by Angel Lawson
“A little,” I say. “He’s beating himself up a little, I think, but you know how he is.”
He didn’t get the nickname Captain America just for the abs.
I shovel the cereal in fast, finishing just as my phone vibrates. Somehow Kenley and I have fallen into the pattern of her picking me up for school. I rake a hand through my hair, then tug on my cap, heading toward the front door.
“Try to have a good day at school!” Mom calls.
“I will,” I reply out of habit. I open the door and see Kenley’s car in the driveway. She smiles and waves. Even though it should be hard to have a good day right now, it’s not. I wave back to Kenley. She’s the reason why.
I secure a pass during my free period and head to the yearbook room. Room is an exaggeration. It’s more like a large closet. But there are computers, the internet, and limited supervision. It’s the perfect place to start fulfilling my promise to Kenley; I’m determined to find out what happened to Rose.
It’s not that I don’t believe the police can do it. I’m just not sure they understand Rose Waller the way the rest of us do. Underneath the smile and confidence—beyond the glittery cheer bows and the teacher’s pet is a girl that spray painted “fuck you” on her best friend’s garage door and then went to a high school party to celebrate, never looking back. There’d long been rumors that Rose was full of drama, stuff I’d never paid much attention to, but usually there’s a spark of truth to gossip, especially in a town the size of Thistle Cove.
Because one thing is sure as hell, watching her dad on TV today, the city councilman and possible future mayor, I realized something. He said all the right things while also saying he was okay with the search being over. What are the chances he doesn’t want people to dig too deep?
I boot up the computer and take a minute to think about what I know about Rose Waller.
She never showed up for the first day of school.
Alice saw her on the bridge that day while driving Kenley’s car.
She’d been distant lately to Finn.
Her charm was found down current near the banks of the cove.
Police have ended the water search.
The door creaks open and I look up, expecting Kenley. It’s Ezra.
“Hey,” I say, minimizing the screen. “What are you doing in here.”
He seems surprised to see me. “Looking for Kenley, actually.”
“Yearbook business?” I hold up a flyer stacked on the desk. “Want to place an ad?”
He laughs, and it’s more noticeable that he’s gained a bit of weight and doesn’t have the hollowed out, stoner-look, anymore. “Nah. I was just wondering if she talked to the police again.”
“Not that I know of.” He gives me a questioning look. “She drove me to school today. I feel like she would have mentioned it.”
He drops in the seat next to mine. “Probably.”
“How was your interview? I got called in to confirm Kenley had been at the bonfire all night.”
“Yeah,” he runs his hand through his dark hair. “I’d talked to her that night. Up on the bridge.”
“Are you kidding? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Because the person with a record is always the first suspect. I was hoping she’d turn up before they got to me.” He frowns. “Obviously that didn’t happen.”
“What happened when you saw her?”
He leans back in his chair, stretching out his long legs, and tells me what he knows. Rose had been buying weed from him for a while. That night she wanted something harder—a party drug. She’d had a wad of cash and complained about Thistle Cove being boring.
“No wonder you thought she took off.”
“She seemed restless.”
“Do you think Finn knew she was using that much?”
“I’m gonna say no, because he was never with her, and you know how those two were stuck together. Once or twice we met out by that little club house on her property. He didn’t say anything when we were there the other day.”
Another question pops in my mind. “Was she wearing the Claddagh charm when you saw her? Around her neck?”
He thinks for a moment. “I don’t remember. But there’s something I told the police. She got a call from right before I left. The name on the screen said, ‘Daddy.’”
“Did she answer it?”
“Yeah, she did. I heard her talking to him before I pulled on my helmet.”
“So you weren’t the last one to talk to her.”
“Nope.” He leans forward. “It was her dad.”
I face the computer and open up the document I’d been working on.
“What the hell is that?” Ezra asks.
“Just making a few notes.”
“You trying to get the reward money from my dad?” he asks.
I’d seen the information about the reward come across ChattySnap.
“No, but that was nice of him.”
“I guess. If you ask me, he just likes flashing around his money. This is the perfect opportunity.” He points to the computer. “Whatcha got?”
She never showed up for the first day of school
Alice saw her on the bridge that day. Argued about Kenley.
Ezra also met her on the bridge. Rose wanted drugs.
She had a lot of money with her. Did the police find that in the car?
Rose got a phone call from “Daddy.” Did something happen during that call?
She’d been distant lately to Finn. Was she hiding secrets?
Her charm was found down current near the banks of the cove.
Police have ended the water search. Do they know something we don’t?
“What do you plan on doing with this?”
I shrug. “Not sure yet, but you and I both know Rose wasn’t as innocent as her family wants to present her. She may have run away for a reason. Or she may have gotten in an argument with her dad and jumped off that bridge. Or maybe someone killed her for the money she was carrying?”
Ezra’s eyes meet mine. They’re defensive about that last question. He knew she was carrying a lot of money. He shakes his head. “It wasn’t me. Swear.”
