I'd know that name anywhere. Jason Dean, or JD, was a psychotic character from one of my mother's favorite movies, Heathers.
"I wonder why he or she sent you a link?"
"I'm a friend of yours," she said, as if that cleared up the matter.
Silence traveled through the line. A friend of yours.
"So, your new friends are suspects? Wild, huh?"
"Yeah," I said, running a hand through my hair. "It's crazy."
"And the stuff about you reading the body. Is it true? Did you really hear his final thoughts?"
"I did," I said, "but I don't know what they mean."
It felt normal talking to her about reading a dead body. Tamzen believed I was clairvoyant since we were kids. Never a doubt. Talking to her gave me the assurance I'd craved since I left Ridge Grove, and the distance between us seemed to melt away. We slipped into a familiar pattern of gossip and jokes. I closed my eyes and pretended we were in my car headed to the mall.
"...and Zeke says this time next year, we won't be..." She stopped abruptly.
The spell broken, I opened my eyes. "How is he?" I injected a chipper tone into my voice.
She cleared her throat. "Zeke's good. I've been babysitting. Well, not really. I've been helping. I haven't been alone with those little darlings, yet."
I've been replaced. "That's cool," I said.
"Do you have a new best friend?"
The change of subject didn't surprise me. "Not really. The two girls in the group, Sinder and Ione...I wouldn't call them my best friends. And I hang with two guys, Embry and—"
"Embry Sullivan?" she said. "I've seen his picture on the school's web site."
"You have?"
"He won some academic award last year," she said. "He's so hot. No wonder they keep his picture up there."
I wrinkled my nose. I didn't like thinking of Embry as hot. He seemed more like a relative. Then again, Zeke and I were third cousins.
"What about you?" I said. "Are you hanging with Amber Benson?"
Tamzen laughed. "Psychic girl strikes again!"
Not really. On rare occasions when Tamzen and I had fallen out over something dumb, she and Amber did things together. I guess their connection was more or less permanent now. After we hung up, I stared at the phone. Zeke's good. That's all she said, and that's all I needed to know. I couldn't bring myself to ask if they were back together. I didn't want to know.
"Only a half-lie," I said aloud. I kept brushing tears of my cheeks. Then I fell asleep.
***
"It's just a feeling, okay?" Luke said, twisting the cap off a bottle of protein water.
I gaped at him, then accidentally knocked over my water. He'd implied that Sinder was absent from school today because she was in jail. "You know something I don't know?" I said, sopping up the water with a pile of napkins.
"You haven't seen her all day, have you?"
Embry snorted. "Ione isn't here, either. Is she in jail, too?"
Luke started on a second sandwich. He and Embry said Detective Czarnecki had questioned them, too. Embry confirmed that she'd visited Ione as well. I texted Sinder twice since I arrived at school, and she hadn't responded.
Embry must have guessed what I was thinking. "Guinan, he doesn't know what he's talking about."
Luke chugged from his bottle.
"How does that stuff taste?" I said.
"Okay, I guess. I should use a thermal bag next time, because the meat's a little warm."
"Not the sandwich," I said, and pointed at the water.
He shrugged. "It's just water. Tastes like water."
"And you drink it instead of regular water because...?"
Embry supplied the answer. "Last year's fad."
I looked at Luke, who didn't dispute Embry's comment. The day Desmond died, he was drinking protein water. I was about to mention it when two girls approached the table. Gabby Meyerson and her best friend, Claire Capwell, were a study in contrast. Dark-eyed Gabby's dark hair fell in waves across her shoulders, and gray-eyed Claire's blonde hair gleamed in a sleek ponytail.
"So what's up with Sinder?" Gabby said to Luke, kissing him on the cheek. "Has she been arrested or what? Did she confess?" She glanced at her fingernails. "Ugh. I really need to get these done."
I gaped at her. The current state of her nails matched the rest of her: gorgeous. The death of a student and the rumored arrest of another hadn't shifted her priorities.
