Clara grinned. “I guess that’s my excuse to talk to Anthony, huh?” The other girls giggled, and Clara blushed. “I’ll go to dinner there tonight and see if I can catch him alone.” With that, she headed home to get ready for her night out. After some quick consideration, she decided to see if Jasmine wanted to tag along.
As soon as she got home, Clara knocked on Jasmine’s door. Jasmine poked her head out, barely letting Clara see into the room. Clara gave her a welcoming smile, saying, “Hey, do you want to go to dinner with me tonight?”
Jasmine’s eyes widened in shock.
“It’s just that I feel like we’ve drifted apart, and I think we could use the girl time. Plus, cute guys work at this place.”
Jasmine rolled her eyes. “I already have a cute guy.”
“See! That’s what I mean! We should do some sister time,” Clara declared.
Jasmine nodded. “I guess that’s OK.”
“Great! Be ready in an hour, OK?” Clara said.
Jasmine nodded and closed her door.
Clara let out the breath she’d been holding and went into her room to get ready. Tonight, she was going to look awesome. She pulled on a short jean skirt and a purple tank top, with purple heels to match. She curled her brown hair and stuck a purple flower on the right side of it. Then Clara grabbed a purple ribbon out of her drawer and tied it around her neck to complete the look. Some red lipstick, a touch up on her eye makeup, and she was ready to go.
She knocked on Jasmine’s door. Jasmine opened it and quickly stepped out. She was wearing a long, flowery skirt and a white-button up top. Her black hair was piled on top of her head and she had added some pink lip gloss to her small lips. Her up-do made Jasmine’s face appear smaller, thinner. Her large eyes stood out in stark contrast to the rest of her face. Clara tried not to wince at how thin Jasmine looked. Instead, she said, “You look great. Let’s go!”
Jasmine was quiet the whole way to the restaurant. Clara blasted music, hoping to cover the silence. It was weird, not knowing what to say to her sister. She kept glancing at Jasmine out of the corner of her eye, but Jasmine seemed lost in her own world.
Once at the restaurant, Clara asked for one of Anthony’s tables. Jasmine gave her a strange look, but Clara shrugged it off. As soon as they sat down, Anthony came over, sultry smile and all. “So, I see you’ve returned. Couldn’t resist me, huh?”
“Or the food. I haven’t decided which I like more right now,” Clara joked.
Anthony laughed a full, hearty laugh. Clara liked his laugh; it was one of those belly laughs. That night, he wore black slacks and a white polo shirt with an apron around his waist. She grinned at him and ordered drinks and an appetizer. “You’ll love the crab cakes here,” she told Jasmine. Jasmine just nodded, trying to figure out who this person next to her was.
“When did you become flirty?” Jasmine asked.
Clara shrugged. “While you were hiding in your room. He’s cute, right?”
Jasmine looked over at Anthony. “He’s OK. I know a few who are more attractive.”
Clara leaned in. “Like who, Lil’ Sis? Spill the beans, “she said, grinning.
Jasmine blushed and shook her head.”I can’t. We’re keeping it a secret right now. It’s between just us.”
Clara sat back, a frown on her face. “Why?”
Jasmine shrugged. “It’s what he wants, and I want to make him happy.” They looked up as Anthony brought their drinks.
“The crab cakes will be right out. What would you ladies like to eat?” he asked charmingly. As Jasmine gave Anthony her order, Clara eyed him closely. He was muscular, sturdy, with large hands – the kind of hands that could hold a girl down, hands that ran in the family. He noticed her eyeing him and smiled. “See something you like?”
She grinned and blushed. “Oh, I see lots of things I like.” She gave her own order and watched him walk away.
Jasmine leaned in.”You really like this guy.”
Clara decided to lead her along. “Yeah, I do. Does he remind you of anyone?”
Jasmine shook her head, confused.”No, not really. Why?”
“I don’t know, I think he looks like someone we went to school with. I just can’t peg who,” Clara said.
