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  “Amy, somebody just got murdered here. I’m not going—”

  “It was Zane,” Amy said. “Everybody wanted him dead—nobody wants to hurt you—just go look. Oh, please, Sophie.” Sophie hesitated and Amy said, “Please. This is my chance, please help me.”

  Sophie closed her eyes. “If I get killed, I’m haunting you.”

  “Oh, thank you,” Amy said. “Thank you, thank you, you always come through for me, Sophie.”

  And I’m getting a little tired of that, Sophie thought, as she headed for the main road and the other side of the river. The Old Bridge was just too creepy this late at night.

  When she turned off the road and began to walk down the river path, she realized the whole place was creepy at night, thick with trees with the swollen river rushing below. Just find out what that glint is and go, she told herself. Once she knew for sure what was going on—

  She stopped when she was behind the Garveys’ house because somebody was moving on the path above the dock. She stepped into the shelter of the trees and saw Stephen, binoculars ready, staring across the river.

  They were screwed.

  She bent to look through the trees to see the dock so brightly lit they could have counted Clea’s freckles from the courthouse.

  They were completely screwed.

  Then her Dempsey instincts kicked in and she realized she wasn’t alone, but before she could turn, somebody shoved her hard, and Sophie tripped and fell into the trees, smacking her head hard on a branch and toppling down the steep slope half-conscious, grabbing instinctively at branches that ripped at her hands until she plunged headfirst into the river.

  She hit the water hard and went under, and it was cold, ridiculously cold, and that helped bring her back from the head blow. The pull of the current was strong as she fought her way to the air, shuddering and gasping as the river took her. She was past the farm dock by the time she surfaced. She saw Junie’s dock off to her left, and kicked off her shoes and began to swim for it, cutting diagonally across the current, but the water was so cold and her head hurt and she missed the dock, slipping under the water twice as she almost lost consciousness.

  I’m not going to die, she thought, and kept fighting her way across the current, and then the current was weaker, and there was another dock and she managed to get close enough to shore that the river took her against the pilings. She clung to the edge of the dock, feeling herself slip away, and then she thought, No, and pulled herself up, painfully, to collapse on the splintery boards. You can’t stay here, she told herself, and put her hand to her head where it hurt the most. It was wet, she was wet all over, but when she brought her hand down, it had blood on it. I’ll get help, she thought. I’ll get help in a minute.

  And then there was nothing.

  Phin was opening the bookstore the next morning when Wes came up the steps. “I got the lab report and I’m heading out to the farm,” Wes told him, biting off the words. “You coming?”

  “I have this store I’m running,” Phin frowned at him. “What are you so mad about?”

  “The lab report.” Wes stopped on the top step. “And the Dempseys. They’re going to tell me the truth this time or I’m going to fry them, and that includes your girlfriend. I don’t care how banged-up she is.”

  He started down the steps, and Phin said, “What?”

  “Sophie,” Wes said. “She didn’t call you? Somebody shoved her in the river last night. She’s got the same wound on her forehead that Zane had. Ed’s pretty sure they both hit their heads on the same tree.”

  Phin flipped the sign Back at 4:30 over, slammed the door to the bookstore shut, and went down the steps past Wes. “Drive,” he said.

  When they got to the farm, Phin was out of the car and at the door faster than he’d ever moved in his life. He didn’t bother to knock.

  “Oh, hi,” Sophie said from the living-room couch. She had a livid scraped bruise on her forehead and blue circles under her eyes, and she looked like hell. Davy and Amy stood over her, scowling at each other, but when they heard Phin come in, their faces smoothed out to bland.

  “What the hell did you think you were doing?” Phin said to Sophie, not caring that everybody was listening. “It’s dangerous out there.”

  “What?” Sophie frowned at him and then winced and put her hand to the bruise, and Phin wanted somebody dead. “Whoever killed Zane doesn’t want me, unless you think you’ve got a serial killer on your hands, which doesn’t seem—”

  “If you ever do that again,” Phin snapped, “you won’t need a serial killer. I’ll do you myself just to get the suspense over with.”

  “It’s just a scrape,” Sophie said. “It’s no big deal.”

  “The hell it isn’t,” Phin said. “And you were in the river. Tell me Ed pumped you full of penicillin.”

  “Yes,” Sophie said. “I’m fine.”

  She sat there with her chin in the air, and he said, “No, you’re not. You’re too dumb to live,” and went out and sat down on the porch steps and put his head in his hands and thought, I almost lost her.

  Davy came out and sat down beside him.

  Phin braced himself. “If you’re coming out here to kick my ass because I yelled at your sister, go right ahead.”

  “No, I think you pretty much summarized the situation for her,” Davy said. “She’s just used to taking care of everything. Sophie’s not one for waiting around if the family’s in trouble.”

  “Wes said she says she just went for a walk.” Phin raised his head and looked at Davy. “Tell me she’s not that damn stupid.”

  “I wasn’t there,” Davy said. “As I understand it, they were shooting on the dock, and Sophie thought she saw somebody watching, so she went to see. Amy would like that to be Sophie’s idea, but my bet is, Amy leaned on her. The movie is making Amy crazy, but it’s family that makes Sophie stupid. You should be able to relate.”

  Sophie came out on the porch. “You still here? I thought you’d have gone back to the smart people by now. Davy, Wes wants us.”

  Phin looked at the bruise on her forehead and the misery in her eyes and felt like hell. “You are not allowed to leave the house again until you get your driver’s license.”

  “I already have a driver’s license.”

  “That’s what you think,” Phin said, turning to stare back across the yard. “I’m making Wes take it.”

  Davy stood up. “Don’t scare the mayor again,” he told his sister and went inside.

  After a moment, Sophie sat down beside Phin. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”

  “You didn’t upset me,” Phin said. “You took ten fucking years off my life.” She leaned into him a little, and he felt her warm weight against his shoulder. She was so close and so important, that he put his arm around her and kissed her, very softly because she’d been hurt.

  She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry if I scared you. I scared me, too. I even lost my rings.” Her voice shook a little and he kissed her again.

  “I’ll get you new rings,” he said against her mouth, and then Wes came out and said, “I want Sophie in here now.”

  Phin sat on the arm of the couch with Sophie close against him, and Amy leaned on the fireplace and stared malevolently at him. Warm little family you got, honey, he thought and then remembered his mother. Never mind.

  “A couple of things,” Wes said. “Somebody filled Zane full of sleeping pills.”

  Sophie straightened against Phin, and he thought, Great, now what did they do?

  “Enough to kill him?” Phin said, and Wes scowled and said, “No. But there’s more.” He turned back to Amy. “There was mildew smeared deep into that letterman sweater. I’d like to see your shower curtain.”

  Amy froze, and Davy said, “I made them get rid of it. It was so gross I couldn’t stand it.”

  “You know,” Wes said, “you’re pissing me off.” He looked at Amy. “You got anything you want to tell me?”

  Amy stuck her chin out. “No.”