I let out a soft chuckle. “Mason doesn’t need to know where I am twenty-four seven. Even if he did, all he would have to do is ask one of the many girls infatuated with you and he’d figure out where I was.”
He laughed, not realizing that I was just stroking his ego. I knew the topic I had to bring up would be brushed away easily if he didn’t have an interest in talking to me. No one liked to be accused of murder, or connected to it in any way, so I had to be careful with how I brought it up. Luckily, Mason had come up with a plan for that. Flirt, say I was stressed about an upcoming test, ask if he knew anything I could get a hold of, and trap him.
Of course it sounded simple, but Mason wasn’t the one who had to do it. No, unfortunately that pleasure was all mine, and I’d have to find some way to make it work without him or anyone else figuring out what we were doing. Something in the back of my mind told me this wasn’t the entirety of Mason’s plan either. He had been too calm about it, and I knew he had something up his sleeve, I just wasn’t sure what. I’d find out eventually, and I’d probably hate it.
Cole shook his head slowly, maintaining the smirk like a pro. His gaze slid from my face and down to my chest. “Answer this for me? Are you one of those girls who’s quiet in a crowd, but then loud when it counts?” He furrowed his eyebrows and finally dragged his eyes away from my chest.
I shifted in my seat uncomfortably at the underlying meaning in his question, but did my best not to allow my disgust to show on my face. Instead, I replied with a simple, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Now I had his attention. Cole rested an elbow on the table. “So, Casey,” he began, sliding a little closer to me. It made me even more uncomfortable to have him this close. I felt trapped and violated having him invade my personal space. It was completely different from how I felt when Mason was inches away from me. “What brought such a beautiful girl to me today?”
I felt the heat streak across my cheeks. I hadn’t been called beautiful before except by my father. Very few people in town looked twice at me, and Cole was no different. We had known each other nearly all of our lives, and he hadn’t looked at me like this until now. I brushed it away, and got to the point of the conversation, wanting to focus on the only lead that didn’t take us to one of our parents.
I bit my lip for a second, trying to seem like I was hesitant to tell him what had brought me to talk to him. Then, I mock glanced around before lowering my voice to a whisper as I asked, “Do you know anything I could get to help me relax and maybe catch up on a few hours of sleep?”
Cole lifted an eyebrow, clearly shocked at what I was asking, but he didn’t say anything about it. Instead he glanced around the cafeteria, which was slowly filling up as more classes were dismissed for lunch. He leaned in a little closer before he spoke, saying, “Yeah, I have a couple of things stashed away from over the summer. If you’re looking for a sleeping drug I have a few things that could work for you.” His eyes searched my face momentarily before he added, “For a price. Of course, with that face I’m sure we could work out a deal.” I almost groaned as his eyes dropped back down to my chest for a second. He wasn’t even trying to be coy about it. Besides, the shirt that I was wearing wasn’t even that low cut, and my chest wasn’t exceptionally big, either. He was just a horny teenage guy.
I shifted positions slightly, turning some so that he didn’t have such a direct line of sight down my shirt. “What’s the best stuff you have?” I questioned, staring him in the eye. Thanks to Mr. Miller I knew someone had been handing out massive amounts of triazolam, and hopefully that was what Cole had.
“Something called triazolam,” Cole said, stumbling over the last few syllables. “I have a little left, but it’s in high demand, which means high price.” Once again he let his gaze drift down my body. I was growing to hate this plan.
I was about to speak when Mason stepped in for me. He was already tall, but considering the fact that he was standing and Cole was sitting, he really had the upper hand now. “Trying to drug my girlfriend like you did my sister?” he questioned, his voice deep and angry as he glared down at Cole.
I looked at him in shock, one for calling me his girlfriend, and two for interrupting the plan. Unless this was his real plan the whole time.
Cole didn’t look threatened. Instead, he just leaned away from me and gazed coolly up at Mason, a slight look of confusion on his face. “What the hell are you even talking about, man?”
Mason scowled. “Don’t act dumb. Tell me what you did to my sister.”
Cole raised an eyebrow, then let out a light laugh. Damn, this boy had cojones. “Is that what this is about?” He shook his head then answered Mason’s question. “Nothing she didn’t want to do. I didn’t force her, that’s for sure. She was oddly calm for a first timer.”
Mason clenched his fists at his sides. Something in the way Cole said it made it clear he wasn’t talking about drugs anymore.
Either Cole hadn’t noticed that the topic had only made Mason angrier, or he didn’t care, because he added, “Is having sex with a girl a crime now?”
“It is when that girl turns up dead with traces of the drug you gave her in her system.” If it was possible, Mason’s scowl deepened. It looked like he wanted to beat Cole’s smirk off his face for even daring to mention his sister like that. His jaw clenched and a vein in his neck bulged, but he refrained himself from doing anything rash.
“Didn’t you leave her once before when she didn’t want to sneak out? You didn’t want to hang out with a party pooper so you dropped her. That’s a form of peer pressure too, you know,” I said, bringing Cole’s attention to me and trying to let some of Mason’s anger recede before he did something he would regret. I understood that he wanted to protect Sophie’s honor, but in the middle of the cafeteria with everyone watching probably wasn’t the best time for that.
