by Kate Kessler
He wasn’t guilty. She knew it in her heart that there was no way he could hurt anyone, let alone someone he cared about. She’d been raised in a family that would kill to protect what was theirs—and it was a sentiment in which she firmly believed. But it was nice to know there was someone in the world who was honestly so good he couldn’t imagine a circumstance in which he could end another person’s life.
So, even if everyone else believed the worst of Luke, she believed in him. But she had also believed in Tala, and now she knew that her friend had been fooling around with Kyle Granger behind Luke’s back. Did Luke know?
It was so disappointing. And it pissed her off. She could maybe understand it if Tala had gone to Kyle after Luke had rejected her, but it sounded like it had been going on before that. How could you be with a stoner guy-whore like Kyle when you had Luke? She just couldn’t wrap her mind around it.
And then Kyle helped Josh beat the snot out of Luke. Asshole. At least Neve had arrested both of them. Maybe she knew what she was doing after all. At least a little bit.
Finally, she put the car in drive and headed toward the hospital. Her mother had let her go see Luke only because the classes she would miss were ones she had really high grades in. She had to be at school by the end of lunch so she wouldn’t miss the entire day.
Luke’s mother met her at his room. She was a nice woman who reminded her a bit of Audrey’s mom. She went to get a coffee so Alisha and Luke could visit.
He looked like shit. Good thing both of his eyes were swollen practically shut so he couldn’t see the tears in hers. She hated crying in front of people.
“Lish?” He said.
“Hey, Luke.”
“Sit down so I can see you.” His voice had that low, drawn-out quality that she usually only heard in people who were drunk or really stoned.
She plunked down in the chair by his bed, catching a glimpse of blue under one puffy eyelid. “Are you in pain?” She asked.
He made a noise that might have been a laugh, but it turned into a moan. “Fuck, yeah.”
“Neve arrested Josh. Kyle too.”
“Kyle.” He practically spat the name. “Fucking asshole. Did you know about him and Tala?”
“No!” How could he even ask her that?
“Didn’t think so. You’re not like other girls.” Another one of those pained laughs. “Thought Tala wasn’t either. I was wrong.”
“Tala just wanted to be accepted.”
“I tried.”
“I know.”
“Kendra lied. Told Josh I said shit I didn’t say.”
“Kendra’s a bitch.”
“Just jealous.”
“Don’t defend her, Luke.”
His eyelashes fluttered as though he was trying to open his eyes further, but the swollen lids didn’t budge. “Be careful.”
She frowned. “Me? Why?”
“She’s still jealous of Tala, and she’s dead. I don’t want her to go crazy on you.”
“She already knows we’re friends.”
“You’re more than a friend. You know that, right?”
Alisha’s heart skipped a beat. It might have skipped two. “No. I didn’t.”
“Now you do. So promise me you’ll be careful. Don’t trust Kendra.”
She didn’t to begin with. “I won’t.” Then, on a wave of braveness she didn’t know she had, she put her hand on top of his. He moved his fingers so he could lace them with hers, her heart pounding a crazy rhythm. If this was how Audrey and Jake felt about each other all the time, no wonder both of them were pretty much crazy.
“I’m not going back to school,” he told her. “Mom’s decided it’s not safe. She’s going to see if they’ll send work home and let me take my exams privately.”
“That’s pretty hard-core.”
“She’s scared.”
She didn’t tell him that she was too—or that she was mad. Mad enough that every part of her that was pure Tripp wanted to do something dark and vengeful. But she also knew she had to be smart about it. “I’ll tutor you,” she offered.
His thumb rubbed against the side of her hand. It made her entire palm tingle. “Yeah? I’d like that.”
When his mother returned, they were still sitting there, holding hands. Alisha went to pull hers away, but Luke wouldn’t let her. “Mom, Lish said she’d help me with school stuff.”
Linda’s shoulders sagged. “Alisha, you have no idea what a help that would be.” Then, to her son, “Neve Graham arrested Josh.”
“Kyle Granger too,” Luke said.
“Really?” His mother looked to Alisha for confirmation. “Is that true?”
