Someone Knows Something

by Christa Weisman

  “Ma’am, this road is off limits,” he said as he leaned in through her window.

  “My son is up there,” she said frantically. She realized this officer wasn’t from Timber Falls and had no idea who she was. She searched for his nametag. “Officer Fisher, please, I need to see him.”

  “Your son?” he asked in confusion.

  “Caleb Weston,” she answered. “They found my son, and I need to be up there.”

  Recognition of Caleb’s name made the officer nod and sigh. “Ma’am, I’m sorry. We are not allowing anyone, family or otherwise, on Oracle Point. I can have Officer Maloney come speak to you.”

  She was shaking her head wildly. “No. Get the chief. Tell him I’m here and I need to see Caleb.”

  The officer dropped his head and looked back at the other cop blocking the entrance. He took in a deep breath and said, “That’s not possible, Ma’am. The chief isn’t here.” He could see she was barely holding it together. “Look, let me escort you home. I can—”

  “No!” she yelled. “I’m not going anywhere until I see my son!”

  “That’s not possible,” he repeated patiently, but it was useless. She shoved him aside as she opened the door to her car and stepped out.

  “You don’t have the right to stop me!” she screamed at him. “That’s my son up there!” She pushed past him. If he wouldn’t let her drive up, then she would damn well walk up the half mile it took to get to the landing.

  He swung around and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back.

  “Get off of me!” she screamed, thrashing around to loosen his grip. The other officer was now at his side helping him aid in calming Kate down.

  “Ma’am! I need you to stop.” He grunted as she jerked around. One of her arms flew loose, nailing her fist to his mouth by accident. He could have had her arrested; that would have given her time to chill out. He gripped her by the shoulder, forcing her arms to go limp. “Stop,” he commanded. “I know you’re scared. I know you want to see your son. He’s not here.”

  “What?” Her lips slackened as she came to a stop.

  The officer licked the blood on his lower lip that was swelling as they stood there. She had a good right hook. “He’s not here. The coroner took him. They need to do an autopsy on the boys to rule out foul play.”

  Kate stumbled back. His words made her dizzy. It was then that she also realized that the other boys, her son’s best friends, were dead as well. Her hands flew to her eyes as the tears burst out of them. She just wanted to see her son, to hold him one more time. The officer bent down to her and held her shoulders to him. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Weston,” he said sincerely. “I truly am.”

  “He can’t be dead,” she sobbed. She crossed her arms over her chest, holding her heart in, afraid it would escape her.

  He nodded at the other officer to head back to guard the entrance. He held tight to this stranger he felt immense pity for. He let her cry on his shoulder without speaking a word until her sobs fell to soft whimpers. When she lifted her head up, he said, “Let me drive you home, Ms. Weston. It’s best to wait there and we will contact you when we have more details. Is there anyone home, a family member or friend?”

  Kate felt gutted. She was utterly alone. Rex had abandoned her through this, and now the only soul she loved was dead.

  She shook her head. “No.” She sucked in a deep breath to keep the sobs away. “There’s no one.”

  “I’d be happy to stay with you if you need someone to talk to.”

  She tried to give him a smile of gratitude, but she couldn’t quite muster it. “Thank you, but no.” She pushed the tears away with the palm of her hand and straightened up, embarrassed by her display. “I’ll be okay.”

  He helped her back into her car where she thanked him again. “When you see Rex—I mean the chief—will you please have him call me?”

  He nodded. “Will do, Ms. Weston.”

  She pulled out of the drive as the sun came up over the trees. She didn’t want to go home, but she had nowhere else to go. She pictured her son blue and cold in a body bag tossed to the side like trash. It made her sick to her stomach and she had to pull over on the side of the road to vomit, though there was nothing in her belly. She had barely eaten in days.

  She saw the Acura as soon as she turned down her familiar street. She wondered how long Avery had been parked there waiting for her. When Kate pulled into the driveway, she saw the trembling girl sitting on her front porch, her body wrapped up in one of Caleb’s football sweatshirts. The sight of it caught Kate’s breath. She parked and slowly exited the vehicle, her body suddenly exhausted and worn. Avery stood, the tears rolling down her face when she saw Kate.

