a scar on everyday Aaron visits until we stop her.

I nod and open the car door, then watch Nia go to the trunk and pull out a spade.

“When do I get an explanation for that?” Zak asks.

He’s still trying to make jokes, but I can see how scared he is. He knows what the spade is for, but is desperately hoping for a different answer. The truth is: so am I.

I can’t say it. I can’t even think it. I just follow Nia through the woods and try to stay calm.

It takes longer than I remember. But we don’t have someone guiding us this time. Instead, we follow the flattened grass and the dried dirt until we finally reach the clearing.

I’m half-expecting Jane to be there, waiting for us, but it’s empty. There’s nothing except the song of a single bird hidden in the trees and the distant hum of cars.

Nia picks up the stone and hands it to me. Up close, the carving looks similar to the patterns on the box we found in Amy’s garden.

W. P. William Pearce. This is the closest he’ll get to a gravestone.

I hold out my hand. “I’ll do it.”

The sound of the spade hitting the dirt makes me shiver.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Nia asks.

Still digging, I say, “What choice do we have?”

“We could tell the police. They could find…whatever’s in there.”

“And, if there’s nothing, we’re the ones that look wrong. We need evidence. Jane has footage of me and Zak breaking into her garden and of me throwing stones at her windows. What do we have?”

Zak makes a face. “They recorded that? Is there anything else I should know?”

“Sorry…but you’re safe, provided we…”

“Don’t do anything else stupid?”

He’s right: this is stupid. It’s reckless and insane, but we need to do something.

After a while, Nia takes the spade, and we swap places. The earth is softer, now, but, no matter how deep we go, there’s nothing but dirt.