Page 108 of Above All Else

Mom?

No way.

“There must be some misunderstanding. My mom would never – Carter, tell them. She wouldn’t.”

The officer glanced up at the man in khaki pants and a polo shirt, his badge clipped to his belt.

“I’m Detective Sanderson.” He flipped open his notebook. “This afternoon, your parents came in and made a full confession. You wouldn’t know anything about this, would you?”

“I told you she didn’t.” Carter’s arms tightened around my frame.

“Yes, we know what you’ve said, but this is just protocol. We can have this conversation at the station if you’d like.”

Parents?

What did dad confess to?

Did he help her?

Why?

I stared into the distance, my mind swirling with the events of that night.

Mom’s calls.

She dropped me off.

“What do you want to know?” My throat ached as it tightened, keeping the tears from wetting my cheeks.

“The night of the murder, did you have any contact with your parents?”

I chuffed. “Of course I did.” My brows pulled together. “What do you mean my parents confessed—confessed to what?”

“That night, your mother, Susan Collins, confronted Amber at a party for her behavior towards your father—“

“My dad? What behavior.”

“Their affair.”

“No. No. No.” I stood, clenching my belly, bile rising. “I’m going to be sick.” Rushing to the half bath, I expelled the contents of my stomach, retching over and over.

Carter bent beside me, his hand rubbing over my back. “I’m sorry you had to hear it this way. I tried calling you earlier, but it wouldn’t go through.”

I ripped off some toilet paper and wiped my mouth. “You knew?”

He nodded, worry peppering his face. “I confronted your dad.”

“What do you mean?” I wrenched away from him. “Confronted... I don’t understand.”

He sucked in a deep breath. “Things didn’t add up for me, and they all came together last night when you told me about the box. The necklace you told me about...?”

I nodded.

“That was Amber’s. She wore it the night she went out.”

“But...” I walked through the events of that night,the outfits we wore, the picture we took. “I don’t remember seeing it.”

“It was there.” He flushed the toilet as I stood, leaned over the sink, and rinsed out my mouth. “She fought with my mom about what was inside.”