Cole looked confused at how I knew that, but didn’t say anything. Instead he just tried to make Mason angrier by leaning in to talk to me. “Let’s get out of here and leave your boyfriend to calm down.” He moved away from me with a wicked smile on his lips, and this time I couldn’t stop the disgust from showing on my features. I knew exactly what he wanted us to do if we were ever alone.
Then Mason leaned down, getting closer to Cole as he growled, “Tell the truth. Did you ever give her anything?”
Cole shook his head, unfazed by Mason’s proximity. Despite the position that they were in where Mason had the upper hand, Cole was probably a good few inches taller than Mason, and also a lot stronger. Whereas Mason’s muscles were lean, Cole’s were thick and bulky from years of wrestling.
“Not even a stress reliever?” Mason questioned, watching Cole’s face for any sign that he was lying.
“No, man. Seriously, she wouldn’t even take an Advil from me.” His gaze shifted suddenly from Mason to something over his shoulder. “If you two don’t want anything else, then can you move along? I save my seats for only the best butts.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see three girls in my grade coming toward us with flirtatious smiles on their faces. Next to me, Mason rolled his eyes then stormed off with his hands still clenched at his sides. We had gotten nothing from Cole, and I knew that he was frustrated about it. With my gaze on Mason, I stood up from my seat to let Cole’s groupies sit.
Once I was standing, Cole said my name, gaining my attention again. “Hey, if you ever realize that Mason isn’t enough man for you, and you break up with him, then come and find me. I’m not into breaking up couples,” he said, as if the ending to his statement made him seem like a better person.
I rolled my eyes at his words, about to open my mouth and turn him down when I heard a loud crash come from behind me. I turned quickly to see that Mason had knocked a tray out of someone’s hands in his mad dash to leave the cafeteria. I’d have to explain this to someone later. I just hoped that by then I’d come up with a good excuse for it.
Chapter 19
Midwinter’s Night
I was curled up in a ball under my comforter with my phone lighting the room around me as I played a game. To be honest I wasn’t sure why I was still awake except that I wasn’t tired. It had to be past midnight because John and my parents had gone to bed, and now the house was silent; it was eerie and I hated it. It reminded me of every horror movie I had ever seen. I was just waiting for the killer to make the slightest sound in the house.
There was nothing but silence, but occasionally I’d hear a sound that made me want to look around my room, and shine a light into every dark corner. I knew there wasn’t a killer in the house, but I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. I had just settled underneath my covers again when a loud creak met my ears. I froze. It sounded as if our front door had opened, like someone was attempting to sneak in. My heart pounded in my chest as thoughts of a killer rushed through my head. I wanted to get up and look around, but at the same time I’d rather get my dad to do it. At least he had a gun. What did I have? The flashlight on my phone and a sharpened pencil.
I listened closely, waiting to see if I heard anything else when my phone buzzed on the nightstand beside me. I jumped in surprise as the phone vibrated loudly against the wooden table. Luckily, I had held back the scream or my whole house would be up. I needed to stop watching horror movies.
I glanced down at the screen to see Mason calling me. Not again. Does this boy ever sleep?
Despite my thoughts, I clicked the answer button and held the phone to my ear. I couldn’t just let it ring and pretend to be asleep. What if he had found something else? “Mason?” I answered, sitting up as I started to get out of bed. I had a feeling we were going to have another nighttime meeting. He rarely called me unless it was something important, and even then he mostly would just text me.
“Hey, can you come outside?” His voice was steady and calm. At least it wasn’t something as Earth-shattering as the news last time had been. When he called to drop the bomb on me about us sharing a half sibling he was in a panic. He spoke fast and seemed to rush in order to get me outside. Maybe this time it was the declaration of love I had been hoping for last time.
I laughed off the thought before replying. “I’ll be right there.”
I stepped out of bed and quickly put on my shoes. Then I picked up a jacket from my dresser chair to keep out the chill of the cold October air. In less than a week the temperature had dropped drastically from being humid, to being crisp. I wished it would go back to being warm. After I was ready, I walked slowly to my door and quietly exited the room. Even though I was sure everyone was asleep, I scanned the halls for good measure before proceeding toward the staircase. I had gotten through this once before, and I hoped I could do it again.
I made my way down the hallway and descended the stairs, making sure to skip the ones that squeaked, and eventually slid down the banister, which I hadn’t done since I was six. When I reached the front door, I pulled it open slowly and once again spotted Mason instantly. He was standing in the same spot in my yard as he was last time, except this time he wasn’t holding anything. He was wearing a black coat, and nervously running his fingers through his hair. Something was wrong.
I stepped out into the cold and shut the door behind me. He didn’t move when I came out, so I went to join him in the yard. My body was shaking, but not from the cold. I was nervous about whatever information he found. I just hoped it wouldn’t break us like last time almost had.
I took a deep breath to prepare myself for what was to come before I asked, “What did you find?” I stepped closer to him.
