Unless there’s some other assistant principal Kelli went out with, I’m going to assume she is referring to Tim. Which means he went out with her during the summer, and it was enough of a date that they kissed at the end. Or during. And apparently, she liked it.

But that’s the only mention I can find about Tim. He has minimal social media presence himself, and she hasn’t tagged him or anything. Aside from that one kiss, I can’t prove anything else happened between them.

But he definitely went out with her. He was lying when he played it down.

Still, I can’t entirely blame him. I’m sure he’s not eager to talk about a waitress he went out with before we were together. And after what happened with that Tracy Gifford girl, he would rather not associate himself with another missing girl.

It doesn’t mean he’s responsible. Hell, Kelli probably just took off somewhere without telling anyone. She’s probably fine.

I’m sure of it.

Chapter 38

ELEVEN YEARS EARLIER

Chelsea has been rifling around in Shane’s desk drawers for the last twenty minutes, but her search for a weapon is not going well.

“There’s nothing!” she declares. “He doesn’t even have a pair of scissors!”

I don’t know what to say. Even if Shane had a sharp pair of scissors in his drawer, I don’t know how I would feel about using them. I don’t think I’m capable of stabbing somebody with a pair of scissors.

“What about a pen?” she asks me. “There are a lot of those.”

I draw my knees to my chest, hugging them close to my body. “What are we supposed to do with a pen?”

“I don’t know. Poke him in the eye?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think I could poke somebody in the eye with a pen. Could you?”

She straightens up and turns to look at me. It’s so dark in the room that it’s hard to make out her expression. I only catch glimpses of her when there’s a flash of lightning. “I could if I had to. If it were Tim or me.”

She’s talking about it now like the whole thing is decided. Tim is the one who killed Brandon and Kayla. But I still can’t wrap my head around it. I know Tim too well. He couldn’t do something like that. Okay, maybe I wasn’t aware of his crush on me, but that’s different.

“I don’t think Tim killed them,” I say. “I don’t believe it.”

Chelsea plants her hands on her hips. “You have a serious blind spot when it comes to Tim. He isn’t as great a guy as you think he is.”

“Yes, he is.”

“Trust me—he isn’t.”