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Ethan stared at her without blinking "Hold up Long-lost twin? Like, for real?" He shook his head "Start fro"

And then the whole story exploded froet out "I tried to leave," she explained when she got through explaining the SUTTON’S DEAD note "I didn’t want to be stuck in her life But her killer saw uess And they cornered me in Charlotte’s house and said they’d killof the locket against her neck was as fresh and vivid as though it had happened just o "Sutton’s friends and her sister were the only people who knew I’d tried to leave And Charlotte’s house is locked up like a fortress It must have been someone as already inside--one of Sutton’s friends They tried to strangle ht in the woods The night they killed her"

Ethan shook his head vehe her friends didn’t kill Sutton, but if they did, it wasn’t the night the video was ot here And everyone left after I stopped it Sutton included She was fine"

"She left with them?" Emma asked, shocked

A conflicted look crossed Ethan’s face "Sutton and her friends pull crap like that all the time"

"I know" Eerous though"

All at once, it began to rain The drops on the windshield sounded like tiny boet out of here"

Ethan frowned "Where will you go?"

"Anywhere" Fresh, terrified tears cascaded down E I can’t stay This is insane"

Ethan sat back in the seat, the leather ood idea?"

"What do youhard on his thumb "It’s justyou tried to leave once already, and that didn’t work out Who’s to say this tio any better?"

"But" Emma stared frantically out theat the tall cacti silhouettes "It’s my only chance"

They were both silent for a moment A police car whipped past on a road in the distance Its blue and red lights punctuated the otherwise coal-black night "But" Ethan began, tentatively "What if leaving is what the killer wants you to do?"

"No" Emma crossed her arms over her chest "The killer wants me to stay here and be her"

"Hear me out If Sutton’s reallydead,to frame you for her murder They know you’re a foster kid They know your life was probably hard It won’t be rocket science to prove If you leave, everyone will know Sutton isDon’t you think whoever did this will tip off the cops that you’ve been i her for teeks? And don’t you think you’ll be the person the cops will i Sutton?"

Emma let her hands fall limply to her lap Would they?

"It’s just, Sutton had a really char out theat the crescentshe wants And froot a nice house in Scottsdale, you ended up in foster care It’s seriously not fair, E to switch places with their twin sister"

Emma’s mouth fell open "I’d never kill her!"

Ethan waved his hands in surrender "I know you wouldn’t Butsome people are awful So into who you really are"

Ean to close in on her She certainly knew about the awful people in this world ments Look at Clarice--she’d assuish son, siht that hat foster kids always did

"Ohher head with her arht He leaned in and, after aHe squeezed hard and buried his head into the crook of her neck Sobs shook Emma’s body

I watched as they stayed that way forto each other I wished I was Eht now, too

Then Ethan sat back and gazed at Eht eyes crinkled with concern The corners of his pink, kissable lips arced up in a compassionate smile He had a sooty splotch on his cheek that Emma wanted to reach out and wipe away "God," he whispered "You look exactly like her"

"That’s hoorks with identical twins," Emma said softly Her mouth wobbled into a smile, but then a new sob rushed in

Ethan touched her chin "Stay If Sutton really was killed, we’ll find who did it"

"I don’t know," Eet aith it," Ethan insisted "I’ll help you I proo back to the cops and they’ll have to believe you"

The rain abruptly stopped Far in the distance, a coyote howled E her breath for hours