Alisha nodded.
“Thank God. I hope the little bastards rot.”
“Mom . . .” Luke began. “. . . Don’t.”
Alisha looked at him. His expression went slack and the fingers around hers loosened their grip.
“Pain medication,” his mother said. “He’ll be out for a while. You can stay if you like.” She was looking at their entwined hands.
Blushing, Alisha pulled her hand free of Luke’s. Her fingers felt cold. “Thanks, but I promised Mum I’d go to school. Would it be okay if I came back later?”
His mother smiled, making apples of her cheeks. “I think he’d like that.”
Alisha returned the smile with an awkward one of her own. “See you later, then.” She left the room with tingling fingers, a tight chest, and a fluttering feeling in her stomach.
She still had plenty of time before she had to return to class, so instead of going to school, she went to the library. Luke’s warning to be wary of Kendra rang fresh in her head as she searched for books for the project she was working on for history class. If Kendra was cracked enough to get the boy she liked beaten up, what would she do to the girl he liked?
She wasn’t worried for herself. Not really. But it did make her wonder if Kendra was capable of hurting Tala—or manipulating someone else to do it like she manipulated Josh. She and Lucy were supposed to have been Tala’s best friends. They were among the last people to see her alive. If anyone knew what happened the night she was killed, it was the two of them. They had to know something. Alisha hadn’t been as close to Tala and she knew about the sex thing, and other personal stuff she didn’t want to think about now that Luke had held her hand. God, she was such an idiot.
Before meeting Audrey she really wouldn’t have suspected her classmates of being capable of murder, but then Bailey proved her wrong. Bailey, who had been her best friend and so sweet and kind, had been driven to a place where she snapped. If Bailey could get there, Kendra certainly could.
Holding the two books she’d found on the Stonewall riots, she went downstairs to where the public computers were. There were only three—not like Eastrock was a booming metropolis. One was available, so she sat down and went online. It only took a few minutes to make the fake Twitter account. She felt absolutely no guilt about using Tala’s school e-mail to set it up. Of course she knew the password—it was Luke4ever!. She’d been there one day when Tala logged in and thought it was cute.
Now, she was starting to wonder if she’d known Tala at all.
Before she could change her mind, she composed her first tweet as @TroothGrrl. @Kenndrahh69 @LuceeVeeMD Your BFF is dead & u don’t know *anything*? Come on. Everyone knows u know something. #JusticeForTala. She clicked to post, her heart pounding even harder than it had with Luke. Could she get in trouble if anyone figured out it was her? No. She hadn’t done anything wrong.
Yet.
But she was beginning to realize she was a lot more like her family than she wanted to admit. Tala had been her friend, and even if she’d lied or kept secrets, that was still true. And then there was Luke, who she liked more than she was willing to admit to anyone, even herself. She wanted to help him. Wanted to prove he wasn’t a killer. Uncle Jake told her to be certain she was willing to face the consequences for her actions. That was how she would know if she wa
s doing the right thing.
Was she willing to face the fallout for trying to find Tala’s killer and clear Luke’s name? Yes, she was. No matter what they were.
CHAPTER TWELVE
When Neve had said that “we” were going to visit Josh Lewis and Kyle Granger, Audrey had thought she meant Vickie, not her. Regardless, she found herself a short time later in an interview room with Neve, staring across a table at Kyle Granger’s face. He didn’t look like a boy who had just beaten another practically to death. In fact, he didn’t look like a boy at all. He looked like a young man. He was probably only a couple of years older than Luke Pelletier, but Audrey understood why Tala would have been attracted to him. Luke still had a bit of a babyish look while Kyle didn’t.
“I already told you everything about the fight,” Kyle said to Neve.
“That wasn’t a fight, it was a beating,” Neve reminded him. “And I’m not here to discuss it. I’m here to discuss your relationship with Tala Lewis.”
He shrugged. “Josh is my best friend. I’ve known Tala since they moved here.”
“How long had you and she been seeing each other?”
“We weren’t,” he replied with a frown.
Neve tilted her head. “So you were just hooking up for sex?”
