Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

RILEY HAD TEXTED Evan and asked him to come over. Now she takes him into the TV room. Her mother has left them alone. Riley closes the door and drops onto the couch and sinks down beside him, exhausted. Then she looks at him and says, ‘I went over to Cameron's house to talk to him tonight.'

He raises his eyebrows at her. ‘His parents didn't let you see him, did they?'

‘I wouldn't take no for an answer. I just barged in.'

‘Wow,' Evan says. ‘I went over there this afternoon. They wouldn't let me in, and I just left.' He looks at her expectantly. ‘What did he say?'

She bites her lip nervously. She says, ‘I think he might have been lying.'

Now Evan seems wary, anxious. She can see the dismay in his face. ‘Why? What did he say?'

‘He said that everything was fine between him and Diana, and that when he left her at home, around eleven, everything was good.'

‘And you don't believe him?'

She shakes her head, looking directly at Evan. ‘I don't know. He wouldn't look at me. And he knew she didn't want to go to the same college as him next year. But I know she hadn't told him that yet, so she must have told him last night, or how would he know?' She adds, ‘I just can't see him taking it well, can you?'

‘No,' Evan agrees. ‘Maybe they argued, and he doesn't want to admit it. It doesn't mean he killed her.'

‘No, I know,' Riley agrees. She can tell Evan doesn't want to believe that Cameron might be a murderer. But she no longer feels sure of anything. When she'd looked at Cameron, sitting on his bed in his childhood room, she couldn't help imagining him in a rage, his hands around Diana's neck. She couldn't get out of there fast enough.

She has to tell Evan what she did. ‘I went to the police, this afternoon. I spoke to the detectives.'

He looks back at her. He's gone completely still. ‘What? Why?'

‘I told them that Diana was going to break up with him.'

He stares at her for a long moment. Finally, he sighs deeply. ‘I guess you did what you had to do.'

When his wife retreats to the bathroom for a hot bath, Edward has the opportunity to talk to his son without her knowing. She'll be in there for a while, he knows. She often has a long bath at night to relax before bed, and she will need it tonight. But now that he has the chance, he's almost afraid to take it.

Cameron is still in his bedroom, his door closed. He'd come out for supper, but he hadn't eaten much. No one had. Edward wonders what he and Riley said to each other. Now, as he climbs the stairs, he finds himself almost hoping that Cameron has fallen asleep, in which case he won't disturb him. But there's light coming from beneath the bedroom door into the dimness of the hall. He stands tentatively outside the bedroom door.

‘Cameron?' he says softly.

‘Yeah,' comes from within.

Edward pushes the door open. Cameron is sitting on the bed, his arms around his drawn-up knees. He lifts his tearstained face. Edward falters. But then he closes the door carefully behind him and comes over and sits down on the end of the bed and faces his son. ‘Are you okay?'

‘No.'

Edward swallows. ‘I know you loved her. I can't imagine how hard this is.' Cameron won't even look at him, but stares down at the quilt on the bed. ‘Cameron, I have to ask you something.' His son does look up at him then, wary. ‘I heard you come in last night, just after one o'clock.' His son's wariness has turned instantly to fear. Edward waits, his heart pounding. He wishes he was anywhere else; he wishes he hadn't started this. He feels like he's on the edge of a precipice; the fall will be catastrophic.

‘Does Mom know?' Cameron asks in a whisper.

‘No,' Edward lies. ‘This is just between us.' Cameron appears to be paralysed. He doesn't move. He doesn't even blink. Edward must ask. ‘Cameron, why did you lie to the police about it?'

Cameron's face is a combination of confusion and terror. ‘I didn't know what to do.'

‘Okay. You can tell me the truth, though. It will be okay,' Edward says, lying again. But he's terrified too. What if his son – if he did kill Diana – then it can never be okay. Nothing can ever be okay ever again.

‘I did come home around eleven, like I said.' He pauses. ‘But then I went out again.'

Edward is puzzled. ‘Why? Where did you go?'

Cameron answers. ‘I went back to Diana's.'

God help him. ‘Why?'

His son starts to cry, tears running down his face. ‘We'd argued. We had a big fight. When I left her at home, we were both mad at each other. So I came home, but then I went back, to try to work things out with her.'

‘Okay.' Edward's stomach plunges.

‘I parked in front of her house and sat in the truck in the dark for a while. I didn't know what to do.' He stops.

Edward doesn't want to ask, but he does. His mouth is so dry. ‘And then what?'

‘That's it. I just sat there for a long time, thinking. And then I left and drove around for a while and came home again.'

‘Okay,' Edward repeats, exhaling. This is bad, but it isn't terrible. His son didn't hurt Diana. He must be telling the truth. But it won't be good if the detectives find out – that they argued, that he was there. That he lied to them. Jesus. ‘What did you argue about?'

‘She didn't want to go to the same college next year … and … she broke up with me.'

Edward swallows. This is bad.

‘And now she's dead!' Cameron says wildly.

‘It's not your fault,' Edward says, trying to calm him. He tries to think, but his brain doesn't seem to be working properly. It takes him a moment to ask, ‘You didn't see anything? Hear anything?'

Cameron shakes his head, then looks up anxiously. ‘What if someone saw me there in the truck?'

Edward swallows again. ‘Then you tell the police the truth.'

‘Should I tell them anyway?'

Edward considers this carefully. ‘I don't think so. Let's just keep this between us, okay?'

Cameron watches his father leave his bedroom and close the door behind him softly. He was afraid his dad already knew about the time he came home. He'd suspected as much in the truck on the way home from the police station. Now he knows for sure. He and his dad share a secret, and his father agrees that it should stay that way. At least now he doesn't feel quite so alone.

He's still very worried that he might have been seen.

Everything is so fucked up.

Cameron had spent the day lying in bed, curled in the fetal position, sending his parents away when they tried to come in to comfort him. He doesn't want them, and he doesn't want to talk. He wants to stop existing.

Cameron had heard Evan come to the door, had heard his father send him away. It might have been a mistake to talk to Riley. He's worried about what Riley thinks. He hadn't liked the way she looked at him.

At least his father believes him. His father would believe him no matter what lies he told.