“Well,” Jack says. “I, for one, hope they hurry up and get it over with.” He glances back at the house, up at Julia’s window. “Julia too. I hope she hurries up and dies, puts us all out of our misery so we can get on with our lives.”

I drop my bag on the ground and turn to walk away. I don’t think I can do this, not without punching him in the face. It’s like I’m sixteen again, Jack’s mocking laugh chasing me into the woods. But I don’t even have that sanctuary anymore, do I?

I walk fast, but don’t get very far before I have to stop. I’m still wobbly from the accident. My ribs ache when I take a deep breath and my legs are shaking. I wrap my arms around my tender ribs and lean against the wall.

“Are you okay?” It’s Sean who’s followed me. Am I hurt it’s not Max? No. I don’t want the awkwardness of that conversation right now. It’s laughable—hilarious in fact—that of all the people now gathered in my house, Sean is actually the easiest one to speak to.

“You told me your brother had changed.”

“He has. He’s just winding you up, Tess. You were always so sulky and tongue-tied around him, he liked it when he managed to pull your strings and you went off. He liked you when you got mad.”

I shake my head. “I think it’s you who’s kidding yourself that he’s changed. He was a shit then and he’s a shit now. Five minutes in his company is enough to tell me that.”

“I think he’s having problems with Dani.” Sean sighs and leans against the wall next to me. “If I’m honest, they’ve been having problems since Charlie was born. Then Julia dying and now this. It’s all an act, Tess. What he says and how he acts—it’s not real. It’s a defense mechanism, that’s all.”

“Who do you think is buried there?” I ask, half dreading his answer. “Do you think it’s that other missing girl?”

“I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about it.”

I shiver as I think of him staying at the house, on his own with a sleeping bag and a flashlight and a body buried in the woods.

“Did you see anything? Or sense anything when you were there?”

“What are you talking about?”

My face floods with color. “Nothing. It’s just—it’s odd, that’s all. That this happened now, right as you come back, that it’s on your property. I—”

He laughs. “Oh please! You don’t think I was there burying bodies, do you? Did you not listen before? They found bones, not a freshly buried corpse. God, you are priceless.”