Jasmine eyed Anthony again. “If he cut his hair differently, he might look like Andrew. But I don’t really see it.” Clara tilted her head slightly. Jasmine blushed. “I mean, not that I’ve looked at Andrew or anything. I just know that he’s a good-looking guy.”
“And on the football team,” Clara added.
“Yeah, that too.” Jasmine looked down at her plate. Clara bit her lip. If Jasmine was secretly seeing Andrew, this was very bad. She had to talk to Anthony that night.
The rest of the meal was very quiet. Clara kept an eye on Anthony to see if he took a break or anything. Once, she saw him step into the back and she figured now was as good a time as any to talk to him. She got up with the excuse that she had to use the bathroom and then slipped away before Jasmine could say anything.
Clara went out the same way Anthony did and found him outside under an awning, checking his phone. She leaned against the wall and smiled. “Hey.”
He looked up in surprise.”Well, hey yourself, Gorgeous. Do you need something?”
She moved in closer. “I want to ask you a couple questions. If that’s OK.”
He shrugged, his waiter’s apron moving with his body. “Sure, hit me.”
“Well, I was wondering, have you ever had a girlfriend? I mean, not one here, but maybe in college?” she asked as innocently as possible.
He raised an eyebrow. “Actually, I did; for a while anyway.”
“What happened to her?”She batted her eyes for emphasis.
“Oh, nothing. She just lost interest, I guess. She broke up with me without really giving me a reason why. I figured it wasn’t meant to be and came back here,” he said.
“Because Alex needed you,” she suggested.
“Yeah, he was dealing with some stuff and needed my help,” Anthony said with a shrug.
“But if she hadn’t broken up with you, would you have come back?” Clara asked, holding her breath for his answer.
He seemed to mull that over for a time. “Not really sure. I may have come back to visit, but not to stay. Not if I had something waiting for me. Or someone, I should say.” He winked at her and she giggled. This flirting thing was easy.
“What was her name?” she asked.
“Who?” He leaned in, looking into her eyes.
“Your ex-girlfriend.” She leaned back a bit. She needed this information.
“Oh, Suzy Bennett. Couldn’t tell you where she ended up. I haven’t heard from her since she broke up with me,” he said.
Clara decided to change the subject. “So, would you like to grab a cup of coffee sometime?”
He smiled at the change of subject. “Assertive. I like it. Of course I would.”
She grinned. “OK, tomorrow after four. Date?”
He nodded. “Date.” Clara skipped back to the table.
Jasmine looked up as she sat down, eyeing her closely.”That was a long bathroom break.”
Clara shrugged and dug into her food. “Meh, duty calls, ya know?”
Jasmine scrunched up her small nose in disgust. Clara stuck her tongue out at Jasmine and finished her meal.
The drive home was just as quiet as the drive there had been. Clara felt like she hadn’t made any inroads with Jasmine at all. And if Andrew was the person whom Jasmine was seeing, Clara had to get him behind bars quick. But first she had to find Suzy Bennett.
11.
BETTY’S SECRET
C lara and Jasmine got home in the early evening. Jasmine ran up to her room and closed her door without a word. Clara went to Rodney’s room, hoping he’d been able to get a hold of those files. She reached his door, but he opened it before she could even knock. “Dang, Sis, I could hear you clomping up the stairs. Not the graceful type, are you?”
/> She pushed past him into the room.”Did you get them?”
He pointed to the two boxes at the end of his bed. Rodney’s room was plain; he wasn’t one for decorating. A single bed with black sheets and a black comforter was shoved against a corner. A standup dresser sat against the opposite wall next to the door. The wall contained no pictures or anything else hanging from it. The only adornment in the whole room was the family picture on the dresser. It was also a very clean room compared to Clara’s, with a laundry basket at the foot of the bed catching all of Rodney’s clothes.
“I got a couple of weird looks when I asked for them, but the officer in charge of the case said that a fresh set of eyes might do some good. And I’m going out of my mind with boredom.”
