“Yo, yo, yo, what’s up?” she greets me cheerfully after I answer.
“Not much,” I say. “Just parked up on a hill a few miles from your house, staking out the house of Alexander Garyinford.”
“Who the heck is that?”
“The guy who owns that blue car that I’m pretty sure was following us yesterday.”
“Really?” She sounds intrigued. “What’s the address? Maybe I know who he is.”
After I prattle off the address, she grows unnervingly quiet.
“What’s up?” I ask. “I can tell something is.”
“Well,” she hesitantly starts, “I don’t know who this Alexander dude is, but I do know who owns that house. And so do you.”
I’m about to ask her who it is when one of the garage doors open and out walks Rylen.
“You have got to be kidding me. My eyes have got to be shitting me or something.”
Nope. The longer I stare at him, the more I realize my eyes are indeed not shitting me. Rylen is right there. This is his house.
He’s wearing a pair of black jeans, a grey T-shirt, and leather bands cover his wrists. When I zoom in on him with my camera phone, I notice his hair is wet, as if he just got out of the shower.
“Rylen? This is Rylen’s house?”
I shouldn’t be so surprised. He’s friends with Dixon, after all. But sadly, I am. Shocked. Disappointed. And shamefully, a bit hurt, too.
“Yeah,” Kennedy says apologetically. “His family actually owns two houses in Shadow Cove, but I think Rylen mostly lives in the one you’re staking out right now.”
“But Garyinford isn’t his last name.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve never heard of it before.”
“So then, why is that car linked to this address?”
“Maybe it’s like their butler’s car or something? Or their maid’s? Ours live in the guesthouse out back, but they use the same address as us.”
“That could be it.” As Rylen gets in his SUV, I start up my engine. “I think I’m going to tail him.”
“You’re gonna tail Rylen?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Call it a hunch.”
“A hunch for what?”
“I have no idea.” I back up, steer out onto the road, and speed around the curving road toward the front gate of Rylen’s house. “But the best way to find out what a person is truly up to is to follow them.”
“Where’d you hear that?”
I slip on my sunglasses. “I just made it up, actually.”
“Well, let me know how that turns out. Twenty bucks says he drives by your house.”
My fingers tighten on the steering wheel as I zoom past the mansions that make up the neighborhood. “So, you do think he’s the one driving the blue car and following us around?”
“No, I think he’s a guy who has a major crush on you. And you’re going to end up breaking his heart when you accuse him of stalking us.”
“Who says I’m going to do that?”
“Were you not planning on it?” she challenges with skepticism.
“Nope.”
“Liar.”
“All right, maybe I’ve already thought about doing it, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to.” I slow down as I near the front gates to Rylen’s place and pull over to the curb near a large tree. “It all really depends on what I find out about him.”
She sighs. “Oh, Mak, not everyone is out to get you.”
“You can still say that after what happened yesterday?” I hunker down in the seat as Rylen pulls his SUV out of the driveway.
“Yeah, I can. Things might seem a little crazy right now, but if I went around not trusting anyone, I’d be super lonely.”
I wait a beat or two before steering back onto the road, keeping a safe distance from Rylen to avoid being spotted, but not enough distance that I’ll lose him if he makes a turn.
“I trust you, Ev, and Embry,” I point out, then put my phone on speaker and set it in the console. “Besides, right now, we need to be careful of who we trust. At least until we figure some things out. Speaking of which, did you find anything out last night?”
“A couple of things, actually,” she says over the sound of keys clanking. “Over half the stores and businesses in Shadow Cove have that mark on them, including my father’s.”
“Shit, that’s a lot,” I say, then add apologetically, “Sorry about your dad.”
“No worries. We already kind of knew that anyway.” She aims for a cheerful tone, but I know her well enough that I can tell it’s fake. “I also found out that my dad does a lot of work for the businesses in Shadow Cove. And I’m not talking about court cases, either.”
“Then, what’s he doing for them?”
“I couldn’t find anything specific, but he has all these receipts and forms documenting the work he did for them. It never states the details. I’m thinking he might be doing work for this secret society, but I can’t document it.”
“That could be it.” As Rylen makes a turn off the main road, I flip on my blinker. “The main goal of secret societies is to keep everything a secret.”
“I just wish we knew what the point of this secret society was. What they’re up to. If they’re linked to all the murders and disappearances around here. And what the hell any of this has to do with you and that bizarre necklace.”
“Yeah, I’d like to know all that, too.”
“Do you still think the secret society has something to do with human trafficking?”
“Honestly, I’m not so sure anymore.” Then I begin to tell her what happened to Ev and me last night while I was getting a checkup. I’m almost finished when Rylen reaches his final destination—the Shadow Cove Skate Park.
“So not where I was expecting him to go,” I mumble as I slowly steer up to the entrance.
“What’s wrong?” Kennedy asks.
I park toward the back and silence the engine. “I just found out where Rylen was heading to this morning.”
“And …?”
“The skate park.”
She snickers. “See, I was totally right.”
I down the last droplets of my coffee. “About what?”
“About Rylen having nothing to do with this.”
I toss the empty cup aside. “That’s not what you said at all.”
