Reunited By Danger. Carol J. Post

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      Although the cause of death was clear, they’d never been able to nail down the perpetrators. The boys and Ramona had said they’d left the woods at around twelve thirty. Amber and Liv had left thirty minutes earlier.

      Raymond’s parents had said he had a 1:00 a.m. curfew and had made it home with time to spare. Vincent and Alex had met a friend at Strickland Park, all three boys’ statements putting them there well before one. Liv claimed to have gone home after dropping Amber off but had no one to corroborate her story. Ramona hadn’t, either. She’d supposedly sneaked back into her house at twelve forty-five without disturbing anyone.

      Amber hadn’t been so lucky. While climbing in her bedroom window, she’d slipped and sent a lamp crashing to the floor. According to the statement her parents gave, this had happened shortly after midnight. From everything he knew about them, they were probably telling the truth. He wasn’t sure about Alex and Vincent’s friend, though.

      He pulled up the transcript of his statement. The friend’s name was Steve Wilkins, likely in the same graduating class as the others, according to his date of birth. When Caleb ran his information through the database, several pages of arrests came up. The guy had been in trouble from the time he’d graduated until about two years ago, which made him a pretty shaky witness for Alex and Vincent.

      So that left only Amber and Raymond with airtight alibis. He pulled two statements from underneath the stack and laid them on top of Wilkins’s. Theodore and Donna Ellis. He had no reason to doubt Raymond’s parents’ words, but typed their names into the search field anyway. They were both clean.

      He rubbed his chin with a thumb and forefinger. What were the four of them hiding? What would Raymond have spilled if Vincent’s subtle warning hadn’t shut him up?

      He entered Raymond’s name. Besides the Georgia drug charge he’d done time for, he had a couple of DUIs and a Trespassing. That was all.

      Was there someone Raymond may have talked to, someone outside their group? A close friend? A family member?

      He had an older brother who’d been two years ahead of them in school. What was his name? Ronald. He’d gone by Ron. On a whim, Caleb typed in Ronald Ellis’s name, then scrolled through the lengthy record. His charges began shortly after he’d turned eighteen—two that year, three the following year... Caleb’s gaze snapped back to one of the dates. June 3. Landon Cleary’s date of death. It couldn’t have been related. There’d been no arrests made in connection with Cleary’s death.

      Caleb clicked to pull up the record. Possession. He’d been stopped at 1:46 a.m. due to a nonfunctioning tag light. After finding crack cocaine in the console, the officer had arrested Ronald and had him booked into Levy County Detention. A passenger had been released.

      A passenger by the name of Raymond Ellis.

      Caleb looked at the time of arrest again, then picked up Theodore Ellis’s statement. Ronald had been stopped at 1:46 a.m. Raymond had been with him.

      But Raymond’s parents had stated he was home before one.

      Raymond’s parents had lied.