“I believe you,” I say, and I do, I guess. As much as I believe anyone right now.
“Any thoughts on where we should start?” he asks.
“We?”
“You just said it. I need to clear my name.” He scratches his neck. “Also, I’m curious about what she was up to, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” I open up a new tab and start typing. “If watching dozens of episodes of Catfish has taught me anything, it’s that we always start with social media. The answers are always there.”
23
Kenley
The group message comes last period. I check my phone under my desk.
Ozzy: We need to meet. Cottage?
Finn: After Football.
Ezra: Ditto
Ozzy: 9?
While I type, both Ezra and Finn agree to meet there. I take a deep breath and for some reason, check to make sure no one sees me when I press reply.
Kenley: I’m in.
I have to use the flashlight on my phone to find the cottage. The forest is thick, making visibility limited even with the moon shining overhead. I go on memory, remembering the knotty tree and the wide stumps that mark my turns. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the little green house up ahead. A small light shines in the window, and I’m happy I’m not the first one here.
The door opens as I approach, and Ozzy stands inside, hunched over and peering out the window.
“Any problem getting out?”
“No. My parents were fully involved with whatever cry-fest TV show they’re into right now.”
He smiles and steps aside, giving me space to enter the little cottage. It’s too far away from the main property to have power, although I have no doubt Mr. Waller would have supplied it if Rose had asked. Ozzy brought a camping lantern and placed it on the little table in the corn
er.
A few seconds later both Finn and Ezra show up and once again, we’re crammed in the small space. I’m not going to lie and say that I’m overwhelmed by the fresh, clean smell of both football players just out of the shower. The space is tight, and they smell ridiculously good. We manage to get back into the seats we were in the last time we were here and before anyone can say another word, Ezra pulls out a bottle of whisky and unscrews the cap.
“Don’t tell me you don’t need a drink.”
I’m not a big drinker. I don’t think Ozzy or Finn are either, but after the week we had, just like last time with the weed, I take a hit when the bottle passes me by.
“This is so weird,” I say, identifying the elephant in the room. “The four of us together like this, again. What would Rose think, knowing her disappearance brought us back together?”
“She’d probably be horrified,” Ozzy says.
“Or pissed,” Ezra adds.
“I don’t know,” Finn says, knees awkwardly bunched due to the size of the furniture, “Sometimes I think she missed the old days. Her relationship with Juliette was complicated. They didn’t always get along.”
“Really?” I ask. That’s news to me.
“Yeah, they fought a lot. Girl stuff, I guess. Clothes and jewelry. Who had the most followers on ChattySnap. They were competitive, but I think they both knew they were more powerful if they presented a united front.”
“That actually makes a lot of sense,” Ozzy says. “And is kind of why I invited you all here tonight.” He pulls out a sheet of paper with a list typed down the front and passes it around. Ezra seems to have seen it before and waves it off. Finn and I lean together, and I skim the list. It’s facts about Rose’s disappearance and questions Ozzy has complied.
One thing jumps out and Finn says it before I get a chance.
“You saw her that night?” His tone is accusatory and directed at Ezra.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I did.” There’s a defensive edge to his voice. “To the cops.”
Finn’s jaw clenches. “But not to me. What the fuck?”
“Because my relationship to Rose was strictly professional and had nothing to do with you.”
Finn moves fast, like a cat, and after watching him leap between houses, I have no doubt of his speed and agility. Ezra hops up and Ozzy and I share a quick, panicked glance before reaching for both of them.
“Stop!” I shout, wedging myself between the two of them. I press one hand flat on each of their chests. “There’s not enough room for you two to fight in here without some collateral damage. If you want to beat the shit out of each other, then do it outside. Leave me and Oz out of it.”
Finn’s chest heaves with anger, and I feel the pitter-pat of Ezra’s against my palm.
“Can you two calm down so we can look at what Ozzy is trying to show us?”
“If he stops being a lying douchebag,” Finn says though clenched teeth.
“I can do that if he can stop pretending to be the golden boy of Thistle Cove for five fucking minutes and just be real.”
“I never—”
“Stop!” I shout, glad we’re way out in the woods. I try to catch Finn’s angry, hurt eyes, but he looks to the side. “I didn’t know that Ezra was there that night either. Or about the drugs. We need to be happy he’s come forward so we can put some of these pieces together.”
He finally looks at me, and a thrill runs down my spine at the intensity of his glare. “Fine. But no more secrets.”
I glance at Ezra, whose chest is still puffed out. He nods.
Both boys move back to their seats. Ozzy and I exchange a relieved look. That was like taming two wild animals in a very small cage.
“Ezra, tell us everything you told the police,” I say, passing the list back to Ozzy, “and everything you didn’t.”
He laughs, because everyone in this room knows there’s an unedited version of events he’s holding close to the vest.
