I grinned as I threw my nket off of me and jumped out of bed. I loved how my best friend and I always seemed to be on the same wavelength.


    Quickly, I put on a plum dress, ck high heels, and put my hair in a low slicked back bun. The coffee had just finished brewing when Ava knocked on my door.


    I ushered her inside, poured a cup of coffee for my friend, and offered her a chocte chip muffin I had picked up from the store the other day.


    As she took a sip of her coffee, she gave me a questioning look. “Why aren’t you having any coffee?”


    I rubbed my still sensitive stomach. “I’m a little queasy,” I admitted. “But that’s not what’s important. Have you learned anything else?”


    Ava’s eyes shed with excitement, and she put her coffee mug down and leaned toward me. “Last night, Amelia managed to get Chloe drunk and seemed to learn a lot of information from her.”


    My hands gripped my water bottle. “Woah! That was smart.”


    Ava nodded in agreement and pulled up the voice recording on her phone. As I waited for it to y, anticipation coursed through me. Would this finally be the evidence we needed to put Chloe behind bars? Also, I was impressed that Amelia hadn’t used her money or resources to find out more about Russell’s murder. She had been cunning, and for that, I had to respect her.


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    Chloe’s slurred voice boomed through the speaker on Ava’s phone. It was obvious that she was drunk from the loud and erratic way she was speaking.


    “Russell was always a wimp…B–but I wasn’t cruel when I buried him. I felt bad for w–what happened and his…final resting ce was beautiful.” Chloe sniffed, and I wondered if there were tears in her bright eyes. “He would have liked it, I think. I found a small hill and t- there were vibrant, beautiful flowers of every color and a small pond. H–he has a view of a log cabin, too.”


    Ava and I shared a surprised look. If I didn’t know any better, I would say there was remorse in Chloe’s voice.


    The recording ended there, and we were silent for a few minutes as we processed what we’ve just heard. I knew that we couldn’t turn this recording over to the police as evidence, especially because Chloe sounded drunk, but Amelia had found out where Russell’s body was and that was the task I had given her yesterday.


    Ava pulled out a piece of paper from the research we had done the other night. “Russell was born in Ld, and Chloe’s family transferred there her senior year because she had been expelled from her old school for assaulting a ssmate in New York.”


    I gasped. “It’s alling together!”


    Ava nodded, but the excited smile slipped off of her face like someone had wiped it off. “But the location of Russell’s body is too vague. I’m sure that there are many ponds surrounded by flowers that are next to a cabin in the country.”


    “That description could fit thousands of areas,” I said, my voice glum. “It would be impossible to look through them all.”


    Wepsed into a thoughtful silence. Ava finished her coffee, and I


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    made myself a hot tea to help settle my stomach.


    “I don’t think that Russell’s body is by a mountain,” I said. “Chloe had said ‘small hill‘ in the recording. No one would refer to a mountain as a small hill.”


    Ava poured herself another cup of coffee and nodded. “I agree.”


    “I feel like we are at a dead end. Why don’t I try and get in contact with one of Russell’s old friends?” I suggested.


    “Yes! That’s a great idea. I remember in the police report that there was a girl who was really good friends with Russell. She dropped out of school right after he disappeared. She will definitely help us.”


    “Since she lives in Ld too, I bet she could help us find the ce where Chloe buried Russell,” I added.


    “Well, we know what our next step should be…nning a trip to Ld,” she said.


    I hesitated. What if I ran into Alexander and Naomi there? Would he think I was following him? But my hesitancy was gone in the next second. Finding Russell’s body and making sure that Chloe could never hurt someone again was much more important than what Alexander thought of me.


    “Let’s do it,” I said with determination in my voice.


    *Olivia*


    Ava finished her second cup of coffee, then put her hands behind her back and started to pace my kitchen. “What if Russell’s old friend doesn’t know where his body is buried?” she asked.


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