Clara carefully opened the first box and lifted out the first file. Inside were pictures of the crime scene and descriptions of how Betty had been found. She set those aside and began rummaging through the box until she found the autopsy report. She turned to Rodney with a grin. “You got it!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah, I had to do some asking for that part. Seems the medical examiner here likes to keep his files to himself. He’s kind of paranoid, I’m not gonna lie.”
Clara grinned and opened the file. She skimmed all the details until she found the one she wanted. “See, it was true. Betty was three months pregnant.” She showed the report to Rodney. “It had to be Andrew. He found out about the pregnancy and killed her.”
Rodney shook his head. “I don’t know, Clara. He’d be risking a lot to kill one girl on account of her being pregnant.”
“I know. I just have this feeling that he’s capable of it. The one time I interacted with him, he was very angry and all I did was trip over his backpack,” she said.
Rodney sat next to her. “What do you mean, angry at you?”
Clara blushed. “It was nothing, Rod. I was clumsy, tripped, went to right the backpack, and he grabbed my arm. It was the anger in his eyes that scared me more than anything.”
Rodney looked alarmed. “He grabbed you?”
Clara shrugged. “He didn’t hurt me, and he let me go pretty quickly. I mean, it was just a backpack. I’m not sure what the big deal was.”
“Maybe you squished his lunch,” Rodney said, trying to smile.
Clara leaned back on his bed, thinking. “Unless there’s something in his bag that he didn’t want me to see; something that he keeps close to him.”
“Like what?” Rodney asked, leaning against the window above his bed.
Clara scrunched up her nose. “I don’t know, Rod. I’ll have to sleep on it.” She jumped up and headed to the door. “Keep the boxes here, OK? Dad won’t question if you bring work home. Tomorrow, you should show me how to get fingerprints.” Rodney nodded as she opened the door.
He was just as surprised as Clara was when they saw Jasmine standing on the other side of the door, her ear pressed to it.
Jasmine jumped back, her face going white.“I … uh, was just, um…” She turned and sprinted for her room.
Clara charged after her, grabbed her arm, and swung her around. “Why are you so interested in what I’m doing, Jasmine? And don’t even try to claim that you aren’t. You couldn’t keep your eyes off the diary the night I found it. And now you’re eavesdropping at the door?”
Jasmine took a deep breath. “I feel left out, OK? You and Rodney are so close and I’m the odd man out. You never include me in anything.”
Clara stepped back, looking surprised. Rodney came up behind her, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Jas, I didn’t mean to exclude you. You’ve been off in your own little world lately and I think Clara just felt lonely.”He said this calmly, like they were talking about anything else but this.
Jasmine eyed him suspiciously. “Right, of course she did. She has all these new friends, but she’s lonely.” Jasmine turned and stomped off to her room, slamming the door behind her. Clara and Rodney exchanged a glance.
“You think she’s lying?” Rodney asked.
Clara nodded.”You bet she is. She never could tell a believable lie. And if she’s seeing who I think she’s seeing, maybe he’s asked her to spy on me. I mean, I have been asking an awful lot of questions.”
Rodney put his hand on Clara’s shoulder. “Be careful, OK? I don’t want you to get hurt just because you want to solve this. I mean, that’s what the cops are for.”
“But Rod, they couldn’t solve it. He has gotten away with it for four years. I have to at least try,” Clara said heatedly.
Rodney nodded in understanding.”I get that, but once you have definite proof it’s him, turn it over to the cops. None of this ‘being a hero,’ OK?”
She nodded reluctantly and went into her room.
Once she was ready for bed, Clara pulled out her notebook and wrote, “Jasmine is acting weird. She’s lying and I think it’s because of Andrew. Betty was definitely pregnant when she died. I just need to figure out how this is all tied together. And I need some hard evidence to prove Andrew was the one who did it. I just don’t know where to find that evidence.”
12.
CLARA’S COFFEE DATE
T he next day at lunch, Clara slid in next to Hannah and whispered, “Which one of you wants to call this girl for me?” She passed a number on a slip of paper to Hannah.
“Who is it?” Hannah picked up the number.
