I almost let the phone slip from my trembling hand as I gazed at Katherine. "Everything okay in there?" Liam inquired.

"Yeah...," Dakota replied, stuffing her phone into her pocket. She looked at me, her eyes full of worry. "What do we do now?" she uttered.

"I-I don't know," I honestly answered. "She...has she been lying to us this whole time?"

"It...it would appear so," Dakota said, gripping onto my arm. "We'll be okay. The police will break a confession out of her."

"She just doesn't seem like someone who would be able to do something like this." I heaved. Then why would Xander hit Katherine? Did he know Carson? Was he trying to get revenge for him?

"Nothing to do now but find out the truth," Dakota said, determination suddenly swelling in her voice. "So let's do it." I nodded, my entire body shaking.

"I think I'll pay Xander a visit," I said. Dakota's eyes widened.

"After what that maniac did to you? Uh-uh. No way. You don't have my permission."

"Sorry, Dakota, but I need to ask him something. I need to know why he would wanna hurt Katherine." My friend nodded in understanding.

"I'll come with you, though. I don't want him getting to you." I nodded, grateful for her support. We rejoined the rest of the party and began to discuss a game plan.

"Oh, shit," Landon said, answering his phone. He scratched his arms, which were concealed beneath his dirty hoodie. I thought it odd that he would wear something so warm, especially since it was abnormally sunny that day. "I've gotta go guys, sorry."

"Is everything okay?" Katherine asked softly.

"Hmm? Yeah, everything's fine. My mom just needs to talk to me."

"About...?" Katherine pressed.

"Just what our trip is gonna be this year." I furrowed my eyebrows at him. The earliest vacation is Christmas Break, and that's not for another two months.

"Can't she just talk to you on the phone about it?" Dakota said, agitation filling her voice. Landon grinned and shrugged.

"Guess not. You know my mom." He was swinging open the door when he called out, "Call me if you need backup!" Once he was gone, we looked at each other with confused expressions. Katherine shrugged.

"You guys ready to go?" she inquired. Katherine piled into my car as Dakota joined Liam in his. "Avery, can I tell you something?"

"Of course," I said, keeping my breathing steady. She killed Carson, she killed Carson, she killed Carson.

"I think I know how we can get one step closer to finding Carson's killer."

"How?" That piqued my interest.

"We need his phone."

"His phone? Wouldn't the police have it in the evidence locker? I mean, Carson might've had it on him when..." I left her to imply the conclusion of the sentence.

"No. He had two. His family doesn't know about the second one."

"Why'd he have two?"

Katherine shrugged. "He was always paranoid. He was always acting like someone was watching him. Not like the government was spying in on him through his phone, but like someone was following him, y'know? He always acted like he was on the run. So he had two for what he called 'Confidential Business'. I completely forgot about it since he never let me see it."

"How'd he pay for it?"

"I dunno. He worked two jobs during the summer, and one during the year."

"Where?"

"His dad's dealership year-round, plus Avedon's in the summer. That's how his boss discovered his works." Katherine smiled faintly. "He told me that he was taking pictures of customers and someone complained. His boss scolded him until she saw the pictures. Told him he had a talent. Guess she was right."

I smiled. "Yeah, she was." I kept my eyes on the road and then recalled "The Girl Who Killed Me". She killed Carson, she killed Carson, she killed Carson. Katherine Summers murdered Carson Harris.

"Okay, well, I need to go visit a certain someone. Do you think you guys could handle Mr. Harris by yourselves?" I asked.

"We're not infants, Avery," Katherine replied, a bit bitter. "I bet I can get that phone away from his dad after some sugarcoating."

"Okay." I grabbed Dakota's hand and led her out the door. "We'll reconvene here after we're all done."

"'Reconvene?'" Dakota said with a laugh.

"Meet up," I clarified.

"I know what it means, Avery," she smirked. "It's just that you're talking like you're a real spy now."

I smiled. "Detective Carter, at your service."

"The visiting hours are twelve am to five pm," the secretary replied. "You will need to fill out the paperwork and present proper identification." I searched through my pocket until I grasped onto my wallet. Pierce's card was tucked firmly in place, next to my debit card and a photo of Dakota and me. I flipped through until I found my driver's license. Dakota did the same and we presented it to the secretary. "Thank you. Here are the proper forms," she said, reaching under her desk and rummaging through a drawer. "You should be good to go in about twenty minutes. And don't forget: you will be searched, and we have the right to go through your car."

I smiled warmly. "Thank you, Miss...?"

"Jameson. Miss Jameson." She smiled and leaned in closely. "You know, I wouldn't be doing this...usually it's a few days wait." Her smiled waned from something jubilant to something sympathetic and kind. "I saw the news. I'm very sorry, Miss Carter."

"Thank you. Thank you very much, Miss Jameson." I grabbed Dakota's arm and led her to the seats.

"What do you think Xander is gonna say?" Dakota softly inquired as she quietly filled out her paperwork.

"I don't know. I don't know at all."

"I don't want to talk to you two," Xander muttered. I noticed that the circles under his eyes had darkened dramatically and his hair was matted down with sweat. I saw bruises on his arms that he attempted to cover up by folding his arms against his chest.

