Page 23 of Silent Bones

“Because of the tone,” Rishi said. “You don’t text your aunt at midnight saying you wish things were simpler and you hate sneaking around.”

McKenzie let out a low whistle.

“Any idea how old she is?” Noah asked.

“Mid to late fifties. I looked her up. There’s a business registry photo and a local news clip from a zoning dispute two years ago. Here’s the kicker, though?—”

“Hit me.”

“She’s transgender. Used to go byTerry Voss. Male until about ten years ago. Name was legally changed.”

Noah blinked. “Wait, what?”

“Yup. Found the court record. And a couple priors under the old name. Disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, minor assault. Nothing recent, but still. There was also a documented incident last summer between her and the victim group.”

Noah leaned forward. “What kind?”

“Campground dispute. Theresa called the cops on them, loud, drunk, some altercation with another camper. She ended up banning them permanently. Wrote about it on her personal blog, actually under a post called ‘The joys and woes of running a campground.’ Called the teens ‘disrespectful and dangerous.’ Said she feared for other guests.”

“Jesus,” Noah said. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, in the messages there is one video attached from Terry. I mean, Theresa recording Stephen half naked with another girl on top of him. Theresa didn’t like it one bit. That was sent over on the night of their deaths.”

“Was the girl on Stephen one of the four?”

“No. You’ll see. I’ll send over the file. Texts, audio, everything I pulled.”

“Good work, Rishi.”

“One last thing,” Rishi added. “Before you head over there, brace yourself. She’s a character.”

The line went dead.

Noah slowly lowered the phone. McKenzie had already stopped pretending not to listen.

“He’s kidding,” McKenzie said. “A teenage boy secretly dating an older trans woman with a criminal record, who just happened to have banned the entire group a year ago?”

“I’m not kidding.”

McKenzie blinked. “Okay, I’m not saying it’s a motive, but… it’s one hell of a connection.”

A moment later files came through on his phone and he was able to view the text message exchange between Stephen and Theresa. Among the heated exchange was a video of the girl on top of Stephen. He paused the video and studied the face, then it dawned on him where he’d seen her. It was in the photo at the Strudwell house. It was Avery Calder.

Noah nodded. “Okay, I need to talk to Theresa.”

“Can’t wait,” McKenzie said, already wiping his hands with a napkin.

“Not you. I’m bringing Callie.”

McKenzie looked genuinely offended. “What? Why?”

“Because I need a light touch. And you don’t have one.”

“I’m extremely progressive,” McKenzie said, gesturing to himself. “Big fan of Gen Z. I love rainbows. I recycle. I’m neuro divergent. And I suffer from panic attacks.”

Noah stood, tossing some bills on the table. “Callie will keep it civil.”

McKenzie sighed. “Just don’t let her charm you into therapy on the way.”