Luke's eyes traveled down her body. When he spoke, he was looking at her face. "Don't know. Don't know. And don't know."
Claire's gaze was fixed on Luke. I rolled my eyes and leaned my elbows on the table. I itched to ask him what he'd told Czarnecki, only not in front of these two, who seemed in no hurry to leave. I tuned out their conversation and texted Sinder again. If the detective had gone to her house, had she seen Sinder's altar? Had she suspected one of the bottles contained oil that ended up killing Desmond?
I heard a voice in my ear so low, I couldn't make out the words. I shivered and quickly turned around.
"What's wrong with you?" I heard Luke say.
I faced him and rubbed my forehead. "I..." They all watched me without speaking. "Just thinking." Luke narrowed his eyes. I inclined my head in Gabby's and Claire's direction.
"Listen, Meyerson," he said. "Meet me in the hall in a few minutes, okay?"
I kept my eyes on the table, in case she'd seen my slight head movement. When they were gone, Luke leaned forward.
"Spill it."
"I was just thinking....have either of you seen that altar Sinder keeps in her closet?"
Luke shook his head. But Embry nodded. "Well, I haven't seen it, but Ione has. She told me about it."
"When did she see it?" I said.
He glanced at Luke before speaking. "Sometime during the summer. Ione tried to play nice with her, tried to be her friend, you know? It didn't work."
I frowned. "Why would she bother?"
He balled his napkin and sat back. "Desmond's doing. He wanted us all to put the past behind us. Make an effort."
"What about this altar?" Luke said. "Some witch thing?"
"She had these bottles of oil on it," I said. "And one was almond oil."
"Almond oil?" Luke said. "They make oil out of that?"
Embry snickered. "They make oil out of a lot of things. It's just a matter of extracting..." He stopped speaking when he saw the look on Luke's face. "Anyway, Guinan, I think your point is Desmond might have ingested some of it?"
I didn't want to admit that was exactly my point. But there was a flaw. "My grandfather explained that almonds and peanuts are part of different plant families."
"That's right," Embry said. "But there are always exceptions. There are cases of people being allergic to both peanuts and almonds."
I pressed my back against the chair. "Is that why they're focusing on Sinder?"
"We don't know that they are," Embry said. "That's just Luke's—"
"Maybe she lied about something," Luke said. "We all lie about stuff, but if she lied about her movements or..." He trailed off.
"Or what?" I said.
"How far she'd go to get Desmond to like her," he said. "Love...no, more like obsession, can make you say or do crazy things."
Obsession. I wondered if Desmond was obsessed with getting Ione back. That could mean Sinder—or Embry—was just as obsessed to prevent it. I still couldn't fathom why someone, a teenager, would resort to the extreme act of murder. And was it just a coincidence that both Ione and Sinder were not at school? I looked at Embry. "Is Ione okay?"
He shrugged. "I haven't spoken to her yet. I'm dropping by after school."
"Mind if I come with you?"
He rose from the table and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Why would you want to do that?"
"To see how she's doing, if she needs anything, " I said. It was sort of true.
He snorted. "Yeah, sure. I guess. Meet me in the parking lot after school."
I c
hecked my phone. Sinder hadn't responded. I called my mother and told her not to pick me up. She sounded pleased when I'd mentioned Embry.
"Now that's more like it," she said. "Smart. Good family."
As opposed to the "bad" Hicks family.
After school, I headed to the parking lot. Luke cut me off.
"Why are you really going to see Hamilton?"
I met his gaze. His unrestrained excitement made my own heart quicken. My cheeks grew hot.
"You're blushing," he said. "What are you up to, Nancy Drew?" I gave a half-shrug. "That's one of the things I like about you, Jones. You're sneaky, but you're not good at hiding it."
"I'm not trying to." I spotted Embry at his car. "Gotta go."
"Call me later," Luke said. "Let's share information."
