“Say what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking that offshore accounts smack of someone a little higher brow than anyone in this town. That maybe our good friend, the AD, might be behind the scenes, pulling the strings. That maybe it’s time we corner Higgins and get the unofficial findings on their cases. See if he intentionally covered something up.”
“You think the AD made him overlook their cases?”
“At this point, I’m not putting anything past him or anyone in this town, for that matter. Jasperville is built on a shady foundation. We can’t afford to trust that the cops did their jobs.”
“No,” he sighed. “We can’t. Which is unfortunate, given that he’s the one that searched Danielle’s locker.”
As if on cue, Dawson’s phone rang.
“Yeah,” he said in a gruff voice. “You found a cell phone? Is it a burner? Did you look through the messages—you know what? Leave it. I’ll look myself—”
Silence fell heavy in the room. I could hear the mumble of the sheriff’s voice on the other end but couldn’t make out the words. Judging by Dawson’s increasing pallor, they weren’t good.
“I see.… Yeah, okay. I’ll be there in fifteen.”
He hung up without saying goodbye.
“What’d he say?” The young fed’s eyes fell on me, still a bit wild, then he shook his head and headed for the door. “Hey!” I said, grabbing his arm as he brushed past me. “What’s going on?”
“It’s official business. I can’t tell you.” His dismissal was obvious, but I was having none of it. I jumped in front of him, blocking the door.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both, now move.”
“Something he said has you spooked. It’s written all over your face. Should I be worried, too?”
“Yes” was his only response.
I tried to let it wash over me and failed. The cold hand of fear trailed its way across my neck, making me shiver.
“What did Higgins find, Dawson?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
He hesitated for a moment. “He searched her text history. Lots of times and dates on there—things he expected to find.” Another pause. I leaned in closer. “But the final text—the last one she received before she died—had a name in it. Your name.”
The fear took hold, choking off my air as I struggled to breathe.
“My name?”
He nodded. “With a question mark after it. It was from the same phone number all the other texts were from—most likely the pimp. You’re on his radar, Kylene.”
Not good. So not good.
“What do we do?”
“We don’t do anything. I’m going to go meet with the sheriff and go over the evidence. I’ll have a plan put together after that.”
“Okay.… Be careful.”
“Me? I’m not the one whose name’s on that phone.”
“Right, but if we’re worried about the sheriff’s potential cover-up of the girls’ disappearances, then your meeting could be an ambush—especially if the AD is involved. He cleans up his messes, Dawson. I know that all too well.”
“I’ll be careful,” he said, giving me a wan smile. “Thanks for your concern.”
“Well,” I said, taking a deep breath to try and shake the dread growing inside, “you are my ex-boyfriend and all. I don’t want to have to fake cry at your real funeral if you get yourself killed.”
“Mmm … that would be awful. I’ll try not to put you out like that.” He continued to stare at me as I hovered awkwardly near the entryway. There was always such a weight to his gaze—like he was far older than his twenty-three years. Like he’d weathered so much pain in his short lifetime. I wondered if maybe he had. Then I wondered if he saw the same in me. “I’m going to follow you home before I meet up with Higgins—make sure you get there all right. I know how you love a dramatic car chase.”
I forced a laugh.
“So, does this mean you’ll be dropping your cover story now? If Danielle was your purpose for being there, then…”
“I don’t know yet. I don’t get to make that call. There could still be a connection at the school and until I hear otherwise, I’m going to push to stay put—especially with that text on Danielle’s phone.”
He pinned me in place with his stare.
“And here I was hoping to be rid of you,” I joked, though my tone lacked any hint of humor.
“Afraid not, Danners.” He lingered for a beat, then reached past me for the door. “I should probably go.”
“Yeah … I have homework to do tonight, anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I slipped through the door he’d just opened and headed for my car.
“What’s this?” he asked, following me out onto the front step. “No goodbye kiss?”
His smug smile was back, but I could see it didn’t quite reach his eyes. The notes of green in them always seemed to flare whenever he was trying to get under my skin. But I did appreciate his attempt to lighten the mood.
“I don’t kiss my exes, Dawson.”
He laughed. “Might want to tell AJ that.”
I shook my head. “See ya later.”
“Good night, Danners.”
I drove home trying to convince myself that my name in that phone wasn’t really a big deal. Danielle was gone, and though she was a victim, that fact was somewhat overshadowed by the role she’d played in exploiting other young girls. She was a predator—a trafficker in her own right. I was certain she had solid reasons for her involvement, but they died with her.
I’d never learn her story.
With her gone, she couldn’t leverage me into the sex trade, but the fact that the person in charge knew me well enough to know that my circumstances were not good was unnerving. That person had knowledge of my personal life that they shouldn’t have, and I couldn’t help but scroll through a mental index of who that could be.
I spent the whole night pondering just that.
TWELVE
The next morning, Tabby nearly attacked me in the hallway on our way to gym to ask why Alex wasn’t in first period with her. I hesitated before giving her some lame excuse about him texting me saying he didn’t feel well—that he wasn’t up to coming. She seemed satisfied with my response, but I wasn’t. I was jealous that he could blow off classes to go do whatever he was doing. Given the night’s events, I knew he hadn’t just randomly slept in.
