Now she looked almost gentle.
“Cole, Melissa Ward is alive.”
The gym vanished.
Every sound vanished.
I felt as though someone had opened the floor beneath me.
“That’s impossible.”
“I verified it.”
“No.”
“She lives in Charleston.”
“No.”
“She has for nearly eight years.”
I turned toward Claire.
Her face told me the truth before her mouth did.
I stepped backward.
“What did I bury?”
Claire began shaking.
Derek said, “What the hell is going on?”
I barely heard him.
“Claire.”
She looked at me.
“What did I bury?”
&
nbsp;
“A casket.”
“With who in it?”
“No one.”
The words were almost inaudible.
The room blurred.
I remembered the weight of the coffin.
The rain against the black umbrella.
Claire collapsing against me.
