“They think he was afraid because of the outstanding charges against him. He had a temper. He threatened you with a broken bottle. How do you think he responded to cops coming after him? Didn’t he run away when they came to Blake’s house and he was there? Maybe he decided not to run this time. Maybe he decided to fight.”

If Kyle hadn’t done it . . . who had?

“Okay, okay.” Again my mind turned back to the night before, when I was standing over Jennifer’s body. The watch with the cracked face and the frozen hands: twelve fifteen. “I have an alibi too. I was at work when she died. She died around noon. Right?”

“No, she didn’t. The police can approximate the time of death to within a range of a couple of hours. They’re saying late afternoon or evening.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s the medical examiner who figures these things out. Not me. Ryan, do you understand what I’m saying?” Amanda asked. “You’re a full-blown suspect in this murder now. They’re looking for you.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

Her words stung me deep in the center of my torso, like a shock applied directly to my internal organs.

I popped up off the couch, ready to dash out of the room and out of the house. Away somewhere else, looking for safety or escape.

But as quickly as I had risen to my feet, my fight-or-flight instinct engaged, I froze.

Where did I think I was going to go? Was I going to climb into my car and drive five hundred miles away? Head for a city or state on the far side of the country? Was I going to start my life over?

What would I be leaving behind?

Everything.

“Is Rountree still there? Did you say?”

I couldn’t remember. My mind felt scrambled, like a radio with a busted antenna.

“She’s here. She’s right here with two other cops. I told you that. And she wants to talk to you. Ryan, they’re asking me things about you . . . like they think you’re guilty. I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a cop car on the way to our house already.”

“You told them I was here?” I asked.

“Of course. That was the first thing they asked me. I told them you went there to meet Blake. Was I supposed to lie?”

“No,” I said. “Of course not. Can you . . . ?” I took a series of deep breaths, tried to focus my mind. The images and thoughts swirling there came into clarity. As I thought of what to say and do, a calm came over me quickly. “Look, just tell Rountree I’m coming over there. Tell her I’m on my way to Karen and Bill’s. I’ll explain everything.”