When Leigh Ann’s reaction came, it was far from what Alyssa was expecting. Leigh Ann’s neck flung back as a high-pitched cackle exploded from her throat. When she finally brought her gaze back, merriment beamed from her eyes as she shook her head. ‘Here I was beginning to think you were so smart, maybe even a match for my intelligence, and then you go and blow it with some stupid, amateur observation. Allow me to correct your erroneous assumption.

‘If Beau Cambridge was on fire, I wouldn’t let a stray dog piss on him. The only purpose that oversized buffoon had was that he was the perfect scapegoat. Clueless and arrogant, the perfect cocktail. I saw an opportunity, and I took it. Except he was too stupid to even do that right. I mean, really, how perfect was it that he could be tied to three of the missing girls? And then I saw Katelyn walking near Jersey’s and Meghan’s neighborhood, and oh damn, it was like a calling. And I knew Beau was so convinced of his own god-like status that he wouldn’t be able to stop from being himself when you finally connected those dots.’

Alyssa cocked her head to the side and arched her brows. She looked over at Cord, shook her head, and sighed before turning her attention back to the girl across from her.

‘What? You don’t believe me? You actually think I love that moron? You’re far dumber than I thought. Poor Holly will be so disappointed to learn that.’ Leigh Ann twisted her head away to stare at the wall as if she didn’t have time for such idiocy.

Alyssa’s muscles stiffened at Holly’s name emerging from the monster in front of her. ‘So, all the girls you chose were a matter of convenience and nothing more?’

Leigh Ann shifted in her seat. Once started, she couldn’t seem to stop from spouting about her own brilliance. Over the years, Alyssa had seen this often – where a perpetrator had to show everyone how much more intelligent he or she was than everyone around them. The girl in front of her was no different.

‘Look, Jersey and Meghan are nothing more than rich, overdramatic drama queens who got on my nerves and deserved a reality check anyway.’ One shoulder lifted in a blasé shrug. ‘They needed to see their lives weren’t nearly as atrocious as they thought. I hated Faye from the first moment I laid eyes on her. Becca’s sister did nothing but blather on and on about how sickly devoted her older sister was. Cheyenne was nothing more than convenient.’ She laughed, an evil sound that made the hairs on the back of Alyssa’s neck stand up. ‘God, what a thrill it was watching all you idiots scrambling to figure out the truth when I was right there under your nose’ – she lowered her voice to an excited whisper – ‘in your house – the entire time.’

The glee in Leigh Ann’s face as she recounted how she’d chosen each girl was reminiscent of a child at Christmas who sees the present she’s been waiting for all year. It sent a chill racing down Alyssa’s spine, leaving her cold all over.