Her drawing, now, that was a different story. In her re-creation of the murder, Amanda had drawn the same weather as Derek, the same time of evening, but different people and events.
“Nope, not a chance. These first few pages are hers, but the last few drawings... This isn’t Amanda’s work,” she muttered.
Katie started to issue another sounds-like-a-question-but-is-really-a-statement but at the last minute her tone changed to a command. “You are having the handwriting analyzed.”
“We are,” Rafe said. “Why don’t you believe this is Amanda’s work?”
“She’s a meanderer.” Janie studied the drawings for a while, then paused to explain. “She’ll start on one part of a drawing and then leave it halfway through just to start on another section, so her lines are never fluid. Ever. It’s an interesting style, and not depicted here at all.”
“You haven’t read all the words, have you?” Rafe asked.
“No.”
“Finish,” he ordered.
The last sentence of Amanda’s art book was a bit different from Derek’s, but no less powerful. While Derek had ended with She tried to run and stumbled. Then, Chad shot her in the back. Amanda had finished with All partied out. She was dead, and no longer pretty.
“Was there any sign that Amanda was jealous of Brittney?” Rafe asked.
“If anything,” Janie said, “Amanda was in awe of Brittney. And, if Amanda had been at this kind of party, she’d have fainted dead away.”
“She has a brother who’s an avid partier,” Luke pointed out.
Katie was done being patient. She snatched the pages from Janie’s hands and read quickly. Her face went red and then white. Her hands shook as she aimed her anger at Rafe. “What do you plan to do about this? You will keep Janie safe.”
“She’s my top priority,” Rafe agreed. “I’ve already arranged to have officers drive by the house on the hour. Of course, that’s not enough. We’ll make sure she’s never alone. It’s a plus that she’s here with you. That’s round-the-clock protection, in a way.”
“It also puts them in danger,” Janie pointed out. “Maybe I should do what Amanda and her family have done—just disappear. I already have my passport. Maybe I should go to South Africa alone, do what I’ve been dreaming of.”
“You have that kind of money?” Rafe asked.
“I have it,” Katie offered.
“If I head to South Africa,” Janie asked, “what happens to the investigation concerning Brittney?”
Rafe and Katie shared a look. “Seventeen-year-old Amanda Skinley would become the cornerstone,” Katie said.
Janie felt the walls closing in. She couldn’t leave. Amanda wasn’t just seventeen, she was a young seventeen.
“Or the investigation will grind to a halt,” Rafe said, “unless we can find a tie between Brittney’s death—”
“Alleged death,” Katie interrupted. “There’s still no body, and she’s listed as a runaway.”
“—and Patricia Reynolds’s death.”