“J.R.,” she moaned. And if she wasn’t careful, he would come before he even entered her. “Please, slow down.”
He tugged at her shirt, pulling it over her head and exposing her taut breasts to him. He took one in his mouth and felt her jolt with excitement.
“J.R.,” she hissed. Her hands found his shoulder and she pressed against him, almost like she wanted him off.
“It’s okay, Grace,” he breathed, his fingers gliding down her belly to the edge of her pajama bottoms. “Relax.”
“J.R.” She pushed against him more firmly. “Stop.”
He lifted his head, searching her eyes to see the fury in them. “What?”
“Do you think I wanted you over here for sex?”
What was she talking about? Why else did she think he was there? For late-night conversation? Cuddles? He loved her, it wasn’t like he was using her. It was time... He had put in his time. “Well, yeah.”
She grunted as she pushed him all the way off her and pulled her shirt back on. “I can’t believe you.”
He sat back, dumbfounded. “What? What’d I do?”
Her shoulders shook while she cried. He was afraid to touch her, still not sure of what had gone wrong. He stared down at her purple floral comforter, the one she’d gotten for Christmas last year. It had these itchy white flowers that drove him crazy; he didn’t know how she slept with it. His fingers twirled the fabric, tugging on the flower patch.
“Do you want me to go?”
“No!” she whispered harshly, burying her head in her pillow. He wished he could reach for her and comfort her, but his frustration held him back. It was so typically Grace to turn from him and shut him down just when he thought they were getting somewhere.
“Then what, Grace? Are you not ready? ’Cause you sure as hell were acting like you were on Saturday night.”
She turned her head and glared at him. “That’s not fair.” She looked embarrassed as she added, “I just thought our first time would be more special, you know?”
“No, I don’t.”
She sighed, brushing the tears away with the palm of her hand. “I always pictured it would be somewhere special, not like in a car or just in my bed all sneaky like this.” She shrugged. “It feels unmemorable this way.”
He was moving from confusion to irritation at an alarming speed. “Where the hell do you think we could go, Grace? I don’t have money for like a hotel or something.”
Her eyes widened as she shook her head. “Oh, no, not a hotel. I’m not some hooker, J.R.”
He ran his hand down his face, his hard-on long gone as he realized she was once again turning him down. “Grace, we can’t keep doing this. You promised me senior year.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. Though he could still see the hardness of her nipples through her shirt, he was no longer turned on. “Or what, J.R.? You’ll find someone else who will give it up to you?” She tossed her head away from him. “Whatever, I’m sure the list is long.”
She was right, of course. He knew that. There was not a shortage of girls at Timber Falls who would jump at a chance to go to bed with him. And maybe if he’d realized it before, he wouldn’t have waited so long on Grace. But he had. Because for all the times she teased him with her body or the sensualness in her words she was, and had always been his Grace. The one person who continued to be his rock and greatest champion. He could always count on her to lift him up or have his back when it seemed like everyone else around him needed him to be more.
He reached for her hands. “That’s not what I’m saying.”
She pulled her hands back. “Just go.” She lay back on the bed and turned away from him. He watched her for a moment, wondering what he could say that would get her to change her mind. When it was clear he was on the losing end, he sighed and left her crying into her pillow.
Fourth day gone
Rex did his best to keep Kate from coming with him, but a tormented mother could never be stopped. They hopped into his patrol vehicle the moment Officer Maloney said they’d found J.R.’s car, and raced toward the scene.
It was a hiker who had called in the car when he recognized the make and model atop the scenic Oracle Point. Oracle Point sat nestled deep in the dense woods about fifteen miles south of town. Though, because of its popularity in the summertime, Timber Falls claimed it as their own. The falls itself were pressed back from the main road, making the gravel drive steep, and during the late fall and winter, a risky one. The moment summer arrived, the kids piled into cars and made their way up to the top of the falls to sightsee, hike, and even climb down to the lower cliffs to jump into the pristine lake below. The top of Oracle Point stood at five hundred and seventy feet, making it a beautiful place to look at the valley around them. No one dared to jump from the top of the falls—not even the most rebellious of kids could defy death in that way. Once you hiked down a few hundred feet, there were cliffs meant for jumping into the lake below, the most popular being a fifteen-foot drop, and then the more dangerous twenty-five-foot jump that the boys could be seen at all summer long.