Coach was subbing for Ms. Davies again, but, not surprisingly, he took a very different tone with me, ignoring me entirely. I could live with that. I felt like I should stop by and deliver Principal Thompson a fruit basket or something.
When lunch rolled around, we took our seats at our usual table—the one farthest away from everyone else. While I poked at what appeared to be some kind of loose meat sandwich, Tabby rattled off everything that I’d missed in her first period class. Apparently, some girl had attacked another one over (yep, you guessed it) a boy, and poor Mr. Andrews—the tiny history teacher—had to pry them apart while dodging blows. Tabby seemed floored by this behavior, but I knew it was nothing new. JHS was like a zoo full of wild animals. It was only a matter of time before a fight broke out amid the different species.
“Anything exciting happen to you today?” she asked, daring to take a bite of the lunch special du jour.
“I found a quarter by my locker.…”
She shot me an unimpressed look. “Are you going to text Alex and see how he’s doing?”
“Why would I?” I asked, sounding confused. “He’s my ex, Tabs, not my boyfriend.”
“You’re not worried?”
I could feel the weight of her stare as I took a bite of my food.
“No. He’s not dying, Tabby. He’s just under the weather.”
I dared a glance her way. I was met with a sour expression, those sharp eyes of hers narrowed, assessing me in a way I knew I would soon regret.
“You don’t seem like you care very much about him, Ky.”
“I care!” I
argued, feigning offense. “But we’re not together anymore.”
She hesitated. “He clearly still likes you. Why else would he have come here?”
“Poorly made decisions?” I offered.
“Do you want to get back with him?”
“I want to eat my lunch.”
“You totally bailed on him at homecoming—”
“To go find evidence at Mark’s house, Tabby! Not to avoid him.”
“You never talk about him—”
“Because I don’t want to be that girl!”
“Or light up when he’s around—”
“I’m not a neon sign, Tabby. And I don’t really get excited about anyone, in case you haven’t noticed. In fact, this is me excited, see?” I pointed to a forced grin, and she laughed.
“Well … you have a point there. It’s just that—”
“Tabby,” I interrupted. “Alex and I are complicated. Always have been. Probably always will be. We left on … interesting terms. Our history isn’t all rainbows and unicorns.”
“Okay.…”
“Really. I used to light up when I was around him,” I said, leaving out the “especially when he left” portion of that truth for obvious reasons. “A part of me is glad he came to school here. It’s just hard to adjust. My life in Columbus was different. Inserting him in Jasperville isn’t so simple.”
Her eyes drifted off toward the school, then back to me. A tiny smile tugged at her lips.
“Is it your difficulty inserting him into your life that’s making it hard for you, or is it the return of someone else that’s complicating things?”
Before I had a chance to puzzle out what she was implying, a tall dark shadow engulfed me. I turned around to find her meaning standing behind me.
AJ, the lunch crasher, was back.
“You’re not actually going to eat that, are you?” he asked, straddling the bench to sit beside me. He stared down at my tray for effect, his features twisted with disgust. I stifled a laugh—his face had always been highly animated.
“Nope, I bought it on the off chance you’d be joining us.”
His brow furrowed. “I can’t tell if that was an act of kindness or aggression.”
I shrugged. “Guess you’ll never know.”
I popped a fry into my mouth and grinned.
“I’m glad you came to join us again,” Tabby said, drawing our collective attention. The twinkle in her eye as she stared at us told me I was going to want to kill her before the lunch bell rang. “We were just talking about you.”
“Were you?” he asked, snatching a fry off my tray before I could bat his hand away. Stealing a fry from me was tantamount to asking to be flayed alive. AJ knew that, which meant only one thing. He, too, was testing me.
“Not really,” I replied, sliding my tray out of reach. “Tabby was talking about boys she wanted to see naked. I mainly nodded and smiled to placate her.” I dared a glance over at my pale friend whose face had turned a scarlet red. “Care to weigh in?” I asked him. “Although you’ve probably seen most of what JHS has to offer in the locker room already, so this might be a boring conversation for you.”
“Well, Chris Tomlinson does have an impressive eight-pack,” he said, reaching past me to grab another fry off my tray. Again. I would have snapped him into a headlock if I’d been thinking clearly, but the feeling of his body brushing against my chest seemed to temporarily short my circuits. By the time the thought of defending my food occurred to me, he was sitting upright in his seat, munching away on his pilfered fry.
“Awesome. I’ll see if I can get him to flash me in Spanish.”
“You won’t be disappointed,” he said with a wink. A clear challenge.
“And if I am?” I replied, shifting closer to him in my seat. Challenge accepted.
“I’ll find something better to show you.”
“Promises, promises.” I dismissed him with a wave of my hand.
“You know me well enough to know I always deliver on my promises.”
“Oh really?” I replied, my tone thick with incredulity. “Like you did that night at Garrett’s when you said you’d run through the woods naked if I beat you at arm wrestling?”
“You totally cheated!” he said, feigning affront.
“And the night you said you’d moon the grandstand at the Pumpkin Festival when we were riding the freshman float?”