"Yeah, you do," Dakota asserted, "because in the state of Pennsylvania, you need permission from the prisoner to visit. So you allowed us to come talk to you."

"I...Is Katherine okay?" Xander's eyes dodged mine and looked to Dakota. I shimmied in my seat in discomfort.

"She's going to be okay, thanks to your horrible job of trying to kill her."

"Just like you killed Carson?" I cut in.

"...I didn't kill that kid."

"Isn't that what you told Mr. Prescott?" Dakota demanded.

"Yeah, but--"

"Xander, why did you do it?" I asked.

"I didn't--"

"No, why did you hurt Katherine?"

"I, well, um..."

"Why did you kill the girl that killed Carson Harris?" I demanded.

"She...she killed Carson?" His eyes finally darted to mine. They were bloodshot and tired. Dakota gripped onto the table and nodded. "How do you know that?"

"Carson titled it in one of his photos," Dakota answered. "'The Girl Who Killed Me.'"

"That's your proof?" Xander scoffed. He leaned back and snorted. "That's not gonna get you a conviction."

"But it'll take the trail off of Avery, and that's all that matters," my friend retorted.

"Xander, why did you do it? You didn't answer my question."

His eyes shot up to the left and slowly retreated back down to the ground. "Carson Harris needed someone to avenge him." He glanced at Dakota and then shut his eyes entirely. "Guess I wasn't the guy for the job."

I stood up from the table. This was useless. "Bull crap," I spat, grabbing Dakota's hand, ready to depart. "Have fun in jail."

"Oh, if I'm anything like Pop, then I'll have boatloads of it." I shuddered as I sauntered away from the prisoner, hearing his meek and meager attitude slowly convert into a demented facade.

His laughter caused an officer to come and yank him by the arm and drag him back to his cell. "Avery!" he called out.

I kept walking, letting the door clang behind me.

"Babe, did you and Katherine find anything out from Mr. Harris?" I put my phone on speaker as we pulled onto the parkway.

"Well, he basically broke down crying and apologized over and over again. He had stuffed Carson's phone in his pocket and was keeping it there. He's been paying the phone bill for it for weeks."

"Oh my God," Dakota said, burying her mouth into her hand to cover her gasp. "That's awful."

"Yeah, right? Well, anyway," Liam continued, "Katherine and I were looking through some messages, and you're never gonna guess who was the only known number in there."

"Who?" I asked.

"Summers. Hunter Summers."

"Guess we'll have to pay him a visit. What do the messages say?"

"Everything is something to the effect of, 'Don't you dare tell anybody or else you'll regret it.'" I gave a sideways glance to Dakota. "Oh, and have you guys seen Katherine?"

"No, why?"

"She told me she was going to talk to Mrs. Harris, but she hasn't answered any of my calls."

"I'll try and reach her. Any word from Landon?"

"Nothing. I guess he's still talking to his mom."

"Alright, thanks, Liam. See you in a bit."

"See you, babe," he replied, concluding the conversation with the click of a button.

"So, the Summers siblings were all in on it?" Dakota theorized.

"I guess so. Let's go talk to them."

Dakota gave an inquisitive look at my phone. "Hey, Avery, you have a couple of missed calls from Mrs. Thompson."

"Did she leave any messages?"

"Yeah, two. I'll play them."

Beep.

"Hello, Avery? Have you seen my Landon? He hasn't been home in two hours. I'd appreciate it if you could call me back when you can!"

"End of message."

Beep.

"Avery, please call Landon for me. He's not replying, I can't reach him. I'm getting quite worried."

"End of message."

"Where the hell is he? Hey Siri, call Landon."

"Calling Landon."

"Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Hey, this is Landon Thompson. I can't get to the phone right now. Please leave a message; but if you're a beautiful guy or gal, call me again and I'm bound to pick up!"

"Landon, answer your goddamn phone, your mom's worried," I replied hurriedly, hanging up the call.

A bring! sound emanated from the phone. "It's from 555-5427. It says, 'Have you seen my daughter?'" Another ringtone. "'It's Mr. Summers, by the way. I got your number from Katherine's phone, she left it here.'"

"What the hell?"

"It's Mr. Summers--"

"Yeah, I know that part, but Katherine and Landon are missing in action at the same time?"

"That does sounds pretty fishy."

"Okay, um, I guess we'll find out when we get back to the house. We can call them when we get back--"

"Oh shit, Landon's calling."

"Pick up!"

Dakota moved her hair away from her ear and raised the phone to listen. "Landon, where the hell are you?" Her eyes widened and her eyebrows furrowed in frustration. She hung up the call.

"What's wrong?" I inquired, my heart ready to beat out of my chest.

"It was...static. Just pure static."

"Do you think...Landon might be with Katherine..."

"You're not saying--"

"That she hurt him?"

"Oh, God. Don't even think about that." I bore my eyes into the road in front of my, my hands sweating and slowly slipping from the wheel. Dakota rested a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, Avery. We'll find them. They'll be fine."

"I...I hope so."

I turned up the radio to drown out my thoughts, and Paul McCartney was my only response.

"And in my hour of darkness,
She is standing right in front of me,
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be."