But I said nothing. Then I told Lucas I couldn’t tutor him anymore, I was quitting the writing lab. But he kept showing up wherever I went. When I was at the library, he was there. At the dining hall, he was there. It felt like he was stalking and watching me. I knew he knew something, but what and how could he know? What did Lucas Vega know about Adele’s last day? Why was he hounding me?
Guilt was eating away at me.
I was there, which maybe makes me an accessory? I stood there and did nothing, said nothing. I let others make her disappear. They lied, and I lied with them. This lie that has eaten me from the inside out.
And no matter how hard I try, nothing I do can right this terrible wrong. Except tell the truth.
I realize I’ve been waiting years for the right time, but it’s always the right time to tell the truth and do the right thing. Now is the time.
I will convince Taylor to come forward with me. There’s strength in numbers, and she must be as conflicted as me. Because how can anyone live with this guilt?
Thirty-Five
Regan drove Lucas home, then turned off the ignition and hopped out of the truck with him, saying, “I’d like to check out your apartment to make sure it’s safe.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
They jogged up the stairs because Regan hadn’t grabbed her umbrella. The rain was falling steadily again, and by the time they stepped inside the apartment, they were wet. She took off her jacket and hung it on the doorknob because there wasn’t a coatrack by the door.
She did a thorough check of the windows and locks. Nothing looked disturbed, just as it had been when she last looked.
Regan turned to face him, holding up the file she had gotten from campus police. “I have Adele Overton’s missing-person report here.”
He stared at her. Didn’t say anything.
“I know you also have it. But you didn’t share that with me. Do you remember three days ago when I agreed to go on your podcast? I asked to see all the information you had.”
“That report has nothing to do with Candace.”
“Taylor was interviewed by campus police about Adele’s disappearance. She and Candace were the last people to see her before she disappeared off the face of the earth, and you don’t think that’s relevant?”
He didn’t say anything.
“If I can’t trust you, I am of no use here.”
“Okay. Okay! I withheld the campus-police report because I was hoping to use it on the podcast as a bombshell once I had more… I mean, I needed a direct connection between Candace and Adele before I could make it public. Otherwise, it all just sounded like a nutty conspiracy theory.”
“I don’t know what your theory is, but you sure as hell haven’t told me everything. I thought we were a team here, Lucas. I want to help you, but you intentionally withheld important information. What else have you been holding back?”
He seemed nervous, and she wasn’t sure why. Because she was angry with him? She wasn’t going to apologize or coddle him. He was a grown man, on the verge of graduating from college. He could come clean now, or she would walk away.
And investigate whatever was going on without him.
She tried to push back on her temper, to get to the heart of what was going on. “Adele is the missing sister of your ex-girlfriend. You knew her a long time.”
“I’ve known Adele most of my life.”
“Would you have done this podcast on Candace Swain if you didn’t think that she was connected to Adele’s disappearance?”
“Yes, of course, she was my tutor.” Then he plopped down on the couch and said, “Maybe not.”
Regan sat in the chair across from him.
When he didn’t say anything, she prompted. “From the beginning, tell me what you did, what you thought, who you talked to. Leave nothing out.”
He had tears in his eyes now, but he wiped them away and began.
“In my Intro to Criminal Justice class my first semester here, one of the lectures was about campus police and their role versus local police. One of the officers came in to explain what they did, and he brought up missing persons—how many college students go missing, why you need to tell someone where you’re going even though you’re an adult, et cetera. I thought of Adele, and after the lecture I asked him if it was possible to get a missing-person report. I told him why—that my girlfriend’s sister had disappeared, and I wanted to know what they did, what the troopers did, that kind of stuff. I was polite, and he said it was public information and to come into the campus-police station and fill out a form. So I did. And in that report was Candace Swain’s name.”