Restless Soul

31

Amanda shook her head dismissively, "It's fine. I just didn't hear you coming."

The woman only nodded.

"My bad. I was talking about the flowers," she said, pointing at the swamp milkweed scattered on the ground. 

"You knew her?" Amanda queried.

The woman looked to be in her mid to late thirties, around the same age Skye would've been today so it didn't come as a surprise when she nodded.

Amanda stepped aside as the woman crouched in front of the grave. She caressed the picture with gentle stocks, her lips curled in a pensive grin before she rose to her feet again. 

"We went to Milton High together. A sweet girl she was, but she surrounded herself with the wrong crowd. That's actually what caused us to drift apart a little."

Amanda took in that information.

"Was Austin Welhaven the reason for that?" she asked and the woman sneakered. 

"Oh no. Austin was one of those goody-two-shoes, rich kids, with some charm and a nice ride."

She paused for an instant, reconsidering.

"Well, how much charm do you need really when everyone knows your family is loaded?" she said, giving Amanda a knowing look.

It seemed it wasn't only the Welhavens who believed Skye didn't have the best intentions. 

"So you think she was with him for the money?" Amanda simply blurted out, only realizing what a horrible question that was to ask when the woman glared at her and squared her shoulder before crossing her arms over her chest. 

"You ask a lot of questions."

Amanda felt her face flush under the intensity of her stare. 

"I'm sorry. I recently started looking into the town's history and read about Skye's case. What happened to her was horrible."

For a few seconds, she watched her suspiciously. Finally, she gave a small nod and swallowed hard. 

"She wasn't in it for the money. People assumed that but I knew her well enough to tell you she really loved him, and he loved her."

Amanda frowned, taken aback but intrigued by this woman's assessment.

She noticed Amanda's puzzled expression and raised her large sunglasses, bringing them to sit above her head.

"This whole story is a lot darker than you think. If you read the newspapers of that time, you probably think Austin did it."

Amanda nodded once, affirming her statement.

"Well, I think his family got rid of her," she said with conviction. 

Amanda's frown deepened as she listened. 

"I know that look. You don't believe me," she said with a small laugh. 

Amanda opened her mouth to protest with a lie, but she cut her off before she got a word in.

"The police didn't believe me either, and why would they? They had enough witness statements about them being absolutely horrible to her. Yet, they got away with a double homicide. I'm willing to bet even the police were in on it. All of them deserve to be put behind bars."

The woman ran a frustrated hand through her hair, making the glasses fall to the ground. Amanda bent down to pick them up, only then realizing what she said. 

"Did you say it was a double homicide?"

Her pale blue eyes were red-rimmed at this point. Both hands covered her mouth and nose as the tears began to spill.

"Excuse me," she said, before she all but ran the opposite way, leaving Amanda to ponder the implication of her words. 

"A double homicide?" she wondered out loud. 

From where she stood, she noticed a familiar dark green honda civic, driven by the same blonde, zooming past the cemetery. 

   Amanda looked back at the gravestone, perplexed by the recent conversation. She'd gone to Whisper Wood seeking answers but instead had witnessed a man in his final hour. Had she been the trigger for his outburst? A wave of guilt drenched her in self-loathing. Her thoughts went back to that memory. That rainy day when the girl was sick and Austin drove away. Had Skye been pregnant? And if she was, was that the reason she was murdered? Austin might have not wanted the child, but would he have actually killed her to keep that secret, or had it been someone else's job to erase all proof of their indiscretions? 

Gray clouds had now gathered in the sky.

Amanda looked down at the pair of shades left in her hand.

If she wanted her questions answered, she needed to find this woman. For once she was sure of that fact and knew just where to begin her search. 

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