“Yes, I did. You just weren’t listening.”
“Okay, maybe. Still, it doesn’t mean I’m convinced Rylen isn’t part of this society thing. I mean, let’s look at the facts. One”—I raise my finger, though she can’t see—“according to Liam, you have to have the right last name to be in the society. A last name that’s connected to wealth and power. Collinforton is a name that more than qualifies. Plus, Rylen’s father owns, like, twenty-five percent of the stores in Shadow Cove and two houses. Rylen hangs out with Dixon, who I know has to be connected to the society via his douchebag father. And Rylen hangs out with Liam, who’s already admitted he’s part of some club that pissed off the society. So, Rylen could be part of this club or the society itself. A society that, just yesterday morning, doped me up with morphine and tossed me out by the lake as a warning.”
“Or, he could simply be a guy who’s completely unaware that the town he lives in is connected to some creepy-ass society who roughs up teenage girls to scare them,” she says matter-of-factly. “Maybe he’s just the sweet guy you’ve always known, who loves to skate and who is crushing on my awesome, albeit slightly neurotic, best friend. Seriously, Mak, how much coffee have you had this morning? I can feel your damn jitteriness through the phone.”
I glance down at the two empty coffee cups on the passenger seat. “I don’t know. A couple of cups.”
“Well, you need to chill on the caffeine for a bit. And you need to chill out about Rylen, and accept that maybe he is just a guy who likes you.”
“I’ll accept that when I have proof. It’s just the way I am, Ken. And with everything going on … I can’t just trust p
eople.”
“Mak—”
“I have to go check on something,” I cut her off. “Do me a favor; call Ev and see if she found out if I’m good to go to school today. Call you in a bit.” I hang up before she can scold me further. Then I tuck my phone and car keys into my pocket, hop out of the car, and grab my iPod and skateboard.
I haven’t skated in a couple of days, so my heart bursts with eagerness as I approach the ramps. But being here isn’t about skating.
Well, okay, that might be a lie, but it’s not the main reason I’m here.
No, the main reason is because of the necklace.
Yesterday when I talked to Rylen in school, it didn’t get all blistering hot while I was near him, but it did a few moments after he allegedly left. What if the vial hadn’t heated in the hallway because of Trysten, but because Rylen was still lingering around? What if he was the person driving the blue car?
There’s only one way to find out.
Chapter 12
LOCATION: SHADOW COVE SKATE PARK
TIME: 6:58 AM
DATE: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24th
I’m not sure I’ve ever been to the skate park this early. Boy, oh boy, is it crowded. Mostly with guys, although there is a girl a few years older than me hitting up the half-pipe. I’ve seen her here before. Don’t know her name, but she has some pretty wicked moves. Enough to draw attention. Good, that’ll keep me out of the spotlight for a bit, because I’m not here to show off. I’m here to find answers.
Tucking the vial underneath the neckline of my shirt, I pop in my earbuds, yet don’t crank up the music. I just want to give off the illusion that I’m not paying attention. That way, people won’t be cautious with what they say around me.
After I kick off, I skate toward the farthest ramp away from almost everyone, pretending I’m in the zone. I do a couple of tail stalls, a few rock to fakies, and a 360, highly aware Rylen keeps glancing in my direction. He hasn’t been on the ramps since I rolled up, just standing over on the side, chatting with a couple of his friends.
I’ve about convinced myself to skate over there, to chat with him for a bit and see if I can get this currently dormant necklace to go all glowworm on me, when Dixon strolls up to Rylen.
The two of them exchange a couple of words, then Dixon throws me a smirk from over his shoulder. My lip twitches in irritation as I skate up the side of the ramp. When I reach the top, I flip around, delivering an almost perfect 720. After I land it, I flip Dixon the middle finger then skate off toward the other side. Once I reach the back of the ramp, I kick my board up into my hands then creep back toward where Dixon and Rylen are standing. The ramp is high enough and at the right angle that I can easily get close to them without being seen. I keep my earbuds in to appear as if I’m not eavesdropping, highly aware that the necklace is cool against my sweaty skin.
“Why do you always have to be such a dick to her?” Rylen is saying as I tuck my skateboard underneath my arm and strain my ears to listen.
“Why not?” Dixon replies in an arrogant tone.
“That’s the stupidest reason I’ve ever heard,” Rylen mutters. “Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear you had a thing for her or something.”
“It’s a good thing you do know better then,” Dixon replies coldly.
“Still, it would be better if you lay off her,” Rylen says. “Now that they’re targeting her, we need to be more careful around her. She can’t know anything’s up yet, or they’ll end up knowing.”
“If I was nice to her, she’d think something was up,” Dixon stresses. “Mak and I have been going at it for years now. It’s what we do.”
“Sometimes you act like you get off on pissing her off,” Rylen states with disgust.
“So what if I do?” Dixon responds indifferently. “It’s better than following her around like a lovesick puppy. A puppy she’s going to kick to the curb once she finds out the truth.”
I lean closer, ready to hear more, when someone taps me on the shoulder.
I jolt, raising my fist for reasons I can barely comprehend.
