“You knew something was going on, but before you could call the police, you wanted to get rid of the drugs. So you finished up and then opened the door. You already knew something was wrong. You were going upstairs to see what happened and to make sure everything was okay.”

“We didn’t do anything to her, we promise,” Patrick said.

“How about you tell me exactly what you heard from your apartment?” Claire said.

Meggie sighed, straightening up. “We heard the sound of someone yelling. We couldn’t really make out who it was. And then we heard a loud thump, like something had fallen. We heard the sound of someone running on the staircase, and then that was it. We finished up, then called the police.”

“Was the person running up the stairs or down?”

“I don’t know,” Meggie said. “It was hard to tell.”

“Did you hear the front door open?”

“No, I don’t think so,” she said.

“You should’ve called the police right away,” Claire said.

“We know. We’re sorry,” Meggie said, and there was something about the way the woman said it that made Claire believe her.

Chapter 25

Paula

Two days after

I couldn't bear to go inside.

I knew Keith would be upset, yet I couldn’t bring myself to go home, to look him the eye, to not tell him what had just happened.

I couldn’t lie to his face.

So I did it from the front seat of my car.

“Hey, I’m still at the diner,” I said when he answered. I was leaning forward with my head on the steering wheel as I spoke. “I’m so sorry, but Vanessa needs me to work her shift.”

“Are you kidding?” Keith asked. “What time will you get home? Randy is coming for me at three o’clock.”

I took a deep breath before responding. “Probably not before then,” I said. “I’ll be here until six or seven this morning. I’m so sorry. Text me when you leave.”

We hung up a few minutes later, and although he was upset, I knew he would get over it. I told myself that he was so nervous for the trip, not saying goodbye to me was probably just a minor disappointment in the grand scheme of things.

I pulled out of the space and headed to Vanessa’s apartment. When I arrived, she took one look at my face and then stepped back to let me aside.

“Sorry for just dropping in,” I said.

“No problem,” she said as I walked over to the couch and sat down. She grabbed a blanket and tossed it over to me. “Is everything okay?”

I desperately wanted to tell her what was going on, but I didn’t know where to start.

Hey, you remember when you joked around that I should try to get some money out of the whole Ryan Hooks thing?

Well, I did.