The drive was silent between them as Kate nervously gnawed at her cuticles, looking out the window in hopes she would magically see her son walking out from the trees. Rex spoke to other officers through the radio, driving at a speed he rarely hit in his small town.
Outside became darker the deeper into the woods they drove. Trees hovered around them, welcoming them into their secrets as they crept up the gravel drive. Kate could feel her heart pounding in her ears, and Rex had the urge to reach over and touch her knee to calm her, but resisted. He was shaking just as much. Could they have really found them?
The landing to Oracle Point was eerily still. Officers moved in and out of the trees in slow motion rather than with the haste that Kate wanted or expected. Rex pulled his car to a stop beside the sheriff who was walking toward him now. Among the shallow landing there sat two other patrol cars, but to Kate’s dismay, no black BMW.
They sat in a clearing above the cliff, though you could see the edge of it straight ahead. When Rex was a kid, there was nothing but grass and edgy rock that separated the gravel parking area to the lake below. It was three years after he graduated high school when a freshman, a brother of a friend of his, fell over the unprotected brink and was killed. After that, the town partitioned a stone half-wall boundary. Since then, Oracle Point had remained mostly safe besides some minor mishaps here and there.
“Where’s the car?” Kate asked as soon as they parked, as though she expected him to know.
He cut the engine. “I’m not sure, Kate.” He turned toward her. He could see the franticness in her eyes, and once again he cursed himself for allowing her to get in the car. “I think it’s a good idea that you stay here until I get some things sorted out.”
But she wasn’t listening to him. She was out the door before he had a chance to open his. He sighed and reckoned he didn’t blame her. If it had been Lila out there…
“Chief,” Sheriff Harvey Gibson said as he approached his car, eyeing Kate as she walked by him.
“Caleb Weston’s mother,” Rex said to him. “She was at my office when the news came in.”
“So much for discretion for the families,” he answered, shaking his hand.
“No discretion in Timber Falls.” Rex watched as an officer exited his car with a German Shepherd K9 on a leash. He wished he’d had the drive alone to sneak a drink or two in.
The sheriff gave a slight nod. “No, I suppose not. Come,” he said, leading Rex toward the wooded entrance. “We got the call about an hour ago from a man named Jared Lepinksi. He’s right over here.”
Rex shook Jared’s hand, sizing him up. He was a young man, maybe in his early twenties if Rex had to guess. He was nervous but cooperative, although quick to remind them he needed to leave soon for his busboy job.
“I’m sure your boss will understand, Jared,” the sheriff said in a way that implied he would be there for as long as they neede
d. “For the record, if we could have you explain to Chief Tourney the events, that would be helpful.”
Jared scratched at his head, more of a nervous habit, Rex guessed, than a necessity. “Sure. I, uh, I came up here for a hike. I like it this time of year ‘cause no one’s around.” He nodded toward the woods. Rex’s eyes followed his, and he caught sight of the shape of black paint. “I saw a car in there, which I thought was really weird. I didn’t know if someone was in it, so I ignored it at first and walked down the south path. But when I came back up it was still there, so I went to go check it out. And that’s when I noticed it was the missing car. I’ve seen the posters around but hadn’t paid too much attention, except I knew it was a black BMW.”
“Good memory,” Rex encouraged. He kept one eye on Jared and one on the unfolding scene before him. The K9 entered the woods just as Kate was walking out, escorted by an officer. Her face contorted in distress when she saw the dog. The officer stopped and spoke to her, blocking her from the entrance to where the car was. She should have stayed in the damn patrol car like Rex told had her to do.