  “Is it true?” Avery hiccuped a sob. “Did they find his body?”

  Kate walked up to the girl and swallowed her up in her arms. It felt so good to hold someone who loved her boy like she did. Avery fell in her arms and began to sob. Kate breathed in the scent of her son on the sweatshirt, and it was enough to make her feel faint. She pulled Avery down to sit on the porch step. She needed this, to feel strong for someone else while her world fell apart.

  “I’m so sorry, love,” Kate said into her hair as she wept with her.

  “No, no, no,” Avery cried. She lifted her head to look at Kate. “How? What were they doing up there?”

  “I don’t know.” Kate shook her head as she brushed a damp strand of hair away from Avery’s cheek. “I hope we are able to get some answers soon.”

  Avery used the sleeve of Caleb’s sweatshirt to dry her tears. Kate felt a wave of unflattering anger come over her, feeling ownership to all things belonging to her son. As much as she adored Avery, she wanted to rip the article of clothing from her body so that it only ever smelled like Caleb. It was irrational, and Kate knew it. But it didn’t change how she felt. She wanted every last thing that belonged to her son in her possession. And it was then, as the girl beside her trembled in grief, that she realized Avery was carrying the greatest gift of all, a piece of her son.

  “Avery,” Kate said as she lifted a hand to brush away the fallen tears on the girl’s face. “Honey, is it true that you’re pregnant?”

  Avery’s eyes bulged.

  “It’s okay,” Kate said with a smile. She was terrified to feel hopeful, but the look on Avery’s face confirmed what she was thinking.

  Avery slowly nodded. She hadn’t confessed her pregnancy to anyone but Caleb, and she knew where that had gotten them. Had he told his mom? Would he have after the way he’d reacted to her telling him?

  “Oh, honey,” Kate cried, pulling the girl in close. “This is the best news.”

  Avery stilled in Kate’s arms.

  “What?” Kate asked, pulling back. She saw the fear in her eyes and her own fear multiplied. “Honey, you are planning on keeping the baby now, aren’t you?”

  Avery couldn’t look at her. She dropped her gaze to her hands. She thought back to Caleb’s rage when she told him. She’d said that she wanted to keep the baby and he straight up told her he wanted nothing to do with it. So she changed her mind, realizing the best option would be to get rid of the fetus, and wrote Caleb a note saying she would take care of it. She was alone, and scared and questioned if it was the right choice. She had never been more confused in her life. She never made it to the clinic. “I don’t know. I thought I was going to, but then Caleb…” She shook her head. “I don’t know how I can do it.”

  The idea of having a piece of her son so close to her and then possibly being destroyed sickened her. “No, love, you can’t think like that. This is a part of Caleb, too. You can save him by having his child. Don’t you see that?”

  “But my parents will kill me!” she cried. “And how am I supposed to do this on my own without him?”

  “You have me, Avery.” Kate was adamant about it now. “Please, don’t make any drastic decisions yet. If you’re not sure you can keep him, then I will take him for you. I will adopt him.”

  Avery r
ealized how Kate referred to the baby as him, before they even knew. She so deeply wanted a redo when it came to Caleb.

  Avery, for as much as she had given herself to Caleb, knew he’d had his demons. He was more dark than light, salt than sugar. She was terrified of bringing a child with his genes into this world. Could she raise a boy to not be like his father?

  She saw the desperation in Kate’s eyes, the way she must have seen this as a way to get her son back. Avery didn’t know yet what it would feel like to be a mother, to know the kind of love that blinds you to their faults. To make you look past their evil and see only the good. But Kate did. And if Avery wasn’t strong enough to bring this child into the world, then Kate would be there to guide her, or if she should choose to, take her child and raise it as her own.

  Avery nodded at her. “Okay.”

  She would do this, all for the love she had never wanted to feel for Caleb, for the love she was beginning to feel for their unborn child, and to ease the pain for the woman who had just lost her only child. She would have this baby.

