Hannah was shorter than Rachel, with cropped dark hair and bright eyes. She wore a black crocheted cardigan that reached down to her knees, and dark jeans with black high-heel boots. She waited shyly for Rachel to approach, uncertain of what reception she’d get.

Rachel moved toward her wordlessly. When they were close, she wrapped her arms around Hannah in a warm embrace.

“I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through,” said Rachel, her voice thick with the sadness that had clung to her since she’d read Hannah’s final letter.

“I’m so grateful that you came,” said Hannah. “I was worried that I’d have to do this alone.”

They rested their backs against the jetty handrail, buffeted by wind, as they looked out to shore, waiting for Jenny’s killer to arrive.

“Maybe it’s not him,” said Rachel with a shiver when minutes passed and he still hadn’t arrived. A breaking wave splashed across the weathered timber beams, soaking her sneakers and wetting her jeans. She zipped up her waterproof jacket and put the hood over her head to cover her auburn hair, which had become unruly in the wind.

Hannah shrugged uncertainly. “We’ll find out soon enough. If he turns up, it will confirm that he did it. Only a guilty man would come here tonight. Let’s wait a little longer.”

“What are you hoping to get from him? And me?”

“I want him to confess. And I want you to be a witness to his confession. It might be the only evidence we ever get.” Hannah hesitated. “If you feel like it’s too dangerous, you can go. I’ll wait. I’ve waited a lifetime. I can wait a little longer.”

“I’ll stay,” said Rachel. “I’ll be your witness. I won’t let it be your word against his.” She crossed her shivering arms to stay warm as she looked out in the direction of the beach. The sweeping coastal landscape that had become so familiar to her had turned into a vast swath of impenetrable darkness in the night.

Minutes later, they saw two bright orbs moving along the coastal road. The orbs slowed down and turned toward the beach parking lot. They were car headlights. The headlights stopped moving, but they remained lit as they pointed toward the jetty on high beam. The driver had parked the car facing the ocean, looking for them. Eventually the lights turned off and everything was dark again.

Rachel and Hannah both knew that he was walking toward them, even though they couldn’t see him at all in the dark. Nor could they hear his footsteps over the howling wind. Rachel had retreated to the far corner of the jetty so that he wouldn’t realize that Hannah wasn’t alone.

It was only when he’d reached the end of the jetty and he was close enough for Rachel to see his face that she felt a coldness in the pit of her stomach. It couldn’t be him. It had to be a terrible mistake.

“I got your note. I came to say that I’m sorry,” he said to Hannah. “And to ask you to leave the past alone.”

He hadn’t yet noticed Rachel, who had blended into the thick fog of night in her dark clothes and upturned jacket hood and collar. She stayed silent as she listened to them talk, discreetly opening the voice recorder app on her phone in her pocket so that she could record the conversation.

“How have you lived with yourself all these years, after what you did?” Hannah asked.

“I was a different person in those days. A kid. Messed up on drugs and alcohol. I hated the world,” he said. “I’m ashamed of what I did. I hate who I was in those days. I’m nothing like that person anymore.” His voice cracked with emotion. “I’ve agonized over what happened every day since.”

“You raped and murdered my sister,” said Hannah.

“What makes you think I killed her?” he said. Hidden in the shadows, Rachel couldn’t help noticing that he hadn’t denied the first accusation.

“I know it was you. Why did you do it?”

Finally, he broke down as he spoke in a choking voice. “I didn’t plan to kill her. It just happened,” he said. “We left her lying on the sand while we carried Bobby to the truck to drive him to the hospital. I panicked and told my friend Lucas to pull over at the next beach. I realized that she was evidence of what we did. That we’d go to prison because of her. Either for her rape, or Bobby’s death if he didn’t make it. Or both. She was what my father called ‘a sloppy loose end.’ I carried her onto the jetty. Just over there.” He pointed to a side rail in the middle of the jetty, his face pained. “And I dropped her into the water and returned to my friends in the truck.”

“You’d already hurt her so much,” sobbed Hannah. “Why did you have to kill her? Why did you have to take her from me?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry for all of it.”

“If you really are sorry, then you’ll tell the cops what you did,” said Hannah.

He rubbed his agonized face with his hands. Then slowly, as if fighting his worst instincts, he put his hand in the back of his jeans and removed a handgun from the waistband. He pointed it at Hannah with a hand as steady as his voice.

“I won’t be doing any confessing,” he said. “Why couldn’t you leave the past alone?”

“Because it’s time the truth came out. It’s time that everyone knew that Jenny didn’t drown. That she was gang-raped and murdered here. By you and your friends.”

He took the safety catch off the gun with his finger. “There’s no evidence that I did it. Nothing at all. He made sure of that.”

“Who made sure of that?” Rachel asked, stepping out of the shadows.

* * *

Rachel pulled off the hood of her jacket so that he could see her. They’d met enough times before that he recognized her voice even before he saw her distinctive auburn hair.

Dan Moore’s face turned pale. He turned toward Hannah in confusion, waving the gun unsteadily in her general direction.

“You told me it would just be the two of us,” he told Hannah.

“And you brought a gun,” she noted.

“I’ll do whatever is needed to protect my family,” he said. “It would crush Kelly if she knew what happened all those years ago. I was a kid then. Why can’t you both understand that I have changed? I was in a dark place. My father was abusive. All I ever knew was violence. It took what happened to Jenny to make me realize that I was becoming like my father. I’ve spent all these years making amends.”

Rachel moved toward him. “Hannah’s lived her whole life wondering what happened that night. Tell her and then maybe she’ll agree not to take this to the authorities. She’ll move on with her life and allow you to move on with yours. Isn’t that what you want?”

Dan ran his hand through his light hair, trying to decide on his next move. He sighed and then unburdened himself in a rush of words.

“After I threw Jenny into the water, I went back to the pickup. Bobby had fainted from the pain. The other two had drunk the rest of our liquor stash while they waited. They were in no condition to drive. I took the car keys and drove on the back roads to the north of town. We argued about what we should do with Bobby. I wanted to take him to the hospital. The others said we should kill him. We were all arguing about it and I lost control and slammed into a tree. I had no idea what to do. My friends were dead. Or close to it. I called my dad from a pay phone further down the road. He came within minutes. He put Bobby in the driver’s seat and set fire to the truck. Said it was the only way to explain Bobby’s burns,” he said. “We went home. He beat me senseless in the garage, fractured my arm, and then told me if anyone asked that I should say we’d spent a father-son evening together watching a baseball game.” He let out a bitter laugh. “My father was my alibi. You can’t get a better alibi witness than the chief of police.”

“It didn’t all go according to plan, though. Somehow Bobby got out of the truck,” said Rachel.

“Bobby must have become conscious before the fire reached the cab and the truck blew up. He walked a few steps and collapsed in a ditch. Someone reported the explosion to nine-one-one, and the cops came and took him to the hospital. It was touch and go for days. We honestly thought he’d die. He pulled through, but he never remembered anything about that night. When they charged him for reckless driving and manslaughter he pleaded guilty and served the time.”

“And the boys who were killed?” Rachel asked.

“They were the real ringleaders. They’d planned the whole thing. Aaron and Lucas. They’d had a thing for Jenny for a long time. Both Bobby and I were younger than them. We were pulled into their gang for our own reasons. For me, it was a way to escape my dad’s fists. For Bobby, well, he was looking to belong,” Dan said. “I regret what happened, more than I can ever tell you.” His voice broke. “Sometimes, I think that what happened to Kelly was punishment for what I did to Jenny.”

“If you regret it, then put the gun down,” said Rachel.