It all came rushing back to her. Seeing Wren that Sunday morning with a black eye, a split lip and holding his ribs as he walked funny. He said he’d been mucking about with the boys, that it was just normal boy stuff. But Wren had actively avoided Justin afterwards and to her knowledge, he never spoke to Olivia about the party, about what happened. It all made sense now. Wren had taken a beating trying to protect his girlfriend from being attacked by his two best friends. Justin would have initiated it; Wade would have just followed. Vanessa wept, remembering her own experiences with Mark. The pain, the fear, the isolation. Olivia wondering what she’d done to deserve that. She would have been so scared. Vanessa sat in the car, crying for Olivia. For the young girl who’d had her innocence and her dignity taken from her.

She finally wiped her eyes. Wren, you poor darling. It must have been hard carrying this weight alone, and then when Olivia died, it was so much worse for you. Why couldn’t you have told me?

She wished Olivia had told someone, got the help she needed. Why hadn’t Wren told anyone? Was he protecting his friends, or had they threatened both him and Olivia? It would make sense as to why neither of them spoke up.

She had finally put the pieces of the puzzle together, but she didn’t feel any better. In fact, knowing the truth made her feel worse.

Wren and Olivia had been so in love, their whole lives ahead of them, but that had been stolen from them in an instant, the moment when Justin and Wade had raped Olivia. But how would Vanessa prove it? All she had right now was her theory, which she knew to be the truth. Short of getting one or both of the boys to confess, she didn’t know how to get others to believe her. Their secret had died with Olivia and Wren. How convenient. Suddenly her eyes widened. Was it possible? Surely not. Yet still, convenient. Wren died in a car driven by Justin. He had swerved to miss a deer, yet there had been no skid marks and they had ended up slamming into a tree and there just happened to be a faulty airbag on Wren’s side. The question was, how far would Justin go to protect himself and Wade?