I was about to softly rap on the red door when Katherine pounded her fist on it. The door slowly creaked open. "Oh. It's you two," Pierce said, throwing the door open. He glanced at me until his eyes landed on Katherine.

"We need to talk," I said. He wasn't smirking anymore. Katherine pushed me aside and walked in first. I grunted and trailed behind her. Pierce kicked aside some papers and boxes on his way to his office. He reclined in his chair.

"Sit," he offered, his voice tired and scraggly.

"I'll stand," Katherine retorted. I stood beside her. "Y'know, it was fun to see how long you would go without recognizing me while you were at my house."

Pierce laughed gently. "Funny. I was seeing how long you could go without recalling my face." He spread his hands and then clapped them together. "So? What do you two want?"

"You lied to me, Pierce," I softly said.

"C'mon, Avery!" Pierce scoffed. "If you're going to accuse me of something, be proud! Be determined! Be loud!"

"You fucking lied to me!" I yelled. Pierce smiled softly, as if to say, There ya go, kid.

"And what did I 'lie' to you about?" he inquired.

"You represented Carson," I replied, "and you didn't tell me."

"Well, you never asked," he answered, slightly laughing.

"I shouldn't have to ask if you represented the boy who made the cops want to arrest me," I retorted.

"Carson was really grateful to you," Katherine suddenly said. My lawyer's interest darted over to the rich girl. "He wanted to take a picture with you that one night. He said that you helped him."

"I did. I kept him out of jail."

"And how could you have done that?" Katherine asked, her voice full of genuine interest. "He went underage drinking and then got in The Accident. He killed people. He hated himself for it. All the odds were stacked against him. Carson said you were a miracle worker. How? How could you have done it?"

Pierce shrugged. "I'm very good at my job. That's good for you two, isn't it?"

"Not if I can't trust you," I spat.

"Avery, you can't trust anyone right now," he replied, sitting up from his slouched position. He pointed to himself and then to Katherine. "You can't trust me, that girl standing next to you, your parents, your friends, or even yourself. You can't count on anyone right now, Avery. Everyone is going to lie to you. It's just a matter of finding out who's a good actor and who needs practice."

"If I can't trust anyone, then how am I going to survive?" I replied. "How am I going to find out Carson's killer?"

"Don't trust anyone, because anyone could be the killer, kid. You find the killer by playing smart."

"You didn't answer our question--well, you did, but only with a smartass remark," Katherine butted in. "Why didn't you tell her that you defended Carson? And why would you come to my house when you knew I would recognize you?"

Pierce paused. His eyes scanned the room, as if the clutter contained the perfect response. "I didn't say because I'm playing smart. Little Miss Nancy Drew right here is convinced that she can find the killer without getting hurt--well, she's wrong. She's going to get hurt if she keeps digging, but I can't stop her." His eyes settled on me. "And well, I went to the Summers' mansion because you're the only client that likes to have any fun! I have the best ideas for some of my clients--and some of them aren't even illegal! But everyone's just sticks in the mud. Yes, I knew that you would, most likely, recognize me; however, if you did, so what? You found out I represented Carson. Big goddamn whoop. I don't care that you know because I have nothing to hide. I kept Carson out of jail, and that was it. That was our relationship. I don't care if you believe me or not, Avery. I definitely don't care about your opinion, Katherine. All I care about is keeping you out of jail, because that's what I do best."

We were silent. Pierce reached into his drawer and pulled out a bottle, drinking straight out of it instead of pouring it into a glass. "So, what do we do now?" I finally said. Katherine finally took a seat, her hands trembling. She had left the bear in the car, but I had a feeling that she needed the toy in that moment.

Pierce twiddled his thumbs. "Wanna know how I convinced the jury that Carson was innocent?" he asked. Katherine perked her head up and nodded. "Well, I didn't. Sane people have the habit of convicting someone who deliberately got drunk and then murdered a family."

"A...family?" I softly asked.

Pierce nodded. "A young boy, age eight. A mother and father, ages forty-two and forty-five, respectively. An orphaned child who wasn't there at the time."

"What happened to the child?" I asked.

"Taken in by relatives." Pierce paused. The words "taken in" were almost choked up, as if he was mourning the family himself and couldn't handle the phrase. He coughed and cleared his throat. "Well, the thing is, I didn't convince the entire jury. I only had to convince one. And that's what I did. It was a mistrial. Every single one of them thought Carson was guilty--except for one man."

"So, I guess you're not that good at your job," Katherine muttered. Pierce nodded and shrugged, taking another sip.

"Who was he?" I asked. "Why didn't he think Carson was guilty?"

"I...I don't know if you want to know that, Avery," Pierce said. He almost sounded sorry.

"I do," I replied. "I need to know."

"You already have a close relationship with that person."

"Stop speaking in riddles, Pierce. Just tell me who."

"A...a mister Brendan Carter." I stared at him, waiting for his fit of laughter and him to say, I'm just shitting with you, kid. It was actually John Smith.

"My dad said he had to go to jury duty. He said it was someone suing the city."

"He lied, kid. Just like Katherine lied. Just like I 'lied'. Now your dad lied. Add him to the list."

"Why...why would he lie to me?" I asked. I mentally scolded myself. How would Pierce know why my dad lied to me? How stupid was--

"Because Michael Harris asked him to," Pierce answered.

"How would you know that?"

"Because I was Carson's lawyer, kid. I saw them."

"And you didn't think to tell me this, either?" I screamed.

