Aiden drove out of Erik's neighborhood and turned in the opposite direction of my house. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"I want you to consider Maddy as a serious suspect," Aiden said.

"You thought I didn't already consider her as a serious suspect?"

"I think people have a tendency to overlook women as suspects in criminal cases, yes."

"She has the height and the strength to fit Colton's attacker, but... I don't think it's her."

"Why not?"

"First, she has no motive other than the money."

"Money is a really big motivator for anyone."

"I don't think so," I said.

"You don't know why she went to juvie."

"Ok, why did she go to juvie?"

"I can't tell you, but there is a newspaper article online." He touched his cell phone with one hand while driving with the other which made me nervous, then he handed me his phone. The article was about a thirteen year old from Westminster charged with aggravated assault and robbery of an elderly man four years ago.

"Seriously? This was Maddy?"

Aiden smirked.

"She doesn't have the voice of Colton's attacker, though."

"I think you'd be surprised. What did the attacker say?"

Thinking back to that dreadful night and the person in the black hoodie with a mask made me feel stigmatized, like it wasn't over. The words, give me the money, left a sickening feeling in my stomach. If Colton had only handed the money over, but money was a necessary evil, and Colton loved money more than anything. He had known what it was like not to have it and he wasn't going to hand it over, not even if it meant his life. I covered my eyes and leaned on the passenger side door. The rim of the hoodie over shadowed eyes, the strength in the arms that threw Colton to the ground, fierce and brutal. The hands, slicing Colton's neck in one swift stroke.

"Ehlana?"

I uncovered my eyes. "Hmmm?"

"What did the attacker say?"

I stared at my hands. "Give me the money."

"That's all?"

"Yeah, I think."

He reached over and squeezed my shoulder sympathetically. Guilt creeped into my conscience. He clearly cared for me more than I cared for him. I wished I could reciprocate his feelings to be fair, but I couldn't force them. I was selfish, but the only thing I found him good for was satisfying my fantasy of Colton. I wonder if he sensed my indifference. I leaned toward the door, pretending to be tired and his hand fell from my shoulder.

The motion of the car was relaxing. My body shifted with the turns until we came to a stop and he turned off the engine. He shook me and I opened my eyes. We were parked in front of an apartment building which I assumed was Maddison's.

We walked up three flights of stairs as we got to apartment 307 the door flung open and Maddison was standing there wearing a black hoodie and black sweat pants with a smile when she looked down at me, but it faded when she saw Aiden standing behind me with his hands on my shoulders. "Are you guys dating now?" She asked.

Aiden said yes at the same time I said no. I walked in as she held the door for us, letting his hands fall and said under my breath, "it's complicated."

Her jaw tightened, but Maddison covered her sheer distaste with a smile. "You guys want some pizza?"

Not knowing where my next meal was coming from I said yes as Aiden said no, roaring over my voice.

I turned to him, annoyed, but he didn't notice as he said, "we're going to pick something up after this."

"Suit yourself." She picked up a slice from the box sitting on the counter, and took a bite. "So, why are you here in my humble abode?" She spoke sarcastically, and with her mouth full.

"Remember that song, Gimme That Money, by Hopsin, you sang at karaoke?"

"Mmmm... how could I forget?"

"Ehlana wants to hear you sing it," he said.

"Does she?" She looked at me with interest.

I smiled awkwardly as I was just as surprised as she was to hear that I wanted her to sing it. I didn't want to disagree with Aiden and make him look stupid, so I nodded.

We followed her into her room. I was surprised at what I saw. I clearly remembered her describing how she had painted her room with black and red walls, but this room had white walls. She had lied to me. Posters of rappers plastered the walls, one of which was Hopsin, the African American with white contacts which gave him a gothic vibe.

She turned on the karaoke machine and picked up a mic from under her bed. She flipped through CD's, put the disc in, and pressed play.

