“Yes,” said Ava. “I remember that first apartment. All the costs add up quickly. Did Justin ever talk about depression?”

“Oh, yeah. All the time. You know he was seeing a doctor for that, right?” Cole asked. At their nods he continued. “He hated going. Said he only went to make his parents happy. Said the doctor was an asshole who always wanted him to talk about his feelings. Drove him crazy. And kept prescribing all sorts of medication for him. Justin never took it.”

“What?” Ava’s back straightened. “He didn’t take his meds?”

“Nah, he didn’t need them. He’d just dump them out after picking them up. His mom gave him money to get the prescriptions and the pharmacy automatically refilled them. He’d pick them up just to keep everyone off his back.”

Ava couldn’t speak.

“So everyone thinks he’s taking meds and he wasn’t?” Zander clarified.

“Stupid, huh? You know how many people can’t afford their medications?” Cole asked. “I told him once he should give them to someone who needed them.” He shrugged. “I don’t know if he did.”

Ava thought of all the empty bottles in the back of Justin’s car. Did he give the drugs to someone? Or just empty the bottles into the trash? Why keep the empty bottles?

“How long do you think he’d been doing that?” Ava asked. She could always tell when Jayne stopped taking her meds. Her mood swings were epic.

“I remember him doing it in high school,” said Cole. “I don’t know if he always did it. Maybe he took them some of the time. But for the last year or two he was really into clean living, you know?”

“Explain,” stated Zander, his pen ready.

“Organic. No chemicals. No processed food. He shopped at one of those fancy supermarkets where a shriveled apple costs you five bucks. Turned up his nose at McNuggets . . . that sort of thing. Except he couldn’t give up his Mountain Dew. He was addicted to that stuff and drank it by the case. And he was always running. He was into parkour.”

“What?” asked Ava and Zander simultaneously.

“It’s like natural obstacle courses. Like climbing fences and jumping off roofs. Well, maybe not roofs but getting some height.”

Ava remembered seeing it on TV. Basically using the world as your freestyle gym and obstacle course. “He lived in the suburbs. Where would he do that?”

“I didn’t say I saw him doing it. He talked about it a lot. Said he did it.”

“So he could have been lying . . . or talking about something he wanted to do,” Zander clarified.

Cole shrugged as an answer.

Ava and Zander exchanged a look. “What did you think when you heard what had happened?” Ava asked slowly, watching Cole’s expression. “What were your first thoughts?”

Cole dipped his chin, lowering his gaze to the floor. He shook his head. “I didn’t believe it. There was no way the Justin I knew could do that,” he said softly. “But then the more I thought about it, the more uncertain I was. Could he have done it?” He looked up, doubt and misery in his eyes. “I couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t. I look at myself and know the right set of circumstances could probably push me to do anything if I was desperate enough, right? I could lie and say I’d never kill another person, but I suspect we all have that line that we can be pushed across. Maybe someone pushed Justin.”

The truth of Cole’s words rolled across the ratty carpet like giant boulders, imposing and unavoidable, and stopped at Ava’s feet. They couldn’t be ignored.

Even I have a line. She’d be lying if she said otherwise. She sat frozen, unable to breathe or look at Zander for fear of his seeing every thought in her head. Considering my genetics, my line might be closer than most people’s.

“So maybe he wasn’t working alone,” Zander said. His voice yanked Ava back into the conversation.

A partner?

“I don’t know,” said Cole. “Like I said, he didn’t talk about it. We were all shocked as hell when we heard the news. I’ve asked people who knew him. No one saw it coming.” His brows came together, making his young face suddenly ten years older. “I never saw anger issues, he didn’t talk about killing people, he didn’t act suicidal, he didn’t talk to me like he’d never see me again or try to give me his car. I didn’t see it coming!” He slammed his fist on his knee.

The coffee maker beeped.

Cole exhaled and looked away. “Would you like some coffee now?”

He sounded exhausted.

Zander raised a brow at Ava. She gave him a tiny shake of her head. I don’t have any more questions. Zander stood up.

“Thanks, Cole. You’ve been a big help. We’ll pass on the coffee.” He handed the young man his card, and Cole accepted it without looking at it. The angry mature-looking man had vanished, leaving an uncertain college kid in his place.

Ava said something polite and headed for the door. The small apartment suddenly felt too warm.

They stepped out into the hall, and she abruptly missed the scent of the coffee. It’d taken over the room without her noticing. Now she smelled old carpet and a subtle odor of cat boxes.

“What did you think?” she asked Zander.

“I think that’s a very confused young man who was probably the best friend Justin ever had. He didn’t care what sort of changes Justin went through; he stuck by him every time. A lot of guys would have bailed.”