Page 73 of Hide And Seek

My stomach twisted.

I knew I needed to say something, to at least put it out there. But I couldn’t tell the others why I knew anything about what Carly’s family believed, because if I did that, they’d realize I lied about my reasons for coming here. And then they might start looking at me the way Sutton had looked at me earlier.

Like I had something to do with it. Like I was part of the vengeful murder scheme.

I swallowed, my fingers tightening together in my lap. “I, um… I might have something,” I said.

Every head turned toward me.

“I…” I hesitated, forcing the lie into place. “I can’t remember who it was, but on the second day here, I overheard someone talking about Carly’s family. They said they never believed it was an accident. So… maybe it’s one of them?”

The idea landed a lot flatter than I expected.

Sutton snorted. “No shit,” she said. “That’s old news. We all know they didn’t believe it was an accident. But I didn’t eventhink of mentioning them because it just seems too obvious. Like, there’s just no way.”

A few heads nodded around the circle, the reaction more resigned than surprised, like it was a conclusion that had already been ruled out in a discussion I hadn’t been part of.

“Yeah, it feels kind of clichéd,” April said. “Angry family comes back for revenge. Also, they’dhaveto know they’d be the first suspects on anyone’s mind. So why would they risk it?”

“Well, maybe they don’t care about getting caught. Maybe they just want revenge, no matter what happens to them in the end,” Simon suggested, raising a brow.

“Maybe. And to be fair, theywerevery vocal about it at first,” Wren mused, head tilting. “Talking about negligence and threatening to go to the media.”

“But they shut their mouths after they got that big compensation payout,” Sutton said. “Publicly, at least. Part of the deal was signing something that said they accepted it was an accident. No more accusations. No more drama.” Her mouth tilted. “Privately, though? They never bought it. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.”

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I’m just saying,” she said casually, like she hadn’t heard the edge in my voice. “They’ve been given so much, and they still complain.”

“And you can’t imagine why?”

She rolled her eyes. “Just listen for a minute. You’re new here, so you don’t know the whole story with that family.”

Try me,I thought, silently seething.

“They’re working class from Queens,” she went on. “There’s no way they could ever afford any of the top private schools in the city, or a summer camp like Blackpine. But Carly was super smart. Scholarship kid. Got into Beatrix Prep on a full ride when she was… what, ten?” She glanced at the others for confirmation,then kept going. “After that, doors just kept opening for her. Her best friend’s parents paid for everything because the girls never wanted to be apart. Vacations, camp, extracurriculars. Europe trips, ski seasons, the whole thing. Sometimes they even covered costs for her entire family.”

“And your point is…?”

“My point is the Martins had a lot handed to them,” Sutton said. “Things they didn’t earn. So you’d think there’d be a little more gratitude instead of jumping straight to conspiracy theories about evil bullies driving their little girl to drown herself, or whatever theory they’re clinging to.”

“Wow,” Jasmine said frostily. “That’s got to be the absolute cuntiest thing you’ve ever said, and the bar was already pretty low. Honestly, I won’t even be surprised if the killer goes after you next.”

Sutton shrugged. “I’m just telling it how it is.”

“Oh, right, of course.” Jasmine’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. “The Martins shoulddefinitelyshut up and forget their grief because they got a six-figure payout from the camp in exchange for their daughter’s life. Totally reasonable take.”

“Guys. Please.” Caitlin pushed to her feet again, both hands raised. “Can we not do this right now?”

Silence stretched for a second. Then Caitlin looked back at me. “Alissa has a point,” she said. “Carly’s family members might seem way too obvious to be suspects… but sometimes the most obvious explanation is the correct one.”

“Occam’s Razor,” Wren said. “The simplest answer is almostalwaysthe correct one.”

Caitlin nodded. “Well, the people with the clearest motive for revenge against the counselors are the Martins. So, as unbelievable as it might sound to us… one of them is likely our killer. Orkillers.”

“Okay, but how does that actually help us?” Maren said, frowning. “I mean, even if we somehow knew for an absolute fact that it’s Carly’s dad or uncle or whatever… what are we supposed to do with that information?”

“Well, if you know who you’re dealing with, you’ve got a better chance of surviving it. You know their weaknesses. How to beat them at their own game and survive.”