Cross My Heart, Hope To Die

Was Nisha’s death a suicide? An accident?

Or did she find out something my murderer didn’t want her to know?

A vague memory of Nisha at a junior high day camp comes back to me. The rest of us spent our afternoons splayed out in deck chairs working on our tans, but Nisha couldn’t seem to stay out of the water. She swam like a fish. She beat everyone at the end-of-summer races that year and got a fake gold medal during the camp’s closing ceremony.

No, it hadn’t been an accident. Deep down, Emma and I both knew it. Nisha had something she wanted to tell Emma. Whatever it was, my murderer somehow found out that she knew it—and made sure she was silenced, permanently.

Emma’s investigation unearths as many questions as it does answers. Emma and I have another sister somewhere, who may or may not know anything about us. Becky’s illness has brought Emma and my dad together, but Mrs. Mercer still doesn’t know they’ve been in contact with my birth mother. And no one seems to know about Emma’s existence, much less that she’s taken my place.

Now there are even more questions to add to the list. What happened between Nisha’s last call to Emma and Dr. Banerjee’s grisly discovery in the pool? What had she so desperately wanted to tell Emma?

My killer is still out there, clearly willing to kill again. Emma needs to find my killer, fast, before the cracks in her performance start to show. Thayer’s already onto her. And if she’s exposed, she’ll either be blamed for my death—or she’ll be next.

Celeste’s warning drifts back to me. You’re in real danger.

Time is running out. Emma needs to make the next move soon, or my killer will make one for her.