Death of the Perfect Girl Book 2

8- Two Alibis

As Liam walked into the house, the smell of spice hit his nose. His eyes bounced around the hallway as he took off his shoes and rested them in a corner. There were pictures of Crowder and his family lining the walls of the hallway, shoes stacked in the open closet covered in dust. Liam's brows arched as he stood straight. "Do you smell that?" Fisher asked him in a whisper, wrinkling his nose. "Smells like...old people."

Liam shook his head as he made his way into the living room. Poppy sat on one of the brown flower covered couches ramming a tissue into her running nose. She quickly folded it and shoved it in her pocket. Liam sat beside Poppy. "How was it? Does he believe you?"

Poppy nodded, but she was still quiet.

"What's wrong-"

"I can't cut the footage," Crowder sat on one of his couches. "The police will know-"

"What?" Fisher looked at him. "No. That won't work. We have to give them what you have-"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because there's footage of me confessing to Sadie's brother's murder," Poppy said softly.

Fisher looked at her with wide eyes.

"If we give it to them, my sister will go to prison for lying to the police."

Fisher turned away. "Okay...then... I know what I have to do." He squeezed his phone.

"Fisher," Liam called out to him. "You don't have to. Not yet. We still have time."

Fisher shook his head. "How? Charlotte and the others think I'm pretending to be your friend. They think that I'm in the video. I was hoping it would get shown to the cops. But... I can't do this anymore. I can't suffer with this guilt. I could've saved her. And I didn't."

Poppy glared at him. She turned away wiping the cold sweat from her brow. Her body began to tremble with anger.

"I deserve to go to jail. There's no way I'm getting away with this." Fisher ran his fingers through his hair and bowed his head. "They'll turn me in and rat me out regardless."

Crowder sighed. "We can...we can try to get off the hook. But we have to figure out how to get them to turn against each other without involving you."

Fisher lifted his head. "They're already trying to frame Charlotte and Jenna. Maybe we can work with that."

Liam shrugged. "Okay...How?"

"Maybe... I can get Mason and Charlie to go through with that plan."

"You'll all get outed either way."

"They want me as their alibi...I'm asking something big here but...," he looked at Poppy, "could you two be our alibi?"

Poppy looked at Liam, then she looked at Fisher again. "We were at the bowling alley that night. We checked in and paid and we have receipts."

"Doesn't Noah work there-"

"Are we trying to get him off the hook too? No wait," Poppy folded her arms. "Why are we trying to all of you off the hook for murder?"

Fisher stared at her. He nodded. "You're right." He stood with his phone. "I should just head to the station-"

"Fisher did it for you," Liam blurted out. "They all did."

Poppy looked at Fisher then shook her head. "That...-that doesn't make any sense-"

"Sadie was going to kill you...She told Brody."

Poppy shook her head again. "So that gives all of you the right to kill her-"

"Jenna and Charlotte did it for their own personal reasons," Fisher looked down. "But the guys...we were all blackmailed and told that it was for you... I'm not sure which girl killed her...but they both planned all of it." Fisher's phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and looked at it. "Jenna's in the hospital." Fisher looked up from his phone. "Charlotte just texted me. She collapsed at her school."

Poppy scoffed. "And we should care why?"

Fisher's face went pale. "Because she's speaking to the cops."