  One week earlier

  Lila couldn’t stop giggling. She sat atop the counter in Bryan Lawson’s kitchen guzzling from a beer bong being held up by a group of senior boys. They chanted her name as she chugged, and when she started to laugh again, a little dribble came out of the side of her mouth. Ethan reached up and wiped it away with a soft finger. She came up for air and caught his eye. His grin was wide, and she saw something else in it as well. Fascination, maybe?

  She teetered on the counter as the world around her began to swarm. Ethan rested a hand on her shoulders to steady her and she nestled up against him.

  “Mmm,” she said. “You smell good.”

  “So do you.”

  She shook her head, lifting a heavy lid to him. He was all out of focus. She closed her eyes and then tried again, looking him in the eye. “No,” she groaned. “I smell like beer. You smell yummy.”

  He chuckled softly, pulling her closer to him. “I think you smell yummy, too,” he said in her ear. He was so perfect. He was Ethan Young, and he had his arm around her. She still couldn’t believe it.

  She didn’t know where her friends were, and she didn’t care. She was having the best night of her life and she didn’t want it to end. His mouth was close to hers, and the way he was looking at her lips made her wonder if he was going to try to kiss her. She’d only been kissed by Robbie Ferguson a few times last year when she told him she’d go out with him, only to have him dump her after a month cause her dad never really let her go anywhere with him. No one wanted to date the chief’s daughter. It was like she held a big neon sign over her head that said, “Don’t even think about it.” But Ethan didn’t look at her that way. He didn’t see the restrictions she came with or the invisible neon sign. He leaned into her until she could feel his breath gently caress her cheek. She closed her eyes and waited for that sweet moment when his lips would touch hers for the first time, only to have a hiccup escape her throat.

  Her eyes flew open to catch him jerk back his head. She went to speak but was betrayed by another hiccup. That’s when Ethan started to chuckle again. She was horrified but not enough to keep the giggles at bay. She covered her mouth with her hand as hiccups and laughter escaped.

  “Ethan!”

  Lila and Ethan turned to see Grace pushing through the crowded kitchen toward them. She gave Lila a once-over before turning her attention to Ethan. “Have you seen J.R.?”

  Ethan shook his head and went to speak before his eye caught the figure coming through the back door. “Over there.”

  Grace whipped her head around to see her boyfriend walking toward her. “Where have you been?” she accosted him.

  He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “It’s a surprise.”

  “A surprise?” she asked warily.

  He leaned into her ear to whisper about his plans for them in the playhouse when a loud boom came crashing in, startling all of them.

  Caleb swung through the kitchen door with such force it broke off one of the hinges. The look on his face was pure rage as he pushed his way past partygoers, spilling their drinks against their sequin dresses and silk ties. “Get the fuck out of my way,” he sneered at a group of boys, and they spread out like a swarm of bees jumping to get out of his way.

  J.R. caught Ethan’s eye, and both of them had the same reaction. They were used to seeing Caleb in a frenzy, while on the field or even on the occasions when his dad bailed on him. They’d watched him punch through walls, break windows with baseballs, and even smash trophies into T.V.s, but there was something on his face that his friends had never seen before. J.R. lept into motion, pushing through the crowd to get to his friend. No one dared to say a word as they watched him with mouths hung open as he reached the door to the backyard and slammed it shut behind him. The silence hung thick like fog in the air until Lila broke out in a drunken giggle.

  “What’s his deal?” she said a little too loudly to Ethan. He hushed her, but not before Grace threw her a solid glare.

  “Caleb!” Avery screamed as she flew through the broken door. Her eyes were smudged black from crying, her cheeks red and blotchy. She looked wild and scared as though she was the prey running from her hunter and not toward it. She grabbed at her fallen spaghetti strap of her dress, searching the crowd for him. When her eyes landed on a worried Grace, she raced toward her friend.

  “Where did he go?” Avery asked frantically. Her eyes were everywhere but on Grace.

  “Avery.” Grace gripped her friend by the shoulders “What’s going on? What happened?”

