“It is a darker red.” Brody’s face contorted. “Like it got more burned or … something. And are those little charred lines in the middle?”
“They’re sort of like hatch marks,” I agreed. “Maybe it’s some kind of pattern or engraving on the metal?”
“Did you notice anything on Trent’s ring?” Brody was still staring at the pictures, his expression pained. It occurred to me this was the first time he had actually seen what Zach and I had told him about.
I stuck the pictures back in the envelope and closed it. I couldn’t stand to look at them a moment longer, and I had no doubt that Brody felt the same. “The portion of the band that I could see was plain and smooth.” I sat back, thinking. Was I absolutely positive it was the same ring? And how common might a ring like that be?
“Would it be unusual for a guy here to wear a large gold ring with a rectangular malachite stone in it?” I asked.
“I certainly wouldn’t wear one.” Brody snorted. “But BVs are pretty fond of malachite, since it’s a copper carbonate. Copper’s a great energy transmitter.”
Like the Banished bracelet pictured in the file. If my bracelet had something to do with the Banished, surely it would be made of the same metal. As much as I hated to agree with Corinne, her assertion that the infinity symbol was just a coincidence seemed likely.
“But are you sure what you saw was gold?” Brody asked. “Because it heats up really quickly, and we can burn things if we’re not careful.”
“Maybe that’s why he wears it.” I thought of the bright red splotch he left on my hand after shaking it.
“If it’s definitely gold, I would say that ring would be fairly uncommon.”
“Well, at least we know one thing—if the police have these pictures, they realize it wasn’t just an aneurysm that killed Mr. Carr,” I said. “They may be keeping it quiet, but they’ve got to be investigating it as a murder.”
“I guess.” Brody tapped his fingers against the table. “The most important thing in Shadow Hills is always keeping everything a secret.”
“But still … there’s a killer running loose around here … a BV killer, at that. I mean, if they banish people for doing this energy-sucking thing, they wouldn’t ignore murder.”
“No. That’s true.” Brody didn’t look as if that thought made him feel much better.
But it made me hopeful. I’d rather the police investigate a murder than Brody and me. Still, there were things they didn’t know.
“They don’t have any idea that Trent stole these pictures. And we can’t exactly tell them,” I pointed out.
Plus, the cops definitely wouldn’t put much stock in my graveyard vision.
“Or that Mrs. Carr is having an affair,” Brody added, frowning. “I guess I could tell them I suspect her of it, but I don’t have any proof. Are you absolutely positive it was Trent with Mrs. Carr? Because I can make that little pig squeal all by myself. In fact, I’d rather not hand him over to the police until I’ve had a chance to do my own interrogation.”
This sounded like it would be as bad for Brody as it would be for Trent. I wished Zach was here; it wouldn’t hurt for him to keep Brody in check. But right now that job was falling to me.
“I didn’t get a good look at him. I don’t know that it was Trent.” I tried for a really unsure tone. “Maybe we ought to wait and talk to Zach.”
“When’s he getting out of the hospital?”
“I don’t know. He seemed okay when I saw him this morning. He’ll probably be out soon; why don’t we tell him later and see what he thinks?” Brody didn’t seem convinced, so I went on, “You know that the authorities will listen to what Zach says with a more open mind than they would either you or me.”
“You’re right,” Brody agreed reluctantly. “Okay, I’ll wait. But if nobody’s done anything about it in a day or two, I’m taking matters into my own hands.”
I’d have to talk to Zach soon, before Brody landed himself in jail.
“I’ll snoop around the house a little, see if I can find anything about who Mrs. Carr is seeing.” Brody looked down at the police envelope. “Speaking of Mrs. Carr, maybe I better not keep this here, where she might find it.”
“Sure. I’ll take it with me and show Zach.” I stuck the envelope into my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. I wanted to get to the hospital before visiting hours were over.
Before I got halfway to the hospital, my cell rang. It was Zach.
