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“You are the strongest person I know” Lance reached out and tucked a hair behind her ear, his knuckles brushing her cheek “But this—” He gestured toward the building “This is hard enough to handle even when the victier I’m here if you need someone to lean on”
She closed her eyes and turned her face into his hand for a few seconds But when he shifted forward, as if to eht now, she’d break down, and she couldn’t handle the emire that would pull her under until she suffocated She could already feel the faht on her chest,each breath harder to draw than the last, as if the sis could crack her wide open and leave her in pieces
She couldn’t go there again, not after she’d just fought her way out from under it
“Thank you,” she said “I appreciate the offer I do But what I really need is to get back to work”
Ignoring his disapproving frown, she turned toward the door and away from him
Back in the war rooreen s the anized photos under headers like Crime Scene and Suspects He’d also written bullet points and drawn connections with arrows He’d put a photo of Tessa at the top of the board
“The visual presentation helps you see connections,” she said
“That’s the idea What do we know so far?” Sharp picked up his marker and started a timeline on one side of the board “Nick and Tessa attended a party at the lake They arrived at approximately nine pm The police have identified eleven other teens who attended the party” Sharp listed their names “As far as I can tell, only Jamie, Robby Barone, Felicity Weber, and Jacob Emerson were still at the lake at the end of the party”
“Jacob is the ex-boyfriend?” Lance asked
“Not exactly Jacob and Tessa went on a few dates last April,” Morgan clarified
Sharp stretched his arms over his head
“Do we knoho took the video?” Lance asked
“Yes” Morgan sifted through a few papers “A kid by the name of Brandon Nolan”
“Did Brandon say why he didn’t post the video sooner?” Sharp asked
Morgan sorted through the police interviews “Yes He rounded him and took his phone for a week as punishment The police didn’t have Brandon on their initial list of partygoers He’s not in Tessa’s inner social circle The police did interview hiht after the fight”
Sharp snorted “So the second he got his phone back, he posted the video without thinking it could be related to Tessa’s murder?”
“Yes, he did” Morgan sighed She’d prosecuted enough teens that the lack of forethought didn’t surprise her “Let’s finish the tiht shortly after the party started By nine thirty, Nick and Tessa went off in his car According to Nick, they had consensual, unprotected sex in the backseat When they returned to the party soument Nick says Tessa broke up with him This is verified by the text Tessa sent Felicity at 10:43 pm The party broke up between ten and ten thirty Nick says he left Tessa there She had her own car”
“Did anyone confirm this?” Sharp asked
“Yes Robby Barone and Felicity both stated that they left after Nick” Morgan continued, “Nick says he drove around until about ht His phone was dead, so we have no GPS data His father was asleep when he came home”
“So Bud can’t even back him up on that,” Lance said