40. Max

40MAX

“No.” It comes out like a breath, like a gut punch. I look up at the three people around me, our stares shifting among one another.

“Maybe it just fell off,” Corinne says. “Maybe—”

“It didn’t fucking fall off,” Logan snaps. She stares at the watch in her palm like it’s a wounded bird.

“Kira!” I shout her name, my voice lost in the roar of the sea. I shout it again and start to run blindly down the beach.

The others follow me, all of us calling her name.

But nothing. No answer. My chest constricts, my breath coming high and tight.

“Aaron’s dead,” Elody whimpers. “Kira can’t be…”

“Why should we believe you?” I turn to her, my voice raw.

She blinks. “What?”

“Why should we believe that Aaron was the Sponsor? We walked in on you with a smoking gun and we just believed you!”

I feel like an idiot. Like I’m losing it. I don’t even know what to feel except fear and panic, like I’m grasping at blurry images and trying to shove them together into a coherent story.

“I wouldn’t have … I mean, if I didn’t think…” Elody presses her nails to her lips. “It was him! Don’t try to gaslight me!”

“I’m not gaslighting you! I just…” I stop, raking my hands through my hair. Jesus, I sound like Zane. I can’t let myself turn into that. “Did Aaron confess to being the Sponsor? Yes or no?”

“I…”

“Yes or no, Elody?”

“I mean, he didn’t confess to every single murder!” She throws up her arms, walking a few steps away from us. “He told me he killed Graham. He told me why. He had a literal gun on my chest. I just, like—I don’t know. I used context clues!”

The tide sucks out from under me, shifting the sand and making the ground unsteady, like the world is crumbling under my feet.

“It wasn’t him.” Corinne closes her eyes, taking a slow breath. “Aaron was just taking advantage of the situation when he killed Graham.”

No. No, no, no …

“Oh my god,” Logan says. “Oh my god, then…”

“It’s one of us.” I look up. “One of us is the Sponsor.”

For a few seconds, the realization hangs in the air, all of us staring. Shifting. Suspecting.

Logan moves first, angling herself away from Elody. “Max is right. You killed Aaron. All we have is your word for it. How are we supposed to believe he killed Graham?”

“Um, because he did?”

“Prove it,” Logan says.

Elody groans, frustrated. “I can’t, okay? But I swear, I wouldn’t have killed him if I didn’t think…” Her eyes go wide. “Oh my god. Do you think it was me?”

“Can you prove it wasn’t?” Logan asks.

“No,” Elody snaps. “Can you?”

I watch Logan, her hands fidgeting, and her words from the living room creep back into my head. Knowing you’ve done shit that people shouldn’t forgive. Figuring out how to live with that.

“Logan’s the only one here with a reason to kill everyone,” I say hoarsely.

She stares at me, and the naked hurt on her face makes me want to take it back. Almost.

“Why the hell would I kill Kira?” Logan growls.

“I don’t know, babe,” Elody cuts in, “maybe you’re just a literal psycho!”

Logan whirls around, her ponytail flying like a whip.

Elody cowers. “Don’t touch me.”

“I think we should all be a little more worried about Max,” Logan says.

My face burns. “What? Why?”

“I still haven’t let go of my theory. This whole thing would make a killer documentary.”

“Are you insane?”

“I don’t know, babe.” Elody looks me up and down. “She’s got a point.”

Anger gathers in my chest and spreads, growing roots, so fast it scares me. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. I’m afraid of what I’m going to do with it.

I turn and walk away.

“Max, wait,” Corinne calls. “We have to stay together.”

I keep walking into the night, fighting through the sand.

“Max!” Elody shouts.

I turn around, a wild laugh burning through me. “I’m not staying with any of you.”

“Then where are you going?” Elody asks.

I don’t know,I want to shout. Away. Anywhere but here.

“We need to stay together,” Corinne repeats, unrelenting.

She’s not wrong. It’s not safe. But I can’t trust her, either. I can’t trust anything but the fear working its way through me like a virus.

I should have taken a flashlight. Or better—the gun. I could go inside and get it, but stepping back into that house feels like more than I can handle. Scanning the sand, I see a sharp-edged rock a little bigger than my hand. Bending down, I pick it up, shove it in my pocket, and keep walking.

“Where are you going?” Elody asks again.

“To find her,” I say without looking back.

“Maybe we should all go,” Corinne says, moving toward me. “Max has a point. If all we have is the watch, then maybe Kira isn’t really—”

I spin around, and she goes silent.

“I’m going alone,” I tell her. “Don’t follow me.”

I walk away, not sure exactly where I’m going. Not sure of anything except for the weight of the rock in my pocket. The sound of the waves and my heartbeat.