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clasped his hands on the table. “Did you hear about the murder at King’s Courtyard?”
    “Who hasn’t? It’s huge news. My mom is freaking out that all the tourists are going to leave.”
    He nodded fervently, like I’d said the right thing. “Everyone in town is worried. Especially my father. He wants this case solved as quickly as possible …”
    He let his words trail off like I was supposed to know where he was going with this.
    “So?” I said.
    “So, I’m here to ask for your help.”
    I laughed out loud. After what he’d done, here was Justin asking me for help. He could go screw himself.
    “Before you tell me to go screw myself,” he added, “just listen.”
    I had to hand it to him. He knew me pretty well.
    “The police haven’t released any details to the press yet, because they’re contacting the girl’s parents. But I’ll tell you what the police have told my father.”
    At the mention of parents, I was reminded again that the murder victim was young. I felt a terrible weight in the pit of my stomach.
    Justin took a deep breath. “Her name was Victoria Happel. She was eighteen, a tourist from Boston, here for a few days. She checked into the room alone. They’re trying to figure out if she was meeting someone.” He paused dramatically. “She was shot in the head in her room at the motel.”
    A lump lodged in my throat. She was only two years older than me. This was probably her first vacation without her parents. Maybe she headed down here with a boyfriend or some girlfriends, ready to have fun, swim, soak up the sun, have a blast before college started in the fall, with no idea that she’d never make it there. What had happened?
    Justin was still talking, so I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
    “Motel guests reported a loud bang at midnight, but it wasn’t looked into. With all the action this weekend, there’s a lot of loud music, fireworks, and drunks slamming doors. Thenext morning, the housekeeper went to the room and knocked. When no one answered, she figured it was a good time to clean the room, entered, and found Victoria. Dead.”
    My heart ached for this girl. “The police are working on it, right?” I asked.
    “Of course. But they don’t have much to go on.”
    I leaned back in the chair. It was strange having this serious, matter-of-fact conversation with Justin. It was the most I’d spoken to him since last spring, when that one vision had ruined everything.
    One April night, Justin had come to pick me up for dinner. He’d said he had a surprise for me. When he walked through the door, he looked so fine. I reached my hands up and pulled on the lapels of his leather jacket to bring him to me. But before our lips could touch, an image stopped me cold.
    A vision of Tiffany Desposito playfully grabbing the very same jacket and working it off his shoulders. In the vision, Justin was obviously hammered, swaying in place with a lopsided grin. I saw Tiffany pull him into a sloppy, messy kiss. I saw her push him down onto a couch. I saw her climb on top of him.
    I screamed.
    I slapped Justin, who was bewildered by my sudden outburst. Then I pushed him backward again and again, screaming, “How could you?”
    I wanted to tear him apart, and he would have let me without even so much as raising a hand to defend himself.But Perry came running downstairs when he heard me scream and pulled me off Justin and calmed me down. After a while, I was ready to ask some questions.
    Justin was honest. He’d hooked up with Tiffany the night before. Some senior was having a house party and I hadn’t wanted to go. Despite dating someone as well liked as Justin, I would never be one of the cool kids and never felt comfortable with that crowd. So I stayed home. Justin ended up drunk and with Tiffany. And they’d gone all the way.
    I asked him if he’d slept with her because I had refused him. I wasn’t ready yet. He insisted that wasn’t the case and he didn’t mind waiting for me.
    He