Then I figured, what the hell, what did I have to lose? There wasn’t much left to protect between us anyway. And besides, I wasn’t the one who should’ve been on trial, she was.

“You want me to come clean? Okay. Last night I was in Denver.”

“Denver?” she screeched.

“LoDo. At a club.”

“What?” Her hand reached behind her for the wall. She couldn’t believe it. It was kind of humorous to watch her try to figure out how on earth I could have managed that. She had no idea just how easy it’d been. “Who took you? Who were you with?”

“You don’t know him.”

“Him? Who is he?”

I shook my head at her constant need to know such insignificant details. Always asking the wrong questions, caring about the wrong angle. Why. Why was a far more interesting question. Why did I go to Denver? But she didn’t want to know that. Apparently all she cared about was who. So I told her, and in that moment, I felt like I was Cole, sliding over the console of her father’s car and taking the wheel. “The guy from the Mini Mart.”

“The guy … The guy …” She was screeching again. She looked like one of those squawking birds trying to get its baby to fly. Her mouth opening and shutting, nothing but noise coming out. No wonder that little bird never got back up in the nest.

“You mean you were with the guy who attacked you?”

“Yeah. Well, actually I attacked him, but the whole thing was just a misunderstanding.”

“No. No. I don’t want you seeing him again.”

I laughed. “Sure, Mom, okay.” Like she could police me—she was never even here.

“I mean it, Ser.”

I rolled my eyes. But she was still trying to figure it all out.

“What were you doing? In Denver?”

Ah, now she was getting somewhere.

“Singing in a band. For Kori.”

“Kori?” She rubbed her face. I don’t know what she thought that would accomplish. “I don’t understand.”

“Don’t you get it? Kori wasn’t supposed to die. She had things to finish, Mom. I’m finishing them. Now, is it finally my turn to ask the questions?”

I glimpsed the worry in her eyes. Nervousness in the gripping of her fingers. No. We aren’t going to turn this around on me. That’s what she was thinking. Her eyes narrowed at the carpet as she gathered her resolve to say just that. Looking for anything to distract me. Anything to keep me from asking the big—Where was she? Why was she? Who was she with?—questions. The questions that would prove it was because of her Kori had gone to the motel in Golden. It was because of her Kori needed to catch a ride with Parker Walsh. It was because of her Kori was dead.

“This is not about me, Serena.”