Chapter Seventeen

Sophia sat on the couch, wringing her hands, and told Detective Barrios everything that Henry had said.

“Sergio didn’t kill anyone. Henry had his sweatshirt the weekend that...that the clerk was killed,” Sophia said. “He gave it back to Sergio at our dinner last week.”

The detective was writing in her notebook, a blank look on her face, but when she finally looked up, Sophia didn’t think the woman believed her.

“Did Henry admit that he was one of the three boys who were at the Cactus Stop the night the clerk was killed?”

“Y-yes. But he didn’t shoot anyone! Javier did. He specifically said that it was an accident, that Javier said the clerk was going for a gun and he shot him. Sergio wasn’t even there!”

The detective looked pointedly at her. “Your brother confessed. The sweatshirt he wore in the video I saw him wearing at work a week later. The lab confirmed that there was gunshot residue in the jacket. You’re now claiming that your other brother was involved with the shooting, and that would make Sergio an accessory after the fact.”

Sophia stifled a cry. “No. He said he was protecting me.”

“He told you that?”

“No, the detective—”

“What detective?”

Mrs. Edgar said, “A private detective.”

Detective Barrios looked irritated. “You’re running on a theory by a private investigator?”

Mrs. Edgar handed the cop the PI’s business card. “She has been working with Sergio. I don’t know if he hired her or his attorney, but she said Sergio is worried about Sophia’s safety. Javier Escobar is the young man who shot and killed the clerk. But until you arrest him, Sergio isn’t going to recant. Javier threatened Sophia.”

“According to Ms. Angelhart.”

“Yes.”

The detective wrote down the information, handed the card back to Mrs. Edgar.

“You believe me, right?” Sophia said.

“In my experience, I’ve never had an innocent man plead guilty to a crime he didn’t commit.”

“Sergio is innocent.” Sophia couldn’t stop tears from leaking out.

“I’ll talk to these boys, see what their story is.”

She got up and Sophia feared she had made a big mistake.

Mrs. Edgar walked the detective to the door. Sophia overheard her say, “Sophia is a good girl—she doesn’t lie.”

“It’s hard when your family is torn up like this. It could be the brothers were in it together.”

Sophia ran down the hall to her room. The detective didn’t believe her. She didn’t believe that Sergio was innocent.

Maybe Sophia could prove it.

She retrieved a shoe box from the bottom drawer of her dresser and went back to the living room. Mrs. Edgar was still talking to the detective at the door. Sophia handed her the box. “Javier has left me presents. I told him I didn’t want them, but he would put them in my locker, or have Henry give them to me.”

“How do you know they’re from Javier?” the detective asked.

“He left me notes. They’re all in there. Most of them. I threw some away, but then I got scared that he would find out, so I hid them.”

The detective took the box and opened the lid. Sophia knew what was inside. A pretty emerald necklace that looked very expensive. Coins that were very old. A unicorn figurine that might have been real crystal. And notes from Javier that repeated over and over that he loved her.

The expression didn’t change on the detective’s face, but her tone was different. “Let me see what I can do.”

When she left, Mrs. Edgar said, “You never told me he gave you gifts.”

“It stopped a few weeks ago. I thought maybe he finally believed me that I wanted nothing to do with him. But then at school the other day, Henry gave me a necklace and said it was from Javier.” She wiped away her tears. “I should have told you,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“Sophia, don’t despair. The detective has more information now. I believe in the system. It usually works.”

“She thinks Sergio is guilty,” Sophia said. “What if she thinks they’re both guilty and arrests Henry? Then I’ll have no one!”

“Shh,” Mrs. Edgar said. “Maybe she now realizes she arrested the wrong man. You did the right thing. Telling the truth is always the right thing.”