Chapter 4

"No," I choked out, as the cuffs clicked around my wrists.

The world was spinning.

The same nightmare, playing out with horrifying precision.

I changed things. I kept her home.

How could this happen?

Mark was still yelling, Carol sobbing. The crowd pressed closer, a faceless mob hungry for a villain.

My parents.

The thought struck me like lightning.

In the first life, the shame killed them. The public crucifixion.

I couldn't let that happen again.

I had to protect them, even if it meant...

"It wasn't me!" I shouted, my voice raw. "It was them! My parents! Linda and David Evans! They did it!"

A gasp went through the crowd.

Reynolds looked at me, his expression unreadable.

Mark stopped yelling, his face a mixture of shock and disbelief. "What? Sarah, what are you saying?"

"They hated me! They hated Emily!" I lied, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "They wanted her gone! Find them! They're the killers!"

It was a desperate, insane ploy.

But I needed them here. I needed them to see I was fighting, to understand, somehow, that this wasn't me.

And I needed to shield them from the immediate, vicious backlash I knew was coming.

If the public had a new target, even for a moment, maybe my parents wouldn't be destroyed before I could figure this out.

Reynolds narrowed his eyes. "Your parents?"

"Yes! Go get them! They live at 12 Oak Street. Bring them here!"

He hesitated, then spoke into his radio. "Send a car to 12 Oak Street. Bring in Linda and David Evans for questioning. Possible involvement."

A small, bitter victory.

Time. I needed time.

And I needed my parents safe from the initial storm.