“Suzy Bennett, Anthony’s ex. I think Andrew had something to do with her breaking up with Anthony. I mean, she broke up with him while Andrew was there. What if he threatened her while he was up there visiting Anthony? Scared her away from Anthony and got him to come home? For some reason, he wanted Anthony here. Not sure why.”
“Oh, I know why. Anthony was really big into sports when he lived here the first time. It was all he talked about or did. Andrew probably thought that Anthony could convince Alex to focus on sports and sports alone. But sports weren’t as important to Alex.” Stacy leaned back in satisfaction. “That’s why he was so quick to hook up with Natalie,” she added, looking at Hannah.
Clara put her forehead on the table. “So, he still managed to ruin Andrew’s plans. And yet Andrew never lashed out.”
“We don’t know that. Let me talk to Suzy B. here and we’ll find out.” Hannah stuck the number in her pocket.
“Clara, why can’t you call her?” Stacy leaned in conspiratorially.
Clara blushed. “Maybe I have a coffee date with someone.”
“Would that someone be from a seafood place we went to recently?” Tracy asked around mouthfuls of her sandwich.
“Could be; I’m not telling.” Clara jumped up and ran off to her next class before they could ask any more questions. She prayed the rest of the afternoon would go quickly so she could see Anthony.
…
Clara ran to her car after school, hoping that she could make it to the café before Anthony did. She wanted to pick where they sat so she could see his face the whole time. She grabbed a booth and sat fussing with her hair until he strolled in.
The café was set up so that she could see him as he walked through the door, but he couldn’t see her in the booth. Anthony had to walk through an alcove to see into the main dining area. He looked even better in clothes that weren’t covered with food stains. He wore cargo shorts and a grey tank top that made his gorgeous hazel eyes look brown. His dark brown hair swept back from his forehead with a curl and his skin looked sun-kissed.
He saw her as soon as he walked in and quickly moved toward her. Anthony slid into the seat across from her and ordered a coffee. She smiled and asked, “Do you always look this good for coffee?”
He laughed. “Wow, jump right to it, huh? This is my normal everyday attire.”
She shook her head. “So, it’s all effortless for you, huh? Not fair.”
He eyed her appreciatively, his eyes lingering on the ample breasts peeking out of her top. “Like you tried very hard?”
She giggled. “Point taken.” She leaned back. “So, how
is it that you’ve shot down every other girl in this town, but you said yes to me?”
He raised one perfect, dark eyebrow. “Well, since you asked…I find you interesting. You’re different from the other girls in this town. You didn’t grow up here, for one, so you won’t feel the need to stick around. I don’t plan on settling down here. That worked out fine for Alex but not for me.”
“Then why did you come back?”Clara asked.
“You’ve heard of Betty by now, I take it?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Alex took her death so hard. He literally didn’t want to do anything. Andrew came to get me, told me that only I could get Alex back on his feet. He’s my brother, so of course I came. But it took him so long to get over her. Even after he got Natalie pregnant, he still really wasn’t himself. He even stopped playing ball. I think that was the part that got Andrew the most. He’d always envisioned us all playing ball together, and with her death, that dream ended.” Anthony shook his head. “Whoa, I didn’t mean to say that all at once. It just feels like I can tell you anything, you know? Ever meet someone like that?”
Clara grinned at him. “Actually, I have. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Anthony shook his head. “Nah, you’ll hear about it from someone else anyway. It’s better that I tell you myself. Get this out of the way so we can get down to getting to know each other.”
She grinned and motioned for him to continue.
“Alex was so depressed, he wouldn’t go to school. I’m not really sure whether it was the loss of Betty or the loss of what they had together that hurt him most. They had so many plans, those two did. And they were always changing, so much so that our Ma called them dreamers behind their backs. The baby was just one more dream Alex had.”
Clara took a sip of her coffee. “So, did you know she was pregnant when she died?”
Anthony looked surprised. “I did, and Andrew did, but only because Alex told us. He was so happy. They were gonna settle down together, kind of like how he and Natalie did. Don’t get me wrong, he loves Natalie, but not the way he loved Betty, and Natalie knows that. She’ll always be second to Betty.”
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