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I motioned toward Silas. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Lexington

“You sure he’s okay?” I asked Oliver again.

I heard him sigh through the speakers of my car, his voice quiet. “He’s still asleep in the exact same spot you left him in. He probably won’t even know you left, Lex. It’s gonna be fine.”

I gripped the steering wheel tighter as I navigated the dark, empty highway. I had called Detective Ransom, but hadn’t been able to get through… it was four in the morning, so I wasn’t surprised. I wanted him to know right away who Goldie truly was. I didn’t know if it would help his case, but I did know it wouldn’t hurt.

I couldn’t fully explain why I needed him to know now; it was one of those gut feelings that plagued me… one of the gut feelings Goldie had told me to lean into. So here I was, driving on an empty highway in the middle of the night to share information that could have been shared via a text or email. It was ridiculous, but here I was anyway.

Driving out to him did mean I was leaving River behind. It was the very last thing I wanted to do, but Oliver had promised to stay with him.

“I just don’t want him waking up thinking I left him. Not after everything,” I sighed.

I heard Oliver walking over the speaker and closing a door softly. His voice rose in volume when he spoke again: “He knows you wouldn’t just leave him. We’ve talked about this. You’re a good dad, Lex.”

“Maybe,” I muttered.

“He’s okay. He’s not going anywhere, you’re not going anywhere,” Oliver placated. “Just focus on driving safely, okay?”

I nodded to myself. I knew I was putting my issues on River, but I couldn’t stop it. I could barely let him out of my sight. I opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off by an incoming call. I picked up my phone, glancing at the screen quickly.

“It’s Ransom,” I explained to Oliver. “I gotta take this.”

“Let me know what he says. Bye.” Oliver clicked off the call, and I answered the new one.

“Sorry if I woke you,” I spoke immediately.

His low chuckle sounded through the speakers. “I was awake. Just not near my phone. I saw that you called. What’s up?”

I swallowed hard before speaking, keeping my gaze on the dark road ahead, contemplating if I should turn around now that I had him on the phone. “It’s about Goldie. We got in touch with her brother. She’s Marigold.”

I laid the information out plainly; there was no point in beating around the bush. He deserved the truth. It was quiet for a beat. “Marigold? As in Marigold Taylor, the daughter of the first victims?”

“The very one,” I mused, still baffled that she hadn’t told any of us. I couldn’t understand why, but she must have had a reason. Goldie didn’t do anything on a whim.

“Shit,” he murmured. “It had to have been him, then. The Watcher.”

“That’s what we were thinking. He must have known she was back in town; we’re just trying to figure out who knew who she really is,” I explained.

“Peter. Peter Baker,” Detective Ransom said immediately.

“Old Man Baker?”

“Yeah, she was talking to him that day… you know.” The day she went missing… none of us were able to say it aloud. It was too painful. “I thought I heard him talking about Marigold Taylor, but maybe he was calling her Marigold Taylor?”

“Damn, it could be,” I muttered, but it still didn’t feel right. I had always been drawn to Brooks as the lead suspect. He was an outcast in the town, but connected enough to know what was going on. Before learning it was almost definitely the Watcher, I had wondered if he was responsible. Many people had seen him talking to her in the high school that day, and he didn’t have an alibi for the rest of the day. Though most of the town folks didn’t, as they were hiding in their homes, waiting for the next attack they didn’t realize had already happened.

He sighed over the receiver. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell anyone. Did any of you have an inkling?”

“No, she’s been going by a fake name this entire time,” I explained, slowing down as I looked for a spot to make a U-turn. “Not exactly a fake name, but not her birth name. I think she had it legally changed. There was no way for us to know.”

“I guess that explains why I’ve never been able to find her. Marigold, that is. I was brought in after her parents' murder and had always wanted to interview her, but she was a ghost,” he mused.

I nodded, but he couldn’t see it. I pulled to the side of the road and flipped on my blinker before turning my car around slowly. It was a dark and foggy night, and while I didn’t see any other cars on the road, I wanted to be careful. I pulled around, accelerating back home. I squinted, straining to see in the distance. It looked like a deer in the middle of the road.

I pressed on my horn, trying to get it to move, but it didn’t. I honked again, and the closer I got, the more I realized it definitely wasn’t a deer. Whatever it was went running to the side of the road, and I watched, perplexed by what sort of animal it could have been.