Amanda tapped her foot, her eyes squinting. “He didn’t say Jennifer’s name. I would have remembered that. But he did talk about her. He said it was terrible that the girl got killed, but that you and Blake knew all about it. He said you could tell me everything that happened to her. And so could Blake.”

Samantha gasped. I looked over at her. She was shaking her head, her eyes wide. “Why did he say that about Jennifer getting killed? If he said it that way, it must mean he’s the one who hurt her. Right? Why else would he be running around so obsessed about it?”

“If he did it, why wouldn’t he just leave town?” I asked, not expecting an answer. “He’s hanging around here a lot for a guy the cops are looking for. Blake is the one we can’t find.”

“Ryan, he’s not—”

“I’m sorry, Sam. I am. None of this makes sense. And none of us have answers.”

“You’re right,” Amanda said. “We don’t know anything.”

“Was this guy was alone? Did you see anyone else?” I asked.

“I didn’t see anyone. But I was pretty focused on him. There could have been someone out in the yard. Or waiting in a car.”

“You didn’t see a woman with him?” I asked.

“A woman? Why would you ask me that? Women don’t usually do this stupid bullying shit. That’s what men do.”

“I don’t know. I’m scrambling.”

But I really wasn’t. I was thinking of Dawn Steiner. Had she come the night before? And then Kyle that day? Were they somehow working together to harass us?

“Was that it, then?” I asked. “Did the guy leave?”

Amanda let out a long sigh. She stopped tapping her foot and shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “He grew a little more aggressive. It was subtle. But he had his hand on the door, and I saw he was pressing against it, exerting more force. Maybe he was getting ready to kick it in. I don’t know. I told him to leave. He said something about evening the score or getting even. I’m not sure which. But that scared me. More than anything else, that scared me. But then I caught a couple of breaks.”

“What?” I asked.

“Henry started crying. And the guy heard it. ‘Your baby,’ he said. And he said it in a way like he knew we had a kid. Had you mentioned that to him?”

“I don’t think so. But he heard Henry crying.”