I’m so deep in thought that I don’t come out of it until I find myself sliding on a patch of ice from driving too fast. Overcorrecting, I look at Kane, and he’s bracing himself, holding the door handle. “Chill. I’ve got it.”

He loosens his grip. “You know what? Drive us off the road. Kill us. Since you only seem to think about the dead.”

“Sorry.” I slow down, though I’m dying to get to the police station. I lower my voice from a yell. “And the gun? What about that? Your dad kept his guns under lock and key, didn’t he?”

He nods. “Uh-huh. Key was in my father’s bedroom, in the top drawer of his dresser.”

“Declan didn’t care about guns. Did he even know that?”

Kane shrugs. “Guess so.”

I don’t buy it. Declan was anti-gun, I’m sure. We pull into the parking lot of the police station, between two police cruisers, and the whole time, I’m seeing more cracks pop up in this story by the second. Why had I never questioned this? When I cut the engine, Kane’s looking at me helplessly, his hands in his lap. “What?” I ask.

“I don’t know what you’re hoping to find. What can Officer Paradis actually tell us that we don’t already know?”

“We’re missing something. He might have some information from the scene.”

Kane closes his eyes and inhales, long and purposefully. “Really? You’re forgetting, Hail. I saw the scene,” he says, his voice hollow. He had, for a second, until his father had pulled him back, but I’m sure that second is permanently ingrained in his head, as much as he won’t speak of it. “You ever think how I might feel? Maybe I don’t want to relive it.”

With the car’s heat off, the cold quickly seeps in. I dig my hands into the pockets of my coat, sinking into my seat. “Well, whose idea was it to torch the shed afterward? Isn’t that odd? Do you—”

“My dad did that. It was easier that way. Easier than…going in there, I guess. He just wanted to wipe the place off the earth. And I agreed with him. We all did.”

“But he did it so soon. Maybe he was hiding something that—”

“Wait, hold up.” He turns to me in the passenger seat. I can feel his stare on me. “Do you realize what you’re saying? You’re implying that my dad had something to do with the death of his stepson. My. Dad. That’s bullshit, Hailey. He loved Declan like a son.”

“I know, I know.” It’s stupid. But my mind keeps spiraling, coming up with the weirdest ideas. Everything is on the table, and no one is safe from suspicion.

Not even Kane. Not even me.

53 Days Before

I was beyond jazzed.