"One: again, you didn't ask. Two: I didn't know it was your father until the press conference. He talked to me afterwards to tell you that he wasn't involved."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because dads suck," Katherine muttered.

"Because it's not important," Pierce bluntly answered. "Just because he was involved with the case doesn't mean he was involved with the murder."

"I...I mean, I guess, but he didn't have to lie. Everyone doesn't have to lie." I tapped Katherine on the back. "C'mon. Let's go. I'll drive you home. I need to talk to my dad." Katherine nodded and made her way out the door faster than I expected her to be. Her emotions seemed to be fluxing constantly: one minute she was determined to forget Carson, and then next she was determined to find his killer. There's something up with that girl, I thought. I glanced at Pierce one last time before walking towards the door. I heard Pierce rise from his seat.

"Avery, wait," he said. He wiped his face with his hands and grumbled, "I'm definitely going to regret this." He walked up to me and reached out his hand. I refused to shake it. "I owe you one, Avery Carter."

I scoffed. "Yeah, I'm sure you'll live up to that," I retorted.

He stared at me as if I had just spat on his face. "I always return the favor, Avery. Always."

"Yeah, I'm sure you do. But I guess you don't care what I think about that, don't you?" He was silent for a moment before smirking.

"It's okay, Avery. I know you believe me. It's in your eyes. I'm very good at reading people; it's part of my job. I'll talk to you soon, kid."

"You're a sick son of a bitch, you know that?"

Pierce laughed. "I've heard."

"Avery...you have to understand," Dad said. I sat on the couch across from him.

"You didn't have to lie, Dad," I said. "It wouldn't have been a big deal for me to have known that you were on Carson's case."

"Michael Harris asked me to not tell anyone. He didn't want it getting out that I had said yes. That I would say that Carson wasn't guilty."

"Why did you? He was guilty, Dad. He got drunk. He killed them. Parents and a child. Left another one orphaned."

"I...I just knew, Avery. And anyway, Mr. Prescott did a helluva good job convincing me that Carson was innocent. He said his drink was spiked, that his brakes were tampered with, that the other family didn't slow down at the stop sign. It was all there! But all the other jurors just saw Carson as the dumb kid who got drunk and killed a family. I saw him as a victim of circumstance." At my blank face, my father added, "Please, Avery. You've gotta forgive me. I haven't been able to sleep at night because of this. I keep wondering if he was better in jail. If he was, he wouldn't be dead, right?" Dad buried his face in his hands. "If I put that boy in jail, then you wouldn't be in this mess. I'm sorry, baby. This is all my fault."

"It's not your fault, Dad. It's...it's the killer's fault," I assured, while at the same time, thinking, It's Carson's fault. I walked towards my father and sat next to him. "It's not your fault. I promise."

"I swear, Avery. If this man can't keep you out of jail, I'll kill him."

"They'll find out who really did it long before then," I promised. My phone began to buzz. Dakota's contact photo blared on my phone.

"Avery, I could've stopped this. I...I think we should talk to Michael. He seemed like he wanted to keep him out of jail for some reason other than love."

"I'll talk to him," I said. I've got my next lead. "One second, Dad. I've gotta talk to Dakota."

"O-okay, sweetie. Okay."

"What's up, Dakota?" I asked as I exited the room.

"Okay, I have something that'll make you feel much better!" she giddily said.

"What?" I cautiously inquired. Please do not be another trip to the circus, I thought, shuddering at the thought of Dakota taking me to the visiting circus two summer ago.

"Halloween is in a little while, so..."

"So?"

"So we're throwing a party at my house!" she exclaimed.

I burst out laughing. "Sure. Your parents are going to let you have a party."

"That's the thing! They're going out for a 'well-deserved' vacation for a week!"

"No way!" I squealed.

"Yup! Costume party at my place. I'm inviting the entire fucking grade," Dakota assured.

"That's unlike you, Miss Introvert."

"Don't give a crap. I want this party to be legendary, Avery! Legendary!"

"If you think you can pull this off, then I'm all in."

"Alright. That automatically means you'll be helping cleanup the next morning! Thanks, love ya, bye!" She abruptly hung up before I could protest being part of the cleanup crew.

Nothing else in the world mattered. For a few fleeting moments, I was ecstatic. Nothing could bring me down. Well, a text from the SSoaB was an exception from that.

7:09 pm
Turn on the news.

I was dashing back into the living room to turn on the television, but my father had beaten me to it. The headline on the screen read: Billionaire's Daughter Attacked! "--Katherine Summers has landed herself in the hospital due to an apparent bludgeon to the head. On the scene now."

The live feed depicted a reporter pestering Nathan Summers. "Sir, do you have any idea who would do this to your daughter?"

"Get that camera out of my face," he sneered.

"Mr. Summers, do you have any idea who would want to hurt Katherine?"

"I said, get that camera out of my goddamn face!" Mr. Summers bellowed. The screen went back to the news anchors covering the case. I gasped into my hands.

7:10 pm
I think I know who did this.

7:10 pm
Who???? we just saw her how could this have happened?

7:10 pm
Anything can happen in such a short time period. And I do believe that the culprit is your friend.

7:10 pm
which one?

7:11 pm
The one that appreciates the fine art of bullshitting. Your pal Landon.

My pal, Landon, I thought with dismay. I rushed out of my house and entered my car, rushing to the hospital. I realized that Katherine had left her bear on the passenger's seat. I grabbed it and settled it down on my lap.

Katherine always had a soft spot for Landon. I supposed the feeling wasn't mutual.

My pal.

Landon.