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"Dashiell!" Kirsten’s voice was ot aith the reprimand "Scarlett wouldn’t do that"

"Wouldn’t she?" Dashiell’s hooded eyes never left me "Did she tell you she took Shadow out of the county?"

Tattletale, I thought, but didn’t have the nerve to say "The fastest way to do this is if you let ht, and then you can yell at me afterward," I told them

"That sounds fair," Will said, to break the tension

I walked the up at Eli’s art fair I lossed over the part where I lied to Eli, and I left the question of whether or not Molly had forced me to drive her to Thousand Oaks open to interpretation, but I didn’t leave out any other details

They all listened without interrupting, even Dashiell, until I got to the part about seeing the news at the hospital "And that’s when I called," I finished

Will was looking at Dashiell "You should tell them," he said, his voice calm

Jesse, Kirsten, and I all turned to the va a little begrudging "Fro me to come to the house"

"What tih his ht," he said after a ht fast "That was before I arrived at the house," I said slowly "But Molly didn’t have her phone She’d lost it, she said" I looked back at Dashiell "Did you coht nod "But I was delayed By the ti up I took a quick look in the s and saw eight corpses, still burning" He gave an artful shrug "Then Will calledher phone I put two and two together"

Well, that explained how Dashiell had gotten to the storage facility so quickly But it didn’t explain the irls’ pulses myself," I insisted "There were twelve, no question"

"We believe you, Scarlett," Will said, and Kirsten nodded I didn’t dare look at Dashiell

Jesse spoke, keeping his voice soft "So soht dead bodies Why?"

"Because she was supposed to be even uessed "Whoever did this wanted you"--I looked at Dashiell--"to arrive at the house and find Molly covered in blood, with eight dead girls You would have hauled her out of there and called ave this a grudging nod It was exactly what he would have done I went on "No one would have ever guessed the other four girls were there Molly wasn’t supposed to reure out a way to contact s up"

"We’re getting ahead of ourselves," Will interrupted His eyes were focused intently on irls?"

"Yes But she was pressed"