“So then I got in my car and drove down to the payphone at the gas station about a mile back and then waited back up here until the sheriff arrived. I never saw the guys, though. Three of them, right?”
Rex nodded. “Did you see signs of them along the trail? Maybe footprints or food or trash, something that indicated they’ve been around?”
Jared thought about it a moment before shaking his head. “No, it’s just me, didn’t look like anyone else has been here.” His eyes widened. “Do you think they could have been attacked by like a bear or something? I thought I heard a growl in the woods but never saw anything. Maybe I need to get a gun.”
“We are certainly looking at all angles, but before you jump ahead of yourself, I think if it was animal attack you would have seen evidence of such.”
Jared shivered at the idea.
“Do you come out here often?” the sheriff asked. “When was the last time you hiked this trail?”
“I try to come out once a week, but it’d been a couple weeks since I’d been able to, you know with work and stuff.”
“Great, thanks, Jared.” Rex shook his hand. “You did the right thing.”
The sheriff reached out his hand and Jared shook it awkwardly. “Thank you, Jared.” The young man was excused as the sheriff pulled Rex towards the entrance of the woods.
“Rex, if I could be blunt here,” he said, stone-faced. “What we are looking for here are not three boys camping out in the woods but the remains of their bodies.”
Rex fell back a step. “What leads you to believe that? Isn’t it possible they’re somewhere along the trails Jared didn’t explore?” He knew it wasn’t true as he spoke it. Camping at Oracle Point was just as odd as leaving an abandoned car there.
The sheriff stopped walking and pulled a piece of folded paper from his pocket, handing it to Rex. “We found this on the dashboard of J.R.’s car.”
Rex scrunched his face in confusion as he slowly opened the torn paper. The words were simple, the meaning not to be left misunderstood.
I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.
Ethan
Rex drew in a deep breath. “A suicide note?” He turned the paper over in his hands, looking for more.
“That’s what we’re looking at here, Chief. Three boys who for whatever reason drove up to Oracle Point to end their lives.”
Rex felt a chill down his spine. “But why only one note?” he asked. “Why didn’t J.R. or Caleb leave one as well?”
The sheriff shrugged. “Maybe they never planned on leaving a note and Ethan left it without their knowledge. Maybe that’s why it’s so short. Teenage boys do unexplainable things, Chief.”
Rex nodded, folding the paper back into its original form and slipping it into his back pocket. He took in a shaky breath, running a hand through his hair. “I need to see the car. Have they found anything else in it?”
“We’ve got the dogs sniffing it out. No drugs, just booze.” The sheriff led them toward J.R.’s BMW. It sat straddled between two trees awkwardly as though they had sped through the woods and landed in an odd angle. “The evidence of the alcohol and by the angle of the car, it suggests they were driving under the influence.”
Rex stepped up to the car, taking a moment to collect himself before looking in. As the sheriff said, beer cans scattered the floor of the car like an afterthought, left out in the open. A Falcons sweatshirt, football shoulder pads, and an empty bag of fast food littered the back seat, leaving only a small clearing for one boy to sit. Rex lifted a Huskies sweatshirt from the passenger seat, recognizing it as one he had seen on Caleb a week before they went missing. Kate had surprised him with it when she’d found out the coach was coming to watch them play.
He heard her cry out to him from the entrance to the woods. He lifted his head to the sound of her to see she was being held back by an officer but putting up a good fight. She wiggled out of his arms and ran to Rex. Ripping the sweatshirt from his hands, she fell to her knees and buried her face in the smell of her son, muffling her sobs.
“She needs to get out of here,” the sheriff muttered, in no mood for distractions.
Rex took her by the arm and gently lifted her to her feet. “Can she?” Rex asked the sheriff, referring to the sweatshirt. The sheriff nodded. Neither of them wanted to be the one to take it from her. Besides, the unspoken truth was that they weren’t looking at a criminal investigation.
