Page 92 of Lethal Vengeance

Me: Rachel, it’s Sophia’s sister. When you have a second, can you text me back? I have a question.

It’s an hour before I get a reply.

Rachel: Zoe is dead. Who is this?

Me: Did she tell you about Julio?

Rachel: This isn’t funny. Both Zoe and Sophia are dead. Who is this?

Me: Do you remember the time I caught you girls drinking Papa’s beer in the field? I never told your mother because I didn’t want you to get in trouble.

Rachel: …

Five minutes go by.

Me: Rachel. Please, please tell me about Julio.

Rachel: Sorry, I can’t stop crying. God, I miss you two.

Me: …

Me: I’m sorry. You can’t tell anyone. Ever.

Rachel: I know. I won’t.

Me: Julio?

Rachel: She made me promise not to tell you. I wish I had. When she disappeared, I wanted to say something. I almost did, but I got a text from an unknown number telling me not to tell you. If I did, he would get really mad at her. And he wasn’t someone I wanted to mess with. I didn’t know what to do.

The pain of that statement makes it hard to breathe.

Me: It’s okay.

Rachel: After you found her dead, I was so angry at her for making me keep my promise. And angry at myself. What do you want to know?

Me: Everything.

Rachel: They met at the university. He was lost and good-looking. Instead of giving him directions, she walked him to the bar he was asking about. She said they talked for hours. He asked her out. They dated for two months, I think, before she disappeared.

Me: Did you meet him?

Rachel: I met him a couple of times. When they started dating. She wanted my opinion. He seemed nice and good-looking. Funny. Rich. I told her she hit the jackpot. But things were weird the second time.

Me: What happened?

Rachel: I hadn’t seen her in a month because she’d been so tied up with him. We were having a girls’ night. Catching up. The whole time she was with me, he kept texting her. She would immediately text him back. Every single time. I got mad. Told her I was leaving. She promised not to text him. But it killed her. Every time she got a text, she would look at the phone and start stressing.

Rachel: He started calling her when she wouldn’t text him back. Over and over. She answered. Told him where we were. He stormed in fifteen minutes later. Grabbed her arm. Told me she was leaving. I shoved him off her. He raised his hand to hit me, but there were some guys in the bar who stepped in. He apologized. Gave her some sob story. She left with him.

Rachel: I called her the next day. Told her something was wrong with him. She laughed. Told me he was just jealous and possessive. Worried about the guys hitting on her at the bar. It made him a little crazy. Nothing I said changed her mind.

Rachel: When she first disappeared, I thought she just ran off with him. Then I got that text from her. I didn’t know what to do. I’m so sorry. Maybe if I’d told you, she’d still be alive.

Me: You were a good friend. We all made mistakes with Sophia. Maybe me most of all. Was Sophia scared of me? You’re not going to hurt my feelings. I’m just trying to understand why she didn’t want to tell me.

Rachel: Sophia loved you. But she knew you would investigate him. At first, she told me she just wanted to keep him to herself for a little while longer. But I don’t know. After our girls’ night… I wonder if it wasn’t him.

Rachel: Do you think he killed her?