The woman on the floor braced herself on her hands, her elbows bent. The barrel of the gun was an inch from her dark eyes. ‘Because Justin was my friend, too. Because I want to catch whoever killed him as much as you do.’

Cab’s voice came through the phone. ‘She’s telling you the truth, Peach.’

‘I don’t – I don’t know …’

‘My name is Lala,’ the woman said to her. ‘Is that Cab on the phone?’

Peach nodded mutely.

‘Okay, listen to me. Slowly point my gun toward the wall. Please. Nice and steady. Don’t make any sudden movements with it.’

Peach looked inside her heart. Annalie was Lala, and she didn’t know who Lala was, but she realized that nothing had changed. She liked her. She didn’t want to hurt her. She wanted to trust her – and Cab Bolton, too. Her whole arm trembled as she thought about what she’d been ready to do. The gun in her hand felt ugly and lethal. She could hardly hold it, and she swung her whole body in order to point the barrel at the wall.

‘That’s good. Give me the phone, okay?’

Peach handed the phone to her. The gun was still in her other hand.

‘You know how to rack the slide,’ Lala told her. ‘Keep your finger off the trigger.’

Peach yanked the slide of the gun back and forth, and a gold cartridge popped from the barrel like a jack-in-the-box and fell to the floor. Lala closed her eyes and breathed easier. As Peach watched, Lala spoke into the phone.

‘Cab Bolton,’ she said. ‘Get your ass over here.’

*

Cab squatted in front of Peach, who sat on the floor with her back against the wall and her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. Her eyes stared out the window at the storm. She looked even younger than she was.

‘Don’t be hard on yourself,’ he said. ‘You had no way of knowing. I didn’t know, either.’

Lala winced as she held an ice pack to the back of her head. ‘I wanted to tell you, Peach. Really. I’m sorry.’

‘I almost killed you,’ Peach murmured.

‘Well, you didn’t. Anyway, I understand how you must have felt, seeing me in those pictures. I feel stupid that Curtis Ritchie was able to get those photos without me realizing it.’

Cab got to his feet. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ he asked Lala.

‘I think so. It’s just a nasty bump. I was woozy, but I didn’t black out.’

‘Still.’ He took her face in his hand and moved his finger left and right in front of her nose to make sure that her eyes were properly focused. She stuck out her tongue at him, and then he leaned in and kissed her lips. ‘I didn’t have a chance to do that this morning,’ he said.