“Hey.” A smile spread across my face. “I was just coming to see you.”
“I’d like that,” he replied. “Only I’m not at the hospital anymore. They let me out about a half hour ago, and my dad brought me home.”
“Oh.” I stopped and turned around, disappointed. “Well, that’s good—that you got out, I mean. But I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you. Brody found out some stuff, and I thought you should know it, too.” Not to mention the fact that I wanted to see Zach with my own eyes to make sure he was really okay.
“My parents have gone seriously overprotective. They’re putting me on lockdown until the doctors figure out what happened. And who knows when that will be. Never, probably.” Zach sounded uncharacteristically irritated. “Would it be cool if I came by tomorrow after school?”
“Are you feeling good enough to go to class?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Even the headache’s gone now. Mostly I’m just bored—and I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.” I managed to keep from adding how crazy I was about him and how far away tomorrow seemed.
“It’s almost time for dinner.” Zach sighed. “I’ve gotta go now, but I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“Okay.” I hung up the phone reluctantly.
By midnight I’d washed up and changed into a tank top and my ladybug boxer pj’s, and the dorm was deathly silent. I was climbing under my covers when a soft tap at my window practically gave me a heart attack. I grabbed the pointed metal nail file on my bedside table as I got out of bed, then dropped to my hands and knees and crawled over to the window. Keeping my head as low as I could, I peered out into the darkness.
Zach was outside, wearing a black hoodie, looking nervous and totally cute. My whole body filled with light. He was here. I didn’t know how or why, but he was here.
I unlocked the window and shoved it open in one quick movement. “What are you doing?”
“I snuck out.” Zach grinned a huge grin. “I’ve never snuck out before. And I stole Corinne’s car—just put it in neutral and rolled it out of the driveway.” He looked adorably pleased at his criminal behavior.
“Why? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you’re here.” Ecstatic was more like it. “But what’s going on?”
“I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, wondering what you were doing. What incredibly dangerous stuff you were getting into.” He laughed quietly. “Oh, and by the way, opening your window in the middle of the night to some strange guy, not the safest idea,” he teased.
“I can take care of myself. See, I had a weapon.” I held up the nail file before dropping it back on the bedside table.
“You’re crazy, you know that?” Zach’s laughter faded away. “You make me crazy.” He leaned in the window, and I twined my arms around his neck. He kissed me intensely, as if we hadn’t seen each other in weeks. I was overcome by the urge to hold on to him as tightly as possible. But with the windowsill cutting into me painfully, I released him.
Quickly, he slung his leg through the window and slipped inside, closing the window softly behind him.
“You’re becoming a regular rebel without a cause,” I joked, attempting to ease the sweltering tension between us.
“No. There’s definitely a cause for it.” Zach’s eyes were darker than usual, a storm of desire and craving. He wrapped a warm hand around the back of my neck, making my body pulse with energy. Then he bent his head, and I reached up to meet him.
Zach pressed his lips tenderly to mine. I let my mo
uth part, and his teeth lightly grazed my bottom lip, kindling a fever inside me. Our kisses deepened, becoming more forceful. We stumbled back onto my bed. Without even thinking about it, I threw a leg over Zach and pressed my body against his as we kissed. I needed to be as close to him as possible. I didn’t want us ever to be apart.
I ran my lips lightly over his neck, feeling the warm beat of his veins, and Zach’s arms tightened around me. Holding me to him, Zach shifted us so that I was lying on the bed and he was hovering above me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him even closer. I could tell he was trying not to crush me, but I wanted to feel his weight covering me, protecting me. Like nothing else could ever touch me. Zach gave in a little, allowing his chest to rest against mine as I trailed kisses down his neck. He drew in a sharp breath, and my whole body responded. He caught my earlobe gently with his teeth.
“Zach.” His name came out a sigh. Immediately, he pushed himself up and away from me.