  Avery lifted on her toes, shaking Grace from her grip. “I need to find Caleb. Where did he go?” She looked at Grace for the first time. “Did you see him?”

  Lila pointed to the back door. “He went that way.”

  Avery looked up, just now noticing the underclassman sitting on the countertop a little too close to Ethan. What was she doing here? And why was she the one telling her where Caleb was? Avery went to speak but was caught off guard by J.R.’s return. He went to stand next to Grace, but it was Avery who reached out to him and grabbed him by the arm. “Did you see him? Do you know where he is?”

  “Avery,” J.R. said, taking his arm from her grip. “He’s really pissed. He won’t talk to me.”

  “I have to go,” she said frantically. This time, J.R. reached out to her, holding her back. “He doesn’t want to talk to you, Avery. And I wouldn’t try changing his mind right now. I’ve never seen him like this. I don’t know what you two were fighting about, but he needs some time to cool off.”

  Avery took one step back. One foot in flight and one in surrender. She lifted her eyes to look at Ethan, and that’s when he realized what the fight was all about. Apparently, Caleb hadn’t taken the news of Avery’s pregnancy well. He sighed and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Let it go tonight, Aves. You can talk to him tomorrow.”

  She searched his eyes, finding the comfort she needed in them. She nodded slowly, and then the tears began to fall again as realization hit her. Caleb wanted nothing to do with her or the baby she was carrying. The only way to keep him would be to terminate her pregnancy. She started to sob in her hands. She felt the warmth of Grace’s embrace and fell into her friend’s arms.

  “I have to get out of here,” Avery said to her. She was so humiliated. She wanted this night over and to be as far away from Bryan Lawson’s house as possible.

  “Okay, Aves,” Grace cooed as she patted her friend’s hair. “Want me to come with you?”

  J.R. flinched at the request. “Grace?” She wouldn’t just leave, would she? Not when he had planned for them what he had.

  Avery nodded. “I don’t want to be alone.”

  “Okay.” Grace kept hold of her friend and turned toward J.R. “I’m sorry, but Avery needs me.”

  J.R. stood there with his mouth hung open. “Grace,” he hissed, grabbing her by the arm. “I got us the cabin. You can’t leave no
w!”

  Grace was taken aback by the force in J.R.’s tone. She looked her boyfriend up and down, disgusted by his selfishness. “I’m not going to bail on my friend who needs me just so you can get laid!”

  “That’s not what—”

  “Grace,” Avery said, cutting J.R. off. “You can stay. My car is here. I can go home.”

  “No,” Grace said sternly at her friend before turning her glare on her boyfriend. “Why is it always about sex with you, J.R.?”

  “Grace,” he warned. “That’s not fair, and you know it. You asked me to make it special, and I did. I spent time and a hell of a lot of money to make it special for you.”

  “Screw you, J.R.,” she snapped. “I’m not a hooker you can buy. Come on, Avery.” She grabbed her friend’s hands and stormed off, leaving a livid J.R. behind.

  J.R. swore loudly, startling Lila, who then started to giggle, which made him turn and glare at her. Ethan placed a hand on her knee, giving her a gentle shake of his head as though to tell her to keep her tipsy mouth shut. It made her smile, and she tightened her lips to show him she could be a good girl. She never knew alcohol could make her so loose and at ease. She would never have had the nerve to react this way if they had been at school. She wouldn’t even have had the courage to talk to them, let alone laugh at them.

  She liked the feel of Ethan’s hand on her leg. It did something to her insides she hadn’t felt before. She wished he had kissed her before she’d screwed it up, and now wondered if there would be a chance for him to try again. All too soon, his hand was gone as he leaned in to talk to J.R., one hand resting on his shoulder to calm him down. She overheard J.R. say something about finding Caleb and Ethan saying to not worry and he’d take care of it. She gripped the edge of the counter as her body swayed like it was in its own romantic slow dance. She heard her name being called and turned to see Olivia and Hannah walking toward her, the same sloppy smiles plastered on their faces. They came carrying red solo cups filled to the brim. Lila squealed at the sight of them and opened her arms to embrace them as they approached.