Jason shrugged. “That’s all I got—sorry, man.”
Augustus exchanged a glance with Sebastian. “Did they seem like they were together? Like they knew each other?”
Jason considered the question but shook his head. “I didn’t really pay that much attention. But now that I think about it, they weren’t really talking to each other. It was weird, like they were together but separate, you know?”
“Did you see what kind of car they were driving?” Sebastian asked.
Jason nodded. “A black sedan. But she paid at the pump and left pretty quickly after. I was too busy with other customers to really notice.”
Augustus sighed. They were so close, yet so far.
“You’ve been helpful, thanks,” Sebastian said with a forced smile.
As they walked out of the gas station, Augustus ran a hand through his hair. “Why would someone falsify the police report? Why make it seem like she came alone?”
“The only person who has the ability to do that is the police,” Augustus said.
“Or the mayor?” Sebastian turned to look at him.Augustus pursed his lips.
“Look, maybe Delilah’s theory isn’t too far off.”
“Why would Mr. Montgomery kill his own daughter?”
“You remember how he was with her? Willow hated her dad—he was a dick. Always harassing her about keeping the family image, forcing her to the brink of breaking every single second. She could never catch a break from him. Do you remember a few days before she disappeared?” Sebastian asked.
Willow’s father had been erratic. Something had set him off as usual. It had been going on for years. This time was the worst; he had been so obsessed with his political campaign, so angered by the poll numbers that he had snapped at Willow.
“He threw a vase at her head,” Sebastian filled in when Augustus didn’t answer.
“I remember,” he murmured.
“Also, Lilah has a point. Why wait two days to report her missing? Willow had never done anything like that before. It’s like he wasn’t worried because . . . ”
“—because he knew what happened to her.”
They shared a passive glance.
“So, if we’re adding suspects to the list.” Sebastian shrugged. “Montgomery has got to be on it.”
The car engine rumbled to life, and Augustus sighed heavily, his forehead leaning against the wheel.
“How did we get here?” he grumbled. “In this mess. It’s our junior year of college; we should be thinking about the future, master’s programs, and post-grad jobs. Instead, the entire world has their eyes peeled on us, waiting for us to slip up and give them a story.”
“We’ll figure this out, man.”
“What if we don’t? Is our future truly amounting to orange jumpsuits and freaking day-old prison food? This wasn’t the plan. It was never supposed to be this hard.”
A tethered silence settled among them, the soft hum of the engine filling the car. Everything felt heavy.
Sebastian leaned back against the seat, squinting ahead at the darkening sky. “You know I’ve got your back, right? Doesn’t matter if we’re in jumpsuits, or at each other’s weddings. You guys are the closest thing I’ve got to family. I’m with you no matter what.”
Augustus inclined his head to glance over at his friend. “You goin’ soft on me, Hale?”
Sebastian snorted. “Piss off, asshole. Drive.”
But Augustus knew what he meant.
Sebastian didn’t have much of a family; not outside of appearance’s sake at least. His father cared more about his fortune than his children—covering his eldest son’s drug addiction with some excuse of being out of the country for business reasons. Kept his youngest son quiet with more money than any normal person could ask for.