“What?” His expression was troubled. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No. I was just … caught up. I didn’t know I was going to say anything until it was already out of my mouth.” I sat up, too, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
“I don’t want you to think I was trying to pressure you in any way. I mean, I don’t expect to …” He shook his head. “I want us to take our time.” Zach brushed my hair back from my face. “This is all I need right now, to be here with you.”
“Me, too.” I snuggled into him, laying my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me. Idly, he played with my hair, curling a strand around his finger, then letting it unspool. “When do you have to leave?” I didn’t want him to, but I knew he would have to eventually.
“I wasn’t sure. I guess that’s up to you.” Zach’s voice was uncertain.
“Stay.” It wasn’t responsible—Mrs. Moore was right down the hall, Zach’s parents could wake up at any moment and find him gone—but I wanted him next to me. But what if Zach gets in trouble with his parents? I had already landed him in the hospital this week.
“That was my choice, not yours,” Zach responded to my unspoken doubts. “And if I get in trouble, I’m the one getting in trouble. I’ve been obedient my whole life.” He rolled over so we were lying side by side, facing each other. “But I can’t stay away from you, rules or no rules. I can’t shut you out.”
“You’re the most important thing in my life.” I wanted to say more, I wanted to tell him I was beyond in love with him. But my throat tensed up, and I wasn’t sure I could get a word out. I was terrified by how much I needed him.
“Same here,” he murmured into my ear.
Goose bumps covered my body at the soft touch of his breath against my neck. I kissed him hard, with all the emotions I couldn’t express in words.
Abruptly he pulled back. “Did you hear that?” Zach’s lips were red, and his hair was disheveled; I knew without checking that I was in the same state of disarray.
“No,” I answered, “but then again, I don’t have your BV hearing.”
“Does Ms. Moore make rounds this late?”
“Not usually. It was probably just the plumbing or something. This building makes weird sounds at night.” I got up, and Zach propped himself up on one elbow, watching me walk to my door. “That’s probably why Ms. Moore never notices us sneaking out.”
I opened my door a tiny sliver. A girl came out of the bathroom, then was gone from my slim window of vision. I listened to the padding of her slippers and didn’t close my door until I heard hers shut. I locked the door—better to get in trouble for that than to get caught with a boy in my room—and turned back to Zach. He was standing next to my computer, studying something.
“It was nothing, just a girl from our floor,” I explained, but Zach didn’t seem to care about that anymore. He was holding the red file from my desk.
“Confidential—Property of Shadow Hills Police Department?” Zach read. “What are you doing with this?”
“Brody and I got it. It’s pictures of Mr. Carr’s body.” I went back to the bed and sat down. I had a feeling this might turn into a very long conversation.
Zach sat beside me and pulled the photos out. I didn’t need to say anything; he understood immediately. “Somebody did murder Mr. Carr.”
“I don’t see any other way it could have happened.”
“And a BV did it. But who?”
“Well …” I shifted a little.
“Phe … what is it? You’re making me nervous here.”
“Okay. The thing is—I had another vision last night. Well, I didn’t just have it. I asked for it.”
He stared at me. “What? What do you mean?”
“I was so worried when you got hurt.” I took a deep breath. “So I tried to induce a vision.”
“Seriously?”
I nodded. “I couldn’t think what else to do.”
Zach raised an eyebrow—he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like it always did with me.
“I decided the best place to do it was on Rebekah’s grave.”
This brought Zach to his feet.
“Why would you decide that? What, there were no creepy dark alleys available?”
“Shh.” I waved my hand, motioning for him to keep it down. “Don’t wake up Ms. Moore.”
“Phe … you’ve got to stop this.” He sat back on the bed. “You’re going to get hurt.”
“By ghosts?” I asked skeptically. “I’ll admit it was spooky, but, I mean, really—who is going to be out in a graveyard in the middle of the night?”
“Apparently you.”
I ignored this and continued my story. “The point is, I had a vision of an intensely hot pair of hands on somebody’s head. The killer had on a distinctive ring—and it cracked from the heat. Then this morning, I ran into Trent, and he was wearing a ring just like the one in my vision.”