“She’d been buying weed from me for a while—honestly, man, I figured you knew about that.” He looks at Finn. “You guys went to all the parties—it’s not like she didn’t drink. Smoking weed is a pretty basic next step. Just a few ounces here and there. But the shit she asked me for the other night wasn’t weed, and it’s way above my pay scale. She wanted a few hits of Molly and I don’t mess with that shit. I have a cousin that OD’d last year. Fucked him up.”
Ozzy looks at Finn. “You really didn’t know?”
“I knew she smoked—mostly with Juliette. She was stressed out a lot of the time. Worried about grades and her parents' approval. Getting into a good college was big for her. I thought she was just smoking to relax. Anything harder is news to me.”
I lean over and take the list from Ozzy. “What’s this about her dad calling her while you were leaving? That’s the first I’ve heard of that.”
“I know,” Finn says. “Neither the Wallers or the police have mentioned a final phone call. You told them, right?”
“Yeah, I didn’t really think it was a big deal.”
“Normally it wouldn’t be,” I say, “but if Mr. Waller was the last person to talk to her before she vanished, that’s pretty important.”
“I agree,” Ozzy says, leaning back in his seat, “but remember how you two went to football camp in middle school and made fun of me for going to computer camp?”
Ezra and Finn share a laugh. “Yep.”
“Well, at night, after the counselors went to bed, the campers stayed up—”
“To what?” Ezra says, with an amused grin. “Circle jerk?”
Ozzy rolls his eyes. “To explore the underbelly of the internet, including how to hack into different programs.”
“You can hack into computers?” I ask, not exactly surprised, but it’s not like I’ve kept up with him the last few years.
“Yeah, I can, and today I decided to dig around into some of Rose’s accounts to see if I could find anything.”
Finn shifts forward. “Did you?”
“Yeah, a few things. Rose had a second ChattySnap account.” He looks at Finn. “Under the name Rosemary’s Baby. Did you know that?”
Finn’s forehead furrows. “Rosemary’s Baby? Like the movie? No, I had no idea.”
“I didn’t think so. You weren’t on her list of followers and she wasn’t following you, but something did stick out. There was one account she followed—a business.” He gives Finn an apologetic look. “A dating app.”
“What the fuck?” Finn asks.
“I probably wouldn’t have thought much about it except Ezra had already told me about that phone call she got on the bridge, the one from ‘Daddy.’"
“Her dad,” I repeat, trying to follow.
“No, ‘Daddy.’”
“Rose didn’t call her father Daddy, not anymore,” Finn says. “She dropped it around tenth grade and just started calling him Brice. That’s the name he’s listed under.”
The room grows still.
“The app is called SugarBabies. It’s for girls looking for a sugar daddy.”
“A what?” I ask.
Ezra answers. “Girls looking for older men who will give them an allowance for, uh, an arranged relationship.”
“Why do you know that?” I ask, feeling sick.
“I know this may sound shocking, but I do read occasionally.”
I make a face.
“Fine, it was in Playboy. My dad is old school and still gets a subscription, but still.” Ezra rolls his eyes. “It’s not a new concept—apps just make it easier.”
“And more dangerous,” Ozzy says. “I made a fake account. It didn’t take long to find Rose on there under the handle Rosemary’s Baby.”
Finn hasn’t spoken for a full minute, just sitting on the couch looking shell shocked.
“So what you’re saying is that Rose was on a dating app looking for a sugar daddy. And that person could have been the ‘daddy�
� that contacted her that night on the bridge.” I look at Ozzy. “That sounds crazy.”
“So does one of the most popular and prominent girls in Thistle Cove going missing.”
He’s got a point. All of this has been crazy from the start.
“Let me see,” Finn says. Ozzy holds out the phone and he takes it, scrolling through the account. After a moment his face falls further.
“Do you know anything about this?” Ozzy asks Finn. “Like you didn’t know she was cheating on you, did you?”
Because that looks bad. Really bad.
Finn shakes his head. “No. I swear.”
A fluttery, nervous feeling fills my belly. I knew I’d lost Rose years ago, that she was into bigger and more exciting things than the girl that does all her homework and is satisfied sitting at home on Saturday nights, but I had no idea it would lead to this. I certainly didn’t know this when I spoke to her that night at the pool. A different emotion builds in the pit of my stomach, and now I’m the one that’s scrambling toward the door, looking for fresh air.
“Move,” I mumble, crawling over long legs and reaching for the door. I push it open and cool, fresh air hits me in the face. I smell the salt of the bay and take a deep gulp of air as I lean against the outside of the cottage.
The boys come out, one by one, Ozzy holding the lantern. It casts a circular glow.
“Hey,” he says, “I know this is really upsetting, but it may be the first real break in the case.”
I nod, knowing he’s right. “That’s not what I’m upset about.”
Ozzy frowns. “What’s wrong? Do you know something else?”
I take a deep breath. “I talked to Rose right before school started. She came by the pool when she knew I would be alone.” I swallow back bile. “I hadn’t really spoken to her in years, and to say I was surprised to see her, alone, is an understatement.”
The enormity of what I’m saying isn’t lost on any of these guys. They knew how big the rift between us was.