Frankie
I finally get all three of us into my room by telling Lucy that she doesn’t even have to look at Millie if she doesn’t want to, and while I can’t believe Millie actually made out with Ethan, there is simply no time to dwell on that. Not when the answers are right here.
Once we’re all inside, I shut the door and push my desk chair up under the doorknob.
“No one’s going to come in here,” Lucy says, annoyed.
“You think you know everything,” Millie says under her breath.
“Shut it, you two. You can fight it out later.” I lay my whiteboard on the bed and take a step back. It must look crazy to the two of them—all red lines and names and scribbled sentences—but to me, it makes perfect sense.
“You’ve gone full murder doc,” Lucy says, which causes Millie to snort. Lucy shoots her a dirty look, and Millie covers her mouth with her hand. Getting them on the same page is going to be a nightmare.
“Okay,” I say. “Here’s my theory.”
But before I start talking, Lucy murmurs, “I can hear you breathing. You’re too close to me.”
“I am not,” Millie says, scooting farther away on the bed.
“You sound like a dying raccoon.”
“You don’t even know what that sounds like.”
“It sounds like you.”
“Guys,” I say, tapping the whiteboard with the end of my marker. “Come on.”
They stare at me for a beat until Lucy’s phone buzzes. She glances down and the corners of her mouth turn upward into a smile.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing,” she says, and I roll my eyes.
“Can I please get back to my theory?” I ask. Millie leans back on her palms, her face blank, like she’s positive I’m not going to say anything important. She’ll see. I take a deep breath and turn back to the whiteboard. “So, we know Erica’s pregnant. Right?”
Lucy folds her arms in front of her chest and cocks her head at me. “She’s fine, by the way. Not that you asked.”
“Obviously I’m worried about her,” I say, even though Lucy’s right. I’ve barely thought about Erica in all this, as shameful as that sounds. “But you said Billy and Erica got into a fight after she told him, right?”
“Yeah, but…”
“Hold on! Let me finish.” I roll my shoulders back, gathering confidence for my big reveal. “I got to thinking that something might be on the boat that could help us figure out what happened, so I took the boys’ kayak—”
“You went to the boat?” Lucy says, her voice a hiss. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“It doesn’t matter, because guess who was on the boat when I got there.”
Lucy leans forward, suddenly interested. “Mr. Godwin?”
I drop my arms by my side. “What? How did you know that?”
“I had the same theory,” Lucy says, tucking a curl behind her ear. “Erica and I wondered if he was on that boat, but I asked Olivia and she’s positive that he didn’t hurt Billy. Apparently, the cops were able to prove he was at home.”
“You talked to Olivia about this?” I ask.
Lucy’s cheeks flush, and she tilts her chin up, ignoring the question. “Anyway, clearly his version of being in the doghouse with Billy’s mom is sleeping on the Sea Witch. So, what? He was there when you got there?”
“Well, you kind of stole my thunder, but yeah. He was.” I take a deep breath, readying the words. “I overheard him talking to someone on the phone, and he said, ‘If you’d let me sleep at home that night, he’d still be alive.’ ”
They’re both quiet for a moment, the words settling in like I knew they would.
“That’s…” Millie comes up blank, but Lucy stands and starts pacing around the room.
“What did he tell the cops?” Lucy asks.
“I don’t know. I’m not an actual detective,” I say.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Millie says.
Lucy shakes her head. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
“But it’s the truth,” I say. “Billy’s dad killed him. I don’t know how, but he did.”
Lucy shakes her head. “Olivia said he didn’t.”
“So?” Millie asks.
She looks up at me, her jaw set. “Olivia wouldn’t lie to me. Not now.”
Millie glances at me so quickly I barely catch her eye. But when I do, I know we’re both thinking the same thing: Yes, she would.