“That was a wardrobe malfunction. I was wearing button-fly jeans and I couldn’t get them down in time!”
“Mm-hmm,” I said, staring at him as I took a long sip of my fountain pop. I let the straw linger in my mouth for a second too long, and I could feel the weight of AJ’s gaze fall on my lips before returning to my eyes. “What about the night at Matthew’s Ice Cream Shop when you promised to streak around the building if I out-ate you?”
He swallowed hard. “I’ll take a rematch on that one anytime.…”
“All I hear is a lot of talk, AJ.”
“You calling my bluff, Ky?”
I took a bite of a French fry, never breaking my stare. “I’m just stating the facts.”
He leaned in closer. “Name the place. Name the dare.”
I felt a rush of blood fill my face as my body remembered how easy it was to be with him. How easy it was to want to be near him. To want him to touch me.
“The cafeteria’s a pretty public spot,” I said, my voice low and husky. “Lots of people to see you in all your glory.”
“Is that the challenge then? Drop trou and run through the tables?”
I quirked a brow. “Think you got it in you, Miller?”
He leaned in closer still. So close that I could feel his breath on my face when he spoke.
“Depends on the prize.”
Seconds seemed like years in that moment. I didn’t want to be the one to flinch first, but reality had crashed into me and I knew I had to. I wasn’t just flirting with AJ. I was courting disaster at best. At worst, total scandal.
“No prize,” I said, pulling away from him. “Just you making good on your past bets.”
I doubt he felt it, but for a split second, his expression fell with the sudden turn of our conversation. It was clear that he’d wanted a different outcome—expected it, even.
“Another time. Maybe in a couple weeks—for your eighteenth birthday,” he replied, forcing a smile.
“Your birthday is coming up?” Tabby asked, unable to curb her excitement.
“Yeah. Two and a half weeks from today, I can officially adult.”
She cringed. “That makes it sound less appealing.”
AJ laughed as he stood up. “Ladies, I’m going to leave so you can eat your dubious lunches without the distraction of me streaking—today.”
He looked at me for a moment before stepping over the bench and walking away.
“Bye, AJ!” Tabby yelled after him. I, however, remained silent, scared to open my mouth for fear of what might tumble out. I needed super glue, and lots of it. Then the redhead’s eyes fell on me and I knew I was in trouble.
“So that ex-boyfriend of yours,” she started, unable to conceal her delight at what had just taken place.
“Which one?”
“Exactly…,” she replied with a fiendish smile.
“Tabby—”
“I’d say you and Alex just found yourself another relationship complication.”
“No, I’d say I wandered a little too far down memory lane with AJ. That’s all.”
She shook her head.
“That’s not what it looked like to me.”
“Then maybe you need glasses.”
“Sorry, Ky. My eyesight is 20/20, and it’s telling me that you’re in one hell of an ex-boyfriend mess.”
I exhaled heavily, letting my lips flap with the force. Although I would have loved to argue her observation, hindsight was 20/20, too, and I knew damn well I’d lose—especially after what she’d just witnessed. It had always been so easy with AJ. Easy to joke. Easy to laugh. Eas
y to love. Until it wasn’t. But that hurdle was no longer on the track, and the farther I ran, the clearer I could see him standing at the finish line. Distance and distraction would be the only cure for my AJ situation, and that was going to prove difficult—maybe even impossible. With he and I having made amends, he would be unavoidable for sure.
The only solution I could see was to pick a side—and, given the case, I knew which side that would have to be. Simple in theory, but not so in application. My lunch hour left me vulnerable to AJ’s stealth attacks, and since Tabby was clearly flying the #TeamAJ banner, she’d be no help at all. I had to somehow convince my redheaded wingman that Dawson was the guy for me.
Her and me both.
THIRTEEN
With still no word from Dawson, I decided to swing by the law office of Stenson, Marcus, and Clark to see Meg. I found the secretary, Marcy, at her control center, fielding a call when I walked through the door. She looked up at me and her face went pale in an instant. I waved at her, hoping it would make us both feel less awkward. It didn’t, but it was worth a shot anyway.
I stood there until she hung up.
“Is Meg in?”
She nodded, forcing a smile, then picked up the receiver to buzz her boss. Seconds later, swift and determined footfalls echoed from the hall of offices. Meg stepped into the front area with a look of guilt and relief on her face.
“Come on back,” she said, waving me over. I joined her and the two of us made our way back to her office in silence. No playful remarks. No witty repartee. For once, the gravity of a situation pressed down on us far too heavily for that.
She closed the door behind me, shutting us into her office for privacy. Meg had worked on my behalf to clear me of any potential charges regarding her dead colleague, Luke. The one I’d killed in self-defense. She’d managed to keep my name out of the papers because I was a minor, and she may have threatened every single person at the sheriff’s department with legal action if my name was ever leaked. But it was Jasperville—some version of the truth would eventually come out. One the town could spin to its liking.
Everyone would think I was a murderer, just like my father.
“So,” I said, unable to bear the silence between us or the parental look of fear and guilt on Meg’s face, “do I still have a job here, or what?”
Don't Say a Word (Hometown Antihero) Page 7