The Perfectionists

Chapter 37

MAL HURRIED FORWARD TO THE entrance of the police station, where the other girls were stepping out into the sunshine. They all looked like shit. Evie had been texting her updates the whole time it took Mal to get here on the bus—that the cops were letting the girls go, saying there wasn't enough evidence to charge them with Jay's murder until they'd completely searched his house; that they'd taken their fingerprints and done DNA cheek swabs. They'd even taken their photographs under the harsh fluorescent lights. Mal couldn't imagine Evie took that very well. She and Evie exchanged a look, and then Mal ran forward to pull her best friend into a hug.

"Don't try pulling anything stupid," Detective Peters called out from the front entrance. "We're watching you—all of you," he added, looking at Mal and frowning. Mal shivered. Her prints were already in the system, from what had happened with her dad. She was as much a suspect as the other girls.

Mal looked at the others after the cops left. Audrey was sobbing. Uma clenched her jaw. Jane looked like she was going to throw up. "My mom is going to murder me," she whispered.

"I can't believe they called our parents," Audrey said miserably. Evie's mouth twitched, and Mal took her hand, thinking of that horrible message that had gone around just an hour ago. But really, compared with this, did Evie's secret really matter? Did anything matter?

Evie hung on to Mal's hand as if it were the only thing keeping her upright. "They'll realize they made a mistake," she said in a level voice. "The police will realize we were framed."

"Will they?" Audrey's eyes were wild. "We were there, Evie. Chad saw us. And our fingerprints are all over that house." Tears streamed down her face. "I thought this would be over. I thought Jay was doing this to us. So now it's someone else?"

Mal shivered. That thought had crossed her mind, too—they didn't have this solved at all. She squeezed her eyes shut and reached far into her brain, trying to put together the pieces from last night. If only she could remember someone lurking outside Jay's property. A mysterious car parked across the street. Something. But when she groped for the memory, there was only emptiness. All she could recall was running out of Jay's house, her heart pounding hard. And then a chasm of darkness—she was probably curled in a ball somewhere, shutting down like she always did. And then meeting Evie a little later at the diner, groggy and spotty.

"Who was watching us last night?" Mal whispered.

"And is Jay Ben's killer?" Uma asked aloud. "Or did Ben's killer kill Jay, too—and make it look like us again?"

Audrey frowned. "But why would Ben's killer need to kill Jay?"

Mal swallowed hard, considering this possibility. "Maybe Jay knew something about Ben's murder."

"So we were looking for the wrong thing at his house all this time?" Audrey asked.

"I don't know," Mal said slowly. She looked around the group. "But maybe everything we thought we knew isn't true at all."

Everyone shuddered. Uma tipped her head up, her brow furrowing. Evie looked as if her brain had just exploded. But Mal wondered, suddenly, if it could be true. Memory was a tricky thing, but reality was even trickier. Once you made up your mind about something, it was hard to comprehend that the truth could be something else. But what if it was? And how could they figure that out?

And what if they were too late?

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*Authors Note:
Hey guys and gals, thank you so much for reading my book. This chapter marks the ending for "The Perfectionists". I already have huge plans for a sequel, but I'm not sure when it'll come out. I have school starting in a few and it may take up some of my time. But I'll try to release the second book very soon. In the meantime; don't forget to stay safe, mask up, and get your vaccines. ❤️
~ Wicked_Descender