When she rapped the first lyrics I was shocked at her deep baritone which was deeper than the original rapper. She sounded like a male. She did hip hop moves while she sang. When she got to the chorus and she repeated the words, gimme that money, it gave me an icky feeling. It was like I was at a tasteless performance that made light of Colton's robbery and death. I bolted out of her room trying to get away from the music.

Maddy ran after me. "Ehlana, what's wrong?"

I tried to answer, but the sight of her black hoodie made my heart thud harder, until I thought it was going to jump out of my chest. My breathing quickened and it was like I couldn't get enough air. If I could imagine what a heart attack felt like, this is what it would feel like, complete loss of control over an organ that had its own mind on how fast it should beat, and my lungs with how fast I should breathe. It was completely out of my control in a way I had never experienced.

"Ehlana," Aiden said, "are you okay?"

"I can't make it stop." I put my hands over my chest.

Aiden ushered me outside and back into his car. "You're having a panic attack," he said. He flipped through the radio stations until he found soothing, classical music. "We're going to slowly count backwards from twenty to one. Twenty... nineteen..." he continued counting down, all the while my breathing and heart rate lessened. When he got to the end I was so thankful he knew what to do. He stroked my hand, running his four fingers up and down the underside of my arm so lightly it tickled, yet felt good at the same time.

"Thank you," I said. "I've never had a panic attack before. How did you know what was wrong with me?"

"I get them sometimes," he said. He looked into my eyes and I relaxed. I was seeing him more intimately now, not just as a double for Colton. This was another side of his prism. Just as everyone has a happy side, a sexual side, an angry side, this was his gentle side. He leaned in for a kiss, but I shrunk away.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm just... hungry," I said. That was stupid, but it was all I could think of, and it really was all that was on my mind.

He turned the key in the engine. "How about Chipotle?"

"Please," I said.

We made a pit stop at the restaurant. The burrito I picked was so big I could make a few meals out of it. I wrapped the foil over the end and slid it into the pocket of my jacket for later.

The sun was setting over the city. I hoped Aiden would take me to one of my next suspects houses, but I didn't want to ask and make it seem like I was using him. "So, now what?" I said.

"I was sort of hoping we could talk about you and me for a minute," he said.

I whimpered inside like a baby. Noooo. This was so far from what I wanted to be doing right now. But I was at Aiden's mercy at the moment for his car, and his connections with the last two suspects I wanted to see in person. "Okay. You start," I said.

"You know, I've always liked you."

When we had first met he had been a little flirtatious, but I thought he was like that with every girl.

"I don't know why, but even though we had sex earlier I still feel nervous around you," he said. "Isn't that weird?"

I wanted to say he was putting way too much thought into this, and could we go back to the way things were before we'd had sex? This was awkward. I didn't have deep feelings for him. I was in love with Colton. "No, it's not weird. I mean, I've never had sex before so I don't know what you're supposed to feel like afterward," I said. He probably felt nervous because our relationship had never developed. We had skipped over that part. I didn't feel nervous because it didn't matter to me whether we dated or not. He was a fall back, a rebound, and even though that was all he was to me I needed him to carry me through this rough patch.

"I have, and it doesn't feel like this. Something's missing."

"What?"

"You were clingy with Colton, but you don't seem to see me that way."

"You can't replace Colton, you know that, right? It's not like you can pick up where he left off." I put my hand on his shoulder, hoping my words didn't cut him.

He grasped the steering wheel and stared at it as if it were the biggest disappointment of his life. He tilted his chin toward me and there was a flash that ran through his eyes that scared me, but as quickly as it had appeared it went away. He smiled. "I know. He was flawless at everything he tried. There wasn't one thing he couldn't do. He was the center of attention."

"I'm sorry," I said, even though I wasn't, it seemed like the right thing to say.

He smiled. "It's ok." He pulled out of the space.

"Where are we going?"

"To see the Joker."

Relief. Josiah was the one they referred to as the Joker because he wore a jester hat and had a tattoo of the joker on his back. Josiah described his fixation with the lonely and deluded character, rejected by society, and had the balls to pick up a gun to make a very public point. He could very well be Colton's killer.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]