***
Ione had opened the door wearing a robe. Embry and I followed her upstairs. In her room, she climbed back into bed, sank against the pillows, and pulled the comforter to her chest. She held a wad of tissues. Her eyes were red and puffy. She hadn't seemed surprised to see me. Embry must have warned her I was coming. He leaned down to kiss her.
"I don't want you to catch the flu," she said to him. Her eyes darted to me. I faced away from them.
"I don't care," he said.
I studied Ione's room. It would have fulfilled a little girl's fantasy. She had a full-sized brass bed in pastel pink and pale yellow. A large dollhouse rested on a table near the window seat, whose cushion was covered with a pale blue pattern. White curtains with frilly ends adorned the windows, and the walls were painted a pale yellow.
"You like the color?" Ione said.
I turned and smiled.
"It has that effect on people the first time they see it."
I made a mental note to paint my own room pale yellow. "I won't stay long. I'll get right to the point."
She widened her eyes. A look passed between her and Embry. "No BS," she said. "I like that."
Embry avoided eye contact with me. He'd read through my obvious ploy.
"What did you tell the detective about Sinder?"
Ione tossed the tissue into a small wastepaper basket beside the bed. "That she's a strange girl. It's common knowledge, anyway."
"Just because she's strange doesn't mean she's—"
"Not a murderer?" Ione said. "I certainly didn't accuse her of that."
"But do you think you might have said something that led the detective to focus on her? Suspicious behavior? An overheard comment?"
She glanced at Embry. "Back in the day, she tried to recruit me as a witch. I told her she'd binged on too much Charmed."
"Why would you mention that to the detective?"
Ione rolled her eyes. "Sinder really believes she has powers, that she can do spells and make potions that work."
Spells and potions. "Did you mention specific spells and potions? I mean, do you think she'd try to harm Desmond?"
She chuckled. "I don't believe in magic or witchcraft. Even if Sinder had told me—"
"No, not magic. Could she have done something she thought was magic, but actually harmed him?"
Embry sat on the bed. "I don't think Sinder would have harmed him. Not intentionally."
"If she didn't realize she'd harm him..." I trailed off and resisted the urge to bite my nail.
"Wait a second," he said. "I thought you were on her side."
I took a deep breath. "I'm not accusing her of murder. I'm wondering if she performed a spell or made a potion she thought would work on him."
Embry and Ione looked at each other. "Like a love spell? she said.
I nodded.
Embry rose from the bed and walked to the window seat. "What difference does it make. We'll know sooner or later what the police found out. What's the point of questioning Ione?"
She sank into her pillows with a satisfied expression. Must be nice having a boyfriend to have your back.
"Curiosity."
"Some would call it nosy," he said.
"A little bit of that, too," I conceded. "Well, I'll head out. I hope you feel better."
Embry winked at Ione. "I'll right back."
On the way downstairs, I heard the babbling sounds of a baby. I stopped in my tracks. Images of Jacob and Jude Hicks flooded my brain.
"What is it?"
"Almost missed a step," I said. When we reached the bottom, I saw a woman stood with a baby in her arms.
"Hello, Mrs. Hamilton," Embry said.
"I'm glad you came," she said. Ione needed cheering up, poor thing."
An older version of Ione, the woman's dimples emerged when she smiled. "I'm Nora Hamilton," she said.
In the few seconds we held eye contact, I sensed anxiety.
"I'm sorry," Embry said. "This is the new girl I was telling you about. Guinan Jones."
My eyes lingered on the child. When I'd heard Ione had a younger brother, I assumed he was in middle school or something. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hamilton. May I hold him?"
"If he lets you," she said. "Asher's unpredictable when it comes to strangers."
I reached for him and cradled him. He didn't cry or fuss. "Hey, sweetie."
His downy hair looked auburn in the light streaming through the window. He looked up at me with wide, light brown eyes. Asher hadn't inherited his mother's blue eyes, but he had her dimples. His tiny face spread into a smile.
As Embry and Mrs. Hamilton talked about Ione fainting at the