Now that I understood what had turned Kori so dark, the envy I felt for her became something else. Sadness. I closed her notebook. Maybe the last of her secrets should stay buried with her.

As I shoved her notebook back into the box, a photo fell out of it and flickered to the floor. It was the original from her Postcard Secret. Looking at the picture again, I couldn’t believe I’d missed it the first time. I guess her handwriting had obscured it. But right there behind the happy couple was a sign for the Sleep Inn.

I ditched Mrs. Patterson, telling her I was going over to Lexi’s, and headed immediately for Mr. Miller’s. Shay was quiet most of the drive to Golden.

“We’re here,” was all he said as he turned into the motel parking lot. He backed into an empty space so that we were facing the rows of red doors and box windows and turned the ignition off.

“The night I came here with her, all we did was this—wait in the parking lot, watching a room door. She came here to confront her father and she didn’t want to be alone. That’s it.”

“What do you mean, that’s it? What happened with her father?”

“Nothing. Kori couldn’t bring herself to get out of the car. She’d been so angry. The entire time we were at that camp together, she just kept waiting for the day she’d be able to tell him off. She kept hoping to find the right time and place, and we followed him around for an hour. She didn’t know he was having an affair. It just added fuel to the fire. And she went into a big downward spiral afterward.”

Confront D.

He pointed to a man who was walking across the lot toward a room. Mr. Kitzler. I watched as he put his cell phone to his ear. For a minute he looked upset, agitated, and then he turned back and got in his car. Drove off.

“Looks like she stood him up,” Shay said, turning toward me.

“She?” I rocked forward, my hands gripping the edge of the seat. I started to feel a little sick. “Oh, right.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t say anything. I put two and two together when you told me your mom was leading a double life. The night I was here a woman with blond hair came out and got in an SUV. Just like the one in front of your house.”

“The night Kori died,” I said under my breath.

“No. I never showed. I couldn’t come here and go through that with Kori again. It’s … complicated.”

“What do you …” I started to speak, and scarcely managed to get the words out. “What night were you here with her, then?”