I clear my throat and say as delicately as possible, “I’m sorry, Jessica, but didn’t you ask me if I could be in charge of movie night?”
Jessica tucks an errant strand of blond hair behind her ear. “Yes, but Iknowhow busy you are, Erika. And Alicia wassonice to step up. So… I’m letting you off the hook.”
The room has gone silent again as everyone stares at me and Jessica. What she said was a bald-faced lie. She askedmeto be in charge of movie night. And she changed her mind about it when she found out about Olivia.
She could have at least given me the courtesy of telling me in advance, so I didn’t waste my time driving out here when my son needs me at home.
And now the silence is broken by the sound of people whispering. I don’t know what the hell they’re saying, but I can only imagine. I want to yell at them that if they’ve got something to say about my kid, they can say it to my face. But I don’t actually want that. I just want to go home.
I rise unsteadily to my feet. “I think maybe I’ll just take off then.”
“Feel free,” Jessica says. “Idoappreciate you offering to pitch in though, Erika. Honestly.”
There have been times during my friendship with Jessica that I have wanted to slap her, but never so much as at this moment. But I’m capable of controlling my impulses. So I grab my purse and run out of the room before these women can see me cry.
Chapter Thirty
Police transcript of interview with Madison Hartman
“How long have you been friends with Olivia Mercer?”
“Practically my whole life. We became friends on the first day of kindergarten. We were wearing the same dress and we bonded over it.”
“So you’re very close with her?”
“Uh, yeah! We’re best friends.”
“Did Olivia ever give you any indication she might run away?”
“No. Never. Olivia would never run away. She wouldn’t do that to her parents.”
“Did she do drugs or alcohol?”
“Are you kidding me? Olivia was a good girl. One time, me and Aidan—that’s my boyfriend—offered her a drink of some beer Aidan swiped from his dad’s stash, and she wouldn’t touch it.”
“If she were planning to run away, would she tell anyone about it?”
“Yes! She would tell me… But she didn’t run away. I’m telling you. There’s no way… It was Liam. That bastard, Liam Cass.”
“You think Liam is the one responsible for her disappearance?”
“I don’t think he is. Iknowhe is.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Um, because Liam is a crazy person?”
“Why do you think he’s crazy?”
“Okay, well, I wasn’t totally sure before. I mean, there were rumors about him. Like, I went to a different middle school than he did, but people sometimes talked about that English teacher and what they thought he did to him. Some kids believe he did it, although I honestly didn’t believe it until now. Do you guys know about that?”
“Yes. We know.”
“I mean, mostly it was just a vibe I got from him. Obviously, he’s pretty cute, but he just seemed so phony. Like, a lot of girls thought he was really charming, but I just thought he was a fake.”
“How so?”
“So here’s an example. One day, I saw him messing around with some of his friends before first period, and then he was late for class. I had first period with him, andthe teacher asked him why he was late. He told her his mom was driving him and she had a flat tire and that’s why he was late.”