“It’s just me.” Kennedy stands in front of me with her hands up. Her blonde hair is in a braid, her eyeshadow is as sparkly as her shoes, and her pink dress matches her lip gloss. Underneath the glitz and makeup, though, a large, gnarly, very fresh welt marks her cheek.
“Holy crap, is that new?” I hiss with wide eyes as I grab her arm and steer her away from Dixon and Rylen before they realize I was eavesdropping.
Her fingers float to her cheek as she trots in her heels to keep up with me. “Yeah, I hit it on the top of the car door when I was opening it.”
I narrow my eyes at her as I tug the earbuds out. “Bullshit. Your stepmom hit you again, didn’t she?”
Strands of her hair puff from her face as she blows out an exasperated breath. “Look, I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
I shake my head as I steer us toward the parking lot. “Nope, that’s what you said the other night. I’m not letting you off the hook twice.”
“Let me off the hook?” She arches her brow. “Since when are you the boss of me?”
“Since forever,” I quip. “Now fess up.”
She sighs in defeat. “Look, I’ll talk to you about it later. I promise.” Her gaze flicks to the parking lot. “When we’re alone, okay?” Her skin pales as she swallows hard. “The less people who know about what happened, the better.”
“You know Embry and Ev will understand, right? It’s not your fault. It’s your stepmom’s and your dad’s for allowing this to happen.”
“I know, but right now”—her eyes travel around the skaters cramming up the area—“I’m not ready for anyone to find out about this.”
“Tonight, you and I will talk about it,” I stress as I quicken my pace. “And I’m not taking any excuses. We’re going to talk and figure out a way to get her to stop.”
“Fine.” She appears distracted, distant as she dazes off over her shoulder then looks back at me. “What were you just doing back there, hiding out behind the ramp?”
I more than notice her obvious subject change, but we will return to the conversation because there’s no way in hell I’m going to continue to allow her stepmom to hit her.
“Listening to Rylen and Dixon chat about Dixon’s fetish with tormenting me, and how I’m going to be pissed off when I find out the truth about them. And how they’re setting me up for something.”
When we make it to my car, I see Kennedy’s is parked beside mine, and sitting inside is Embry and Ev.
“Awesome, everyone’s here.” I quicken my pace. “Now we can chat before school starts, and find out if I can even go to school without getting into major trouble.”
“Oh yeah, Ev said you’re good to go on that.”
“Really?”
She nods. “She said there was nothing listed in your files about why you were called into the office yesterday, so she called up one of her friends who is an assistant or something in the office. They said they overheard the principal telling the secretary to buzz you into the office for a college counseling meeting.”
I open the door to the back seat of her car. “That’s weird. They just had me do one of those a couple weeks ago.”
She peers over the roof with her brows knit. “That’s a little strange.”
“Yeah, especially since, if I hadn’t been called to the office, I never would’ve gone down the hallway where Lispy Larry was waiting for me,” I whisper lowly, the revelation causing my stomach to ravel in knots.
Why haven’t I thought about that before? That maybe someone from the office is in the society and helped him out?
Because I was too fixated on thinking I got caught snooping through the security cameras. Rookie mistake, Mak, rookie mistake.
Kennedy’s eyes cram with worry as she ducks into the car.
I slide into the back beside Ev, my stomach twisting into tighter knots.
“So, you think someone in the scho
ol office is part of the society and set you up to get caught by Larry?” Kennedy asks the second we get the doors shut.
“What?” Ev gapes, her eyes huge behind her glasses.
“I’m not positive.” I set my board down on the floor beside my feet and wrap the cord of the earbuds around my iPod. “But I’ve already had my college counseling meeting, so unless there’s a logical reason as to why I need two, then whoever called me to the office yesterday morning could’ve been trying to get me into the perfect location for Lispy Larry to dope me up.” I flip back in the seat. “He said it himself when he injected me. He said we were out of view of the cameras. Maybe that’s because he planned it out with someone in the main office. They’d know better than anyone which spots of the school are out of view. Or, better yet, they could power down the cameras altogether.” I brush my hair out of my eyes as another revelation smacks me square in the gut. “If that’s the case, then my attack wasn’t captured on camera … I’m still going to look. If by chance anything was caught, I’ll have proof of Lispy Larry’s attack.”
Ev fidgets nervously with a band of bracelets she’s wearing. “After what I found out this morning … I think maybe you should consider going to Mayfield to make the report.”
“What’d you find out?” I ask, leaning forward.
She picks at her fingernails. “I messaged my hacker friend to ask him to look into your school records, medical records, and to see if he can find out if there is a high number of security cameras in town. Your records came back clean, Mak—both the school’s and the medical. Although, you should know that nowhere in your medical records did it suggest you have a vitamin B deficiency, so I wouldn’t take those vitamins Scarlett gave you.”
“What vitamins?” Embry interrupts, the chains on her plaid pants jiggling as she scoots forward.
“We’ll fill you in, in a sec,” I tell her then look back at Ev. “I wasn’t planning on it, but I was thinking that maybe we could get the vitamins tested and see what they are.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Ev agrees. “That way, we can at least have an idea of what Scarlett’s motives are for lying to you.”
What Lies in the Dark Page 8