When we got home, I slid off my shoes at the front door, along with my coat, and began heading upstairs. “Hey,” Dad said, stopping me in my tracks.

“Yeah, Dad?” I inquired, turning around to face him.

“Would you mind telling your mother that I need to talk to her?” he asked me.

“Sure,” I replied, trying my best to smile in assurance, but the thought of confronting my depressed mother put a damper in my mood.

“Thanks,” He sighed and hung his coat on a hanger, placing it inside the coat closet.

I trudged upstairs to my mom’s closed bedroom door and knocked lightly. “Mom, can I come in?” I asked from outside the door. She didn’t reply. “Mom?” I asked, knocking harder now.

Finally, she opened the door, causing me to gasp at the sight of her. Her chestnut hair, which was usually neatly combed, was a haphazard mess of frizzy-ness. Her face, which was usually expertly applied with make-up, was sallow, pale, and completely make-up free. She was also sporting dark bags under her expressionless eyes, along with a blank frown spread across her thin lips. And she was wearing silky pajama pants, which were wrinkled beyond belief, slippers, a plain white tank top, and her long robe, which was tied loosely at the waist.

Overall, she was a mess.

“Um, Dad wants to talk to you.” I told her, trying my best to keep from staring at her disorderly appearance.

“About what?” she inquired, her tone dark and emotionless.

“Well, we just got back from our meeting with Detective Howard. I think he wants to tell you what happened there, what we found out.” I replied.

“I don’t know why you two went down there in the first place. That dim-witted detective couldn’t care less about our situation. If he did, he would have found out who killed Becca by now.” she retorted, fuming with rage and irritation.

“Mom, that’s not true. He wants to help us, and he’s trying as hard as he can. But there’s just not a lot that he can do right now. Bobby and Lindsey are both looking pretty guilty right now. Yet they both have alibis. It could’ve been either one of them.”

“Well then he should lock both of them up in jail until finds out who it was.” she remarked fiercely.

“Dad’s waiting for you downstairs.” I said, not knowing how else to respond. Then I walked away from her and headed into my own bedroom. Once I reached it, I stepped inside and shut the door behind me.

I understood why Mom was so angry, because I was too, but she was just getting way out of control. Detective Howard was doing all he could to help us. If she were in his position, then maybe she’d understand that. There really was nothing he could do. All the proof that there was, was gone. Whoever killed Becca had destroyed any evidence that could’ve possibly led to the police figuring out it was them.

This person was extremely dangerous, and extremely cunning. He…or she had this all planned out. They were sneaky and deceitful and really smart. They even had the cops duped. And this frightened me…

Because if it was Bobby, then that would mean that I was hanging around with a cruel, crafty, deceptive murderer. And if it wasn’t Bobby, it had to be Lindsey. So either way, I went to school with this person, I saw them almost every day, they knew where I lived. Either way, my life was potentially in danger.

“What?” All of the sudden, I heard Mom cry out from downstairs. Curious, I cracked open my door and peeked out. My house’s upstairs hallway had a railing where you could look down on the living room from. This was convenient for me, since it gave me the perfect view of my parents.

“Shhh,” Dad said softly, firmly grasping Mom’s shoulders, trying to calm her down. “Just relax,” he added.

“Relax?” she shouted. “How do you expect me to relax when the person who killed Becca is in love with Rachel?”

“I know it’s difficult to take in. And believe me, I’m not too thrilled about it either. But we have to just deal with it calmly, because there’s nothing we can do to change it, ok?” he told her.

She shook her violently, pulling away from him. “No, I’m going to call John and Linda right now!” she cried.

“Deb, please,” Dad pleaded. “Don’t call his parents. You’re just going to start a huge ordeal.”

“They’re son killed my daughter and now he’s after Rachel. I’m not the one who started this ordeal, he is.” she hissed.

Mom reached over and grabbed the phone off of the coffee table, dialing in numbers rapidly, and pressing it to he ear. As she waited for the Warner’s to answer, Dad watched her with frustration in his eyes.

“Hi, Linda? This is Deb Everhart. You and I need to have a little talk about your son.” she said once Bobby’s mother answered. “You see, I believe that his little alibi story is just a bunch of made up crap. And I also believe that he’s the one who murdered Becca.”

