Page 47 of Our Darkest Summer

I massaged my temples. My head hurt like hell.

“What doyouwant to tell them?” I repeated her question.

Kinsley scrunched her nose. It was written all over her face that she already had a plan.

“Just the basics.” She pursed her soft lips. “Maybe they could help. They know a lot more about the town and its people than us.”

I let her words sink in. Whoever was messing with us had to live close by. Had to be watching us.

“It also doesn’t rule out the fact that it could be any one of them,” I stated, and she bit the inside of her cheek.

“I know.”

“Hey,” Connor hissed, stopping next to Kinsley. “Do you know you’re not alone, right?

We turned our heads toward the front door’s direction and five pairs of eyes stared back at us.

Braxton raised a hand, and Kevin tipped his head. “Is this about your mom?”

Well, fuck.

Chapter Twenty-One

Kinsley

“I came backto Coldwater because of my mother,” Thomas said, leaning back in the armchair.

We were in the living room, all eight of us, but while everyone else sat around the coffee table, I stayed behind, watching from beside the fireplace.

“I know you’re all familiar with the case of our mother,” he went on, his gaze focused on the chess board left on the table. “A few weeks ago, I got a letter that suggested information about…what could’ve happened.”

Kevin was the only one who already knew why Thomas was here, so I didn’t pay much attention to him. Instead my eyes kept shifting between, Aaliyah, Cora, Samantha and Braxton. They all looked intrigued, some of them more than the others but I didn’t catch any nervous signs. Nothing that suggested they knew something.

“But since we came back, we started to get these…threats.” Thomas massaged the bridge of his nose, clearly uncomfortable talking about this. “This—” he slid the last note—the one left in the mask—onto the table, “was left for us tonight.”

I pushed my hands into the pocket of Thomas’ hoodie that I was still wearing, and curled my fingers around the other note, which I found right on that table.

“What the fuck,” Braxton muttered leaning closer to the paper, but not touching it.

“Have you called the police?” Samantha asked, and I automatically shook my head the same time Connor snorted next to me.

“Don’t get him started on that,” he said, but Thomas didn’t react.

“I think I’m with Thomas on this one,” Kevin chimed in, brushing over his hair. “Don’t let this get back to my dad, but cops are not the sharpest in this town. And they also work very slowly.”

For a moment, everyone went silent, and I took the opportunity to analyze them one by one.

Aaliyah was resting her elbows on her knees, playing with one of her curls, her brows knotted. Cora beside her had her hands clasped together, while Braxton’s right leg was shaking and Samantha chewed on her bottom lip. This was no use, they were clearly all nervous.

“So, how can we help?” Aaliyah asked, moving her gaze between Thomas, Connor, and me.

“I’m not sure—” Connor started but Thomas cut him off. My brows rose. I wouldn’t have thought he would accept their help.

“Your mom was the last person to see her,” he said, directing the comment to Braxton, who nodded. Connor and I exchanged a glance. She was? I hadn’t seen anything about that online. “Do you think she’d be willing to talk to us?”

“I-I mean sure,” Braxton cleared his throat. “Although she’s on a doctor’s retreat in Australia…it’s that kind of thing where they meditate and stuff, but for doctors,” he explained, thecorner of his mouth turning downward. “I don’t know when she will get back to me, but I’ll try.”

“Have you tried tracking the letter back?” Kevin asked, and I pushed myself away from the fireplace.