The Edge

Chapter 22

I'd seen quite a lot of Detectives Olsen and Meeks in the hours since the incident. Well, incidents. After I'd been cleaned and stitched up, bandaged and swaddled, they had quite a few questions.

Wes, unsurprisingly, sustained a concussion, but is otherwise no worse for wear. As soon as he'd endured medical evaluation and his own round of interrogating, he'd remained a fixture at my bedside. He's stood fast in vigil, like Cerberus guarding the gates of the underworld. Our dad drove up as soon as he heard what had happened, of course. He'd been running point both as a father and as a police liaison, relaying what he learned to me.

When the police raided Austin's house that night, they found the evidence they'd been searching for, namely the necklace Hannah had worn on the night of her death. It had been personally engraved and given to her by Rebecca shortly before the woman's death. According to friends, Hannah had never taken it off in all the years they'd known her. That priceless keepsake had become special to Austin as well – as a trophy.

Also, he'd created something of a shrine to her in his closet, so there was that.

From the evidence collected so far, police infer that Austin had something of an obsession regarding the Temples. In addition to numerous photographs of Hannah taken on the sly, he'd collected newspapers and memorabilia about her mother's murder. Perhaps his interest had sprung from the discovery of the knife. Maybe he'd always held a dark candle for her, and finding the weapon triggered a compulsion. Whatever the case, Luke's presence in town had given him the perfect opportunity to carry out the crime he'd fantasized. Austin had done his best to copy the first murder, right down to implicating Luke Wilder.

As far as we can tell, none of the others students had anything to do with the murder. Avery, Isaac, and the rest of them never wavered in their stories. Like me, they had also become invested in finding Hannah's killer. They'd had no idea he'd been right there among them. Meeks and Olsen had strongly suspected Dominic as an accomplice in Rebecca's murder, but until now hadn't any solid proof to back it up. They'd succeeded in obtaining a search warrant even before yesterday's events, but Dominic had been smarter than to stash evidence at home.

I haven't had any contact with the Temples, but I hear they broke down with disbelief when they heard Hannah's murderer was a kid who'd eaten at their home and wept at the funeral. Hopefully in time, Claire and Elliot Temple could feel a measure of peace, now that the real murderers were exposed. There were still questions for them to come to grips with. How did no one recognize Austin's obsession? How did Dominic get away with the crime for so long? Why them? I believe Claire will do a lot of soul searching. She will know she will feel a million regrets and ask herself a million what-ifs.

A voice interrupts my morbid thoughts on the matter. "No brother standing guard?"

I crack open my eyes to see that Tom Fairchild has sidled his way into my hospital suite. He looks worn and taut. World-weary. A sickly half-smile sprawls across his face.

"He needed a break," I return. "Probably at the cantina downstairs with my dad."

"Well, that's a relief."

I cock an querying eyebrow.

"How was it you described him to me? Violent, willing to kill for you? He's really shown some follow-through."

"He's hardly the only one with blood on his hands." I stare at my bandaged limbs, visions of the previous day clouding my brain. Tom fidgets uncomfortably.

"I heard your quitting," he observes. "Can't imagine why. You'd be a hero to the students, if you stuck around."

"I doubt it." Some of them would find me fascinating, I'm sure, but many others would be wary, discomfited by my presence in the school. I'll miss Riley and Jordan, even Reed, but it's best to start fresh somewhere else.