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SHAELYNN WAS SO, SO, SO, sick of the police.
Long story short, they had tracked them down at Lover's Lake not long after their friends had ventured out to look for the gate, and in a last-minute attempt to stop them from catching Eddie, Max had this brilliant idea to protect him by having the police catch them instead. Not to say that it wasn't given that it had protected Eddie, but this was Shaelynn's third interaction with the police that week, and the fact that she was alongside Dustin, Lucas, and Max wasn't helpful for their case.
The police brought them to the Wheeler house, where Shaelynn was surprised to find many of their family members had gathered. Dustin's and Lucas's families squeezed them tight enough to strain their lungs while Nancy's parents stewed in silence at the news that they hadn't found their daughter. Off to the sidelines, Shaelynn noticed what looked like Amara's parents and her older brother Kevin. Ramona wasn't there.
"And what exactly were you all doing at the lake?" Chief Powell inquired. The four of them were sat on the living room couch that barely had enough room for all of them, trying not to look directly at any of the cops or adults who thought their being out late was the most dangerous thing they could be getting themselves into.
"Uh... Dustin trailed off, attempting to formulate an alibi in record time. "It's comp – "
"We were... we were just going for a walk," Max interjected, covering for Dustin.
"A walk?" Officer Callahan repeated disbelievingly. "At 9:00 pm?"
"Hey, everyone has their habits," Shaelynn noted. "My friend was murdered only days after my other friend was. I needed to grieve, so I went back to where he died. I can't exactly go to the coroner right now."
"Which was very reckless of you, seeing as we still have a killer on the loose," Powell admonished. Amara's mother went to protest but her husband placed a hand on the small of her back, and she reluctantly remained rooted to the spot. "You're lucky you still have a clean record, which is only because you didn't know about the curfew we have in place. Now, back to you guys. Why were you on a walk this late?"
"To the lake," Dustin squeaked. He had to be about the worst liar Shaelynn had ever met. "We were gonna take a little swim." When none of the onlookers appeared convinced anyone would want to swim in Lover's Lake during March, he doubled down, "Little night swim."
"Dusty," Mrs. Henderson spoke, shaking her head incredulously. "Someone was just murdered there."
"Yeah, we... we didn't realize that until we got there and Shaelynn told us," Dustin piled on.
"That's why we didn't swim," Lucas added.
"And Nancy, was she with you for this night swim?" Mrs. Wheeler prodded, her voice filled with concern for her daughter, who was still missing. Shaelynn noticed with a pang that Robin's family wasn't in the room with them. She wondered if her parents even knew she was gone.