“No!”
“We found a text from you on her phone, Kyle. In it you said that you wanted to see her and ‘be inside’ her again. So, were you seeing each other, or was it just sex?”
To his credit, Kyle didn’t look embarrassed, but he did look worried. His slacker-cool veneer had slipped, revealing the boy beneath. “You didn’t tell Josh, did you?”
“I assume, then, he didn’t know about you and his sister?”
“No. He was really protective of her. He wouldn’t have wanted her dating someone older. He thought there was less chance of her getting hurt with someone her own age.” He glanced at Audrey. “I guess he was wrong. Who are you?”
Audrey gave him a half smile. “I’m Dr. Harte.”
“The shrink.”
“Psychologist, actually.”
Kyle glanced at Neve. “So, what? You think I’m nuts?”
“No. Dr. Harte is here because she’s very good at telling whether someone is hiding something.”
He frowned. “Like what?”
“Well,” Audrey began, “the fact that you were sleeping with your best friend’s sister, for a start.”
“I would never hurt Tala. I liked her.”
Audrey maintained the smile. “But only enough to sneak around with her, not openly date her.”
His frown deepened as he leaned closer. Neither Neve nor Audrey moved. He was no danger to either one of them. “That was what she wanted. She didn’t want Josh to know about us. She didn’t want her friends to know either.”
“Why not?” Neve asked. “When I was that age I would’ve bragged to my friends about dating a college boy.”
“Because she already had a boyfriend.” Kyle flushed. “He was the one that couldn’t accept her as she was, not me. But I was the one she wanted to keep secret.”
“That must’ve been upsetting for you,” Audrey surmised.
He leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, it was.” His fingernail scraped at something on the top of the table. Audrey didn’t want to know what it was. “It was like she was ashamed of me or something.”
Tala’s guilty little secret. The girl probably was ashamed of the sexual feelings Kyle awakened in her.
“When was the last time you saw Tala?” Neve asked.
“The weekend before she disappeared. Josh and I were home on spring break. She showed up at a party we were at, but Randy Dyer was there and she didn’t want to stay. I told Josh I wasn’t feeling well and that I’d take her home.”
“So, Luke Pelletier wasn’t at this party?”
“No. We don’t usually allow high school kids.”
Audrey couldn’t help the slight smirk that twisted her lips. “You mean you don’t normally allow high school boys, right? High school girls are always welcome.” She’d been to a few of those kinds of parties after being released from Stillwater. Being a convicted murderer kind of put the kibosh on getting hit on, though Maggie never seemed to have any trouble getting laid. But then, Maggie had made it obvious that she was looking. Audrey hadn’t.
He lifted his chin. “Yeah, they are.”
Neve tapped her finger on the table. “Did you and Tala have sex that night?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“It just helps us establish what happened leading up to her death. Did you have sex with her that night?”
“Yeah. We did.”
“Did she ever talk to you about Luke?”
He shook his head. “We didn’t talk about him. And before you ask, we didn’t talk about the girl I was seeing either.”
“Did anyone else know you were taking Tala home that night?”
“She told my sister. Kendra knew what a prick Randy was being, so she understood why Tala didn’t want to be there.”
“But she didn’t know that you and Tala were seeing each other?”
“Not that I know of. Kendra would’ve been pissed. She would’ve come at me about it.”
Audrey had been silent through this exchange, but she wondered if maybe Kendra had figured out what was going on between her best friend and her brother. Had Kendra told Luke in the hopes of breaking him and Tala up?
“Maybe she went at Luke about it instead,” Neve suggested, as though she’d read Audrey’s mind.
Kyle shook his head. “Ken’s not like that.”
“Really?” Neve asked. “Because she admitted lying to you and Josh about Luke.”
His face paled, but his expression was resolute. “I don’t believe that.”
“You were there,” Neve reminded him.
“Your sister was jealous because of Tala’s relationship with Luke,” Audrey informed him. “She wanted to get back at him. She just didn’t think the two of you would take it so far.”