He led her out of the woods to the clearing where he instructed one of his deputies to take her home. “I promise when I know something more I will call you.”
She nodded as she clung to her son’s clothes. She didn’t want to leave, but she didn’t know how to be there, either. Would she be emotionally prepared if they were to find something more than a car? The idea made her woozy and she needed to sit. The deputy helped her into the car and Rex shut the door behind her. He smiled gently, but inside he was more than a little relieved to watch her go. That feeling didn’t last long—the moment she was out of sight, the squeal of tires raced to the landing and out stepped the mayor from his gold Mercedes.
“Where is my son?” he cried out in a demand to anyone who could hear him.
How the hell word had spread to him so fast, Rex didn’t know. He sighed in frustration as he walked toward the father of a missing boy, who looked as though he would tackle anyone who got in his way.
“Mayor.” Rex approached him cautiously. “I’m going to ask you to leave. We are working—”
“Let me remind you, Rex, just who you work for,” the mayor snapped, pushing past him. “Where’s the car?”
Rex felt the rage of humiliation as though the mayor had just slapped him. He stepped back and lifted his hand to show Jameson the direction of the BMW. He watched him stomp off, deciding to hang back rather than follow the storm.
His feet sunk down into the mud that hung there after the rains. It made him feel like he was sinking in quicksand, unable to move. His eyesight blurred as he watched officers lean over the concrete barrier and peer down the cliff. Would they find them there?
“Chief.” Officer Maloney caught him off guard. “You alright?”
He cleared his throat, embarrassed he’d been caught staring off. “Of course. What’d you get?”
Maloney was a good man, the best right hand Rex could ask for. He was always on the right side of the law, something Rex himself envied. He didn’t let the mayor push him around, or make his decisions for him as Rex had on multiple occasions. It’s also why Rex knew deep down, the mayor had chosen him as the Chief of Police over Maloney. Sometimes, he wondered if Maloney knew it, too.
“Cleared the area up here. We caught scent of the boys near the edge of the cliff, so we have a crew heading down to search.” He looked out toward the stone wall that made a barrier from the edge to the lake below. He shook his head, and Rex could see his affliction. It was an emotion his officer rarely show
ed.
“What is it?” Rex asked him.
“It just don’t seem right, Chief,” he said with a shake of his head. “Why would they do such a thing?” He almost sounded choked up when he added, “They had their whole lives to live. And their parents…” His voice dropped off and Rex knew he was thinking about his small children at home, as Rex often thought about Lila.
“I know.” Rex patted him on the shoulder. They may have been officers, but living where they did, they did not have the thick skin as big city cops must. Crime, disappearances, and death were not something they were used to.
“But best not to let our emotions get to us, Maloney. We can’t let that affect the job we have to do.”
Maloney nodded, shaking out of his stupor. “Right, well, I’ll get to it, then.”
But Maloney didn’t move. He swore under his breath as he looked straight ahead, causing Rex to turn and see what had him all distressed. It was an officer walking toward them, a leash for his K9 in one hand and in the other a worn-in Falcons baseball cap.
Ethan Young’s hat.
Four weeks earlier
It was the gold Mercedes Nick recognized first, a gift from Anna to Jameson on his fortieth birthday. Nick had gone with Anna to the dealership and had helped her pull off the surprise of a lifetime for her husband. Jameson had been beyond thrilled. He prided himself on having all things bold and shiny and expensive. A gold Mercedes screamed all of those things. As Nick pulled up beside it in his old Toyota truck, he was not oblivious to the fact that their cars spoke volumes about who they were. Nick hated to wonder if they had met later in life, and not as kids, would they have chosen each other as friends?
As he pulled in to park, he was surprised to see Jameson’s car outside of town, and that it wasn’t Jameson sitting in the driver seat but Anna instead.
She didn’t see his truck appear beside her, or when he got out of the car and stood at the passenger window. Her head was down, and it was when she lifted a delicate hand to her cheek Nick realized she was crying.
Someone Knows Something Page 10