“Put her on speaker phone. I want to hear what she says.” Dad stated. Mom did as she was told and put Bobby’s mom on speaker for Dad to hear.

“Excuse me?” Linda demanded. “My son would never do such a thing! And I know how hard it must be for you to lose a child, and believe me, I’m very sorry. But that gives you no right to go around blaming people without any proof! Besides, he had absolutely no reason to kill Becca! Those two were a couple, and he cared for her dearly.”

“Oh really?” Mom shot back. “Because I just found out that Bobby is in love with Rachel, my other daughter.”

At this statement, the other line went silent, causing Mom to smirk smugly.

“That can’t be true.” Linda finally said. “Where did you hear such a preposterous accusation?”

“Your son admitted it to the detective that’s working on this case.” Mom stated matter-of-factly.

“He didn’t kill Becca.” she replied after another moment of silence.

“You can say whatever you want, but I know that he did. Anyways, that wasn’t the point of my call. I called you, because I would like you to deliver a message to Bobby for me. I want you to make sure that he knows to stay away from Rachel. That means he can’t hang out with her, he can’t talk to her, he can’t sit with her at lunch. I don’t even want him making eye contact with her. Got it?”

At first, Linda didn’t reply, but after a while she did. “Yes,” she murmured.

“Good. And if I find out that Bobby does any of these things-and believe me, I will find out-then there will be some serious consequences for him to deal with.” Mom hung up the phone without a goodbye and crossed her robe-clad arms over her chest.

“Did you have to be so rude?” Dad demanded.

“Peter, the woman’s son murdered Becca! I have every right to be rude!” she exclaimed.

“You still don’t have to be so impolite, even if Bobby did kill Becca! It’s not his mother’s fault, so she doesn’t deserve to be spoken to that way.” he pointed out.

“I don’t care.” Mom remarked. “She knows that Bobby’s guilty, she’s just trying to help him cover up his tracks. And to me, that’s just as bad as committing the crime.”

“She’s his mother! She’s just trying to protect him. If it was one of our children, wouldn’t you do the exact same thing?” he inquired.

“I wouldn’t have to, because our children would never do such a thing. We’ve raised them better than that, but obviously, Linda hasn’t.” she snapped.

“But you have to put yourself in her shoes.” Dad told her.

“I don’t have to do anything.” Mom retorted. “Why are you sticking up for her anyways? Why doesn’t she put herself in my shoes? Then maybe she’d realize that I’m not trying to be rude, or to get revenge. I’m trying to get the justice that we deserve…that Becca deserves.”

After saying this, Mom turned around and traipsed upstairs, leaving Dad standing there in the living room, thinking about what she’d just said.

I quickly, shut my door before she got a chance to see that I was eavesdropping on them. I didn’t want to make her anymore upset than she already was.

I plopped down on my bed, letting out a deep sigh as I did so. Mom was right. About everything. And now that I knew how she felt, I felt the exact same way.

I also knew that I definitely had to stay away from Bobby. He was now completely off-limits, and I had to respect that. It couldn’t be that difficult to stay away from him though. Besides, I had Connor now.

And if I just kept my focus set on Connor and not Bobby, then that would make things a whole lot easier. Although, I knew that no matter how hard I tried, I would always still like Bobby just a little bit. It was pretty hard not to.

After all, he was the most gorgeous guy I had ever laid eyes on. Plus, he was the most charming guy I’d ever met. And the most intriguing. And the most captivating. And the most alluring.

Ok, I really had to stop that.

It seemed like the fact that I couldn’t have him made me want him even more. I kind of found the whole “off-limits” thing enticing. I knew that I had to get past my attraction to Bobby, but it was much easier said than done.

Especially since every single time I looked at him, I felt butterflies in my stomach. And every single time he spoke to me, my heart always beat a little faster. And every single time he touched me, my skin got all prickly and tingly.

I was falling head-over-heels for this guy! I just couldn’t control myself when I was around him. It was like he’d cast some sort of spell over me that I just couldn’t reverse.

But I had to.

Author's Note: Sooo I just want your opinion...who do you think the killer is based on the story so far?