For the first time since they’d walked in, Kyle Granger looked as though he’d regretted what he’d done. “Are you being serious? You’re not just saying that?”
“She admitted it.” Neve gave him an assessing look. “The Pelletiers are pressing charges against you and Josh. The two of you are in a lot of trouble. Is there anything you want to tell me that might make things easier for you?”
Kyle didn’t hesitate. “Okay, Tala did say something about Luke once. The night of the party, when I took her home, I asked her why she hadn’t called her boyfriend to come get her. I was being a douche. She said that Luke would’ve been mad that she’d gone to the party, and that sometimes she was afraid of him when he got mad.”
Neve nodded. “Okay. One more thing, where were you the night Tala was killed?”
“Back at school. I was with Josh when his parents called. I kept expecting her to show up at our dorm. When she was still gone the next day I knew something bad had happened.” Poor kid looked like he might cry. Audrey actually felt for him. He might be, as he’d said in his own words, a bit of a douche, but he seemed to have been the one person who’d been able to accept Tala exactly as she was.
“Thank you, Kyle.” Neve rose to her feet. “That’s all for now.”
He looked up at her, an almost desperate expression on his face. “It wasn’t my fault, was it? He didn’t kill her because he found out about me, did he?”
As Audrey watched, Neve’s expression turned to one of startling compassion. “I don’t yet know why Tala was murdered, but unless you were the one to end her life I can honestly tell you that you are not responsible for the actions of anyone else.” It might not be complete absolution, but it was pretty damn close, Audrey thought.
Apparently, Kyle thought so too, because he actually smiled. “Thanks. You know, if Pelletier did it, I don’t mind facing charges.”
“And if he’s innocent?”
His smile faded. “He stil
l deserved it for breaking her heart.”
Audrey and Neve watched as he was led from the room by a guard. “You know,” Audrey began. “I can’t help but kind of respect the little bastard.”
“Yeah,” Neve agreed with a sigh. “Me too.”
Kenndrahh69 @TroothGrrl Who are u?
TroothGrrl @Kendrahh69 Someone who wants to know the truth.
LuceeVeeMD @TroothGrrl @Kendrahh69 What truth?
TroothGrrl @Kendrahh69 @LuceeVeeMD The truth about what happened to Tala. #JusticeForTala
LuceeVeeMD @TroothGrrl @Kendrahh69 WTF? Why are you asking us? We don’t know.
Kendrahh69 @TroothGrrl She was our friend. We loved her. @LuceeVeeMD
TroothGrrl @Kendrahh69 @LuceeVeeMD Which is why no one believes that you don’t know something. Why keep it secret? Unless you have something to hide?
“Who the fuck is this bitch?” Kendra demanded as she sat down beside Alisha in the cafeteria at lunch.
Alisha looked up from her pizza. Kendra rarely swore, but it was becoming more of a habit lately. The sight of the girl responsible for Luke lying in that hospital bed made her want to drop a few F-bombs herself. “What bitch?” she asked—as if she didn’t know. She’d spent more time at the library earlier than she’d meant to.
“Truth Girl,” Kendra replied.
“You mean ‘troooooth grrrrrrrrrrrrl.’” Lucy chuckled as she joined them, pizza, fries, and diet soda on her tray. “Stupid name.”
Inside Alisha bristled, even though she’d wanted to get a reaction from them. “Never heard of her.”
Kendra shot her a disbelieving look. “You didn’t see what she said to us on Twitter?”
Alisha shook her head. “I haven’t checked my feed yet.”
Lucy’s eyes narrowed. “Where were you this morning, anyway? You missed English.”
She opened her mouth, trying to think of a reply, but Kendra beat her to it. “She was at the hospital. Weren’t you? They don’t like cell phones there. How’s Luke?”
It was an innocent enough question, but Alisha was wary. Before she’d seen Luke she probably would have told them where she’d been, but now that he’d told her that he liked her, everything had changed. She felt protective—possessive, even. And she was wary of both their reactions. Still, she wasn’t about to be intimidated, despite Luke’s warnings that she not trust Kendra. “He’s good, considering what your brother and Josh did to him.”