Peter's parents were there when he got home. They were in the living room and Peter took one look at them before saying, “We need to talk.”

He felt exhausted now that he was home, especially after the walk from the hospital. He was emotionally drained. But he couldn’t let this sit for any longer than necessary.

He needed to know what happened to Amber. He needed to put everything to rest once and for all.

“What is it?” his mom asked. “Did something happen?”

“Sort of,” Peter said.

“Did you just get back from the hospital? Is it something to do with Noa?” his dad added.

“I guess,” Peter said.

He shrugged off his winter jacket, almost missing the hook when he went to hang it up. He plunked himself down into a seat, heaving a sigh.

“I saw Noa. He said we could visit tonight,” Peter said, figuring he would start with the good news.

“Oh!” his mom said. “That’s great!”

“Yeah…” Peter said. “But there’s something else. We’ve been visiting Rion and he’s been… Rion’s been telling us stuff about what happened the day Amber died. And I… I really need you to tell me what you know. It’s important.”

His parents exchanged a glance.

“Why? What did Rion say?” his dad asked.

Peter didn’t want to tell them everything right away. He wasn’t ready to repeat it again. Especially if it was a lie. He didn’t want to upset or hurt his parents for no reason.

“Lots of stuff,” Peter said. “He told us… Amber was in the bathroom when it happened, right?”

There was another glance exchanged between them. Peter didn’t like it. He’d asked them before and they’d shared that exact same look.

“Yes,” his dad said.

“I guess you should know…” his mom said. “We didn’t want to give you any of the details when you were a kid. It was… It was really upsetting.”

“I get that,” Peter said. And he did. He was a little annoyed to be finding out more now, but he understood why. It was an uncomfortable subject. “I just want to know what happened. You talked to the police, right? And Noa and Rion told you what happened?”

“Noa and Rion were hard to understand,” his mom said. “They were really upset. I think the only time Noa ever talked about it was with the police.”

His dad nodded. “That’s right. The police had some theories, but…”

“Theories?” Peter said. “So, they weren’t sure what happened?”

His mom closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply. She looked like she was trying to stay composed.

“Amber was found in the bathroom,” his dad said slowly, gently. “She was in the bathtub, with a blow dryer. That’s where the fire started.”

Peter froze, staring at them wide eyed.

What?

Wait. No. That couldn’t be right.

“In the bathtub…?” he said.

“We don’t think it was suicide,” his mom was quick to say.

And that shocked Peter even worse.

Suicide? How could anyone ever think Amber would commit suicide? She’d been happy! Everything in her life had been going fine! Amber would never!

“That’s… No, that’s crazy,” Peter said.

“I know,” his mom said. “Amber wouldn’t have done something like that.”

“The police had trouble determining the cause of death,” his dad said, taking a breath of his own, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “The fire… It was hard to tell what happened. They thought maybe Amber came out of the bath and was blow drying her hair. She must have slipped and fallen backwards. They said it looked like there was head trauma… Whatever happened, it would have been instantaneous.”

Head trauma…

Rion said she fell. Her head was bleeding. Noa and Rion thought she was dead.

Rion dragged her to the bathroom. He put her in the tub and got the blow dryer…

No.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Peter put a hand to his mouth, swallowing hard. He felt sick, nauseous. His whole body felt hot. His heart was pounding in his chest, his throat tight.

His parents and the police thought it was an accident.

But the story lined up with Rion’s.

How? How could that…?

Did that mean Rion was right? Had he actually told them the truth? Or… No, what if the police were right?

Amber could have slipped and fallen backwards. She could have hit her head and been electrocuted. Noa and Rion might not have been involved. They might not have done anything. They might not have…

But then why would Rion say that? Why would he say it if it wasn’t true? And why did the story line up so damn perfectly…

Rion’s story made too much sense. How could he get all the details right if it was an accident? If Amber slipped, it would have happened in seconds. It would have been instant. Rion couldn’t come up with a lie that accounted for all of that, could he? And why would he lie? If it was an accident…

That meant it had to be true, didn’t it? That meant…

“Peter?”

His parents were talking to him. He looked up, blinking fast.

“Sorry,” he said.

“It’s okay. I know this is really hard,” his dad said. “What happened to Amber… It was an awful, terrible accident.”

But what if it wasn’t?

“I… I didn’t know,” Peter said. “I didn’t… She really… That’s what happened?”

“They could tell the fire started from the socket in the bathroom,” his dad said. “They leaned more towards suicide at first, since she was still dressed, and she was…”

His dad fell silent, scrubbing his face with his hands. His mom sucked in a sharp breath and let it all out in a rush.

“She was…what?” Peter said.

“Amber was pregnant,” his mom said.

Peter stared.

His thoughts were derailed. His mind tried to catch up. But his mom kept talking.

“When they did the autopsy… That’s why they thought she might have committed suicide. But we…we went through her things. We found her diary. She… She just found out she was expecting. She was excited and happy and… That’s why… That’s how we know she must have slipped. It was an accident. Amber would never have hurt herself.”

Amber was pregnant.

She’d been pregnant.

Peter would have been an uncle.

Jesse would have been a dad.

Peter’s parents were in tears now. Peter felt like he could cry too. But his chest was too tight. He could barely think.

Rion put Amber in the bathtub.

Rion electrocuted her.

Amber was pregnant.

“Oh my God,” was all he could say, scrubbing his face, trying to steady himself. It felt like the whole room was spinning. “Oh my God…”