“And Trent’s ring is cracked?”
“No,” I admitted. “But maybe my vision was a warning—Mr. Carr might not be his only victim.”
“Wait.” Zach put up a silencing hand. “Why would Trent kill Mr. Carr? He barely knew him.”
“Maybe not, but I think Trent knew Mrs. Carr. Very well.”
“Okay, let’s say you’re right. Trent is a bottom feeder—I can even see him having an affair with Mr. Carr’s wife. But killing him? He doesn’t care enough about anything to kill someone.”
“There’s more. Trent’s the one who took the police photographs.” I repeated the story Brody had told me. “Why would he do that unless he’s trying to hide something?”
“I don’t know. You’ve got them,” Zach pointed out. “How’d you get them anyway?”
“Brody snatched them from Trent’s locker.”
“I hate to think what you and Brody would’ve done if I’d been in the hospital for longer than a day. Seriously, Phe.” Zach let out a loud exhale of frustration.
“Hey, we weren’t the ones who stole the pictures,” I pointed out.
“Yes, you did; you just stole them from a thief.”
I rolled my eyes.
“And what about the thing with the Banished? The guy at the hospital that you overheard talking to Mr. Carr? That couldn’t have been Trent,” Zach challenged. “And there was the phone call that night at the dance. Mr. Carr wouldn’t have called to tell you about Trent’s affair with his wife.”
“I know. I wish my visions were clearer.”
“That’s another thing. You admitted you didn’t know if your vision was of the past or future. The person who killed Mr. Carr might not have been wearing a ring.”
I pointed to the photographs. To the spot on the handprints where you could make out the shape of the back of a ring.
“Are those roman numerals?” Zach leaned in closer to look at the hatch marks Brody had noticed earlier.
“Maybe—does Trent’s ring have roman numerals on the band?”
“Yeah. A four, for Trent Redford IV.”
“But there are only three marks here and no IV,” I held one of the photos right under the lamp, squinting to see every detail.
“Trent isn’t the only guy with a ring like that.” Zach sat back, shaking his head slowly. “His dad has an identical one. Except he’s Trent III.”
I stared at Zach, feeling cold all through. “Your Uncle Tripp?”
“Yeah.” Zach stood up and started pacing back and forth across my small room. “My great grandfather had the original ring—with one roman numeral. And my granddad had a replica—with two roman numerals.”
I got to my feet, too. “What does Tripp do? Didn’t you say he worked at the hospital?”
“He’s the assistant director of gene research. He tests us, every single Brevis Vita, once a month to chart how the disease progresses.”
“That’s what you and Corinne were doing at the hospital the first day I met you?” Everything was coming together now, crashing into me, wave after wave.
“Yeah.” Zach’s jaw tightened. “He’s quite possibly the most dangerous person to us. He could tell the Banished stuff that the Council hasn’t even learned yet.”
For a moment we just stared at each other. Finally, I asked, “And if he was the person I heard talking to Mr. Carr?”
“He’s powerful, and when it comes to his self-interests, well, he’s proved to be pretty ruthless in the past. I’d say he’d be more likely to fry somebody’s brain than Trent would. Trent’s slick—really skillful but not so much with the power.” Zach stopped pacing. “You know, Tripp might have been the one with Mrs. Carr. Dad’s always thought Tripp cheats on his wife. It’s one of the main reasons my dad dislikes him so much.”
“Why would your dad care?”
“Lillian, Tripp’s wife, was my dad’s high-school girlfriend. Then my dad left for college, got together with my mom, and Tripp got Lillian. But my dad’s still protective of her. Mom hates it.”
“Can’t say I blame her.” I wouldn’t want Zach watching over one of his exes.
“Yeah, but that’s not really the point right now.” Zach started pacing again. “Do you think Tripp could have been the guy with Mrs. Carr?”
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