Mason raised his eyes from where they had been looking at the ground and stared into my eyes. He shrugged, as if he wasn’t willing to speak. I could see that he was having an internal debate with himself, but he seemed almost haunted, as if worried about something. “I didn’t find anything.”
I frowned, not because he hadn’t found anything, but confused as to why he had walked all the way here at such a late hour to tell me he hadn’t found anything. I was happy that he didn’t have any more information, but also not. The more information we had, the sooner we could go to the police and prove that Sophie hadn’t committed suicide. “Then why are you here?” I asked curiously. I hadn’t intended for my words to come out as rudely as they had, but he didn’t seem to be affected by them. I glanced down at my cell phone, pressing the home button. When the screen lit up it told me we were standing outside my house at 1:17 in the morning for nothing.
Mason cleared his throat. “Well, I wanted to have some time where we weren’t together just to solve Sophie’s case. I don’t know about you, but all I think about is this case now. My school work is suffering, the few friendships I have are suffering, even my relationship with my parents has gotten worse. If it’s all we do and think about then it will consume us. We will be as dead on the inside as Sophie was after moving here. I don’t want that to happen to us.”
I felt a smile curve onto my lips. It would do me some good to stop thinking about a murderer who could be after me as well—though that theory was slowly seeming unlikely. Nothing more had happened to me since the almost car accident. Maybe I had been overthinking it, and it was more of a wakeup call, similar to how meeting me had been one for Sophie. It had given me a chance to put myself out there, and now I had a real friend, even if we had bonded over something as odd as finding a possible killer. I could start to expand, and if we found out who killed Sophie, then at least the person responsible would be held accountable.
“Do you have any idea of what you want to do?” I asked curiously.
He nodded his head and ran a hand through his hair. “Honestly? I’d love to take a walk and just get to know you more.” He offered me a small smile that warmed my heart.
I nodded. “Sure,” I said. I gestured for him to wait a moment so I could securely shut the front door, and then when I returned we walked toward the open gate that led to my yard. I didn’t see a problem with us walking the neighborhood streets at this hour, considering that most of the town was probably asleep. No one would be looking out their window, watching the streets. At least I hoped not.
“I feel like I don’t know you outside this case,” Mason said, breaking the silence between us. “What do you do for fun?”
I kicked a rock that was in my path. “I listen to music,” I answered, not knowing how that told him anything about me, considering most teenagers listened to music. “Oh, and I like to read…I normally do very solitary activities.” I let out a breath of laughter.
We talked idly over types of music we enjoyed and as we walked the conversation became more personal; more intimate. Details I didn’t share with anyone else, and probably never would. Mason played the “let’s talk about exes” card. I didn’t want to, but let’s say my story always took the cake.
“I had a guy, once.”
“Only once?” Mason laughed before he noticed my despondent expression. “I’m sorry, but if he let you go then he’s a loser. I don’t care what you have to say about it. He didn’t know what he had.”
My cheeks burned at his comment. “Thanks.” A soft smile creased my lips.
“Oh well, now that we’ve gone into the slightly depressing stories I can tell you all the embarrassing times I had back in Nantucket.” He paused as we came to a bridge, and offered to help me sit on the end. “If anyone else finds out about these, I know who told,” he warned. “You can pick which one you want to hear about, I won a couple things off a local radio station, I swam with sharks, I got locked in the trunk of a car—”
“How did you get locked in the trunk of a car? Don’t they have those glow in the dark pull tabs in case that happens?”
“Yeah, but my grandfather’s car didn’t have one. It was a late model car, and he was going to drive that car until he ran it into the ground.” He laughed at the thought before he continued his story. “Well, a couple of my friends thought it would be funny to push me inside and keep me locked in for a few moments, except the keys were
in my hand at the time and they locked them in there with me.”
“How did you get out?”
He held his hand up to his mouth. “The only way I could get out, after trying the spare key which ended up breaking in the lock, was to kick out the tail light. After that my grandfather got a new car, which was fine by me because I hated that damn car. I was hit by it in seventh grade, it broke down on the highway the first time I drove it, and I ran into the car door when I was little.” He flashed me a couple of scars, most notably the one on his forehead, which his hair mostly concealed.
I laughed. “That’s not so bad.”
Mason tilted his head sideways at me. “Oh really? You can beat it?”
I bit my lip and nodded.
“Go ahead, then,” he pushed. “I want to hear this.”
“The first time I ever met these two new kids in town, I was hanging over a deep hole and scared that I was going to fall to my death.”
Mason laughed, nudging me in the side gently. “I remember this.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but you don’t know that I almost peed on myself.”
“I would have peed on myself for sure.”
I looked away from him. I couldn’t believe I was telling him this. “Okay, I peed just a little. That’s why I didn’t leave first and barely spoke. I was nervous that you two might see a wet spot, and I was really embarrassed.” My cheeks were flaming as he laughed loudly.
“I knew it,” he screeched, slapping his leg. Then he looked over and saw my face. “Perfectly understandable,” he said, trying to keep the humor out of his voice. I appreciated it, but I had to agree that it was kind of funny too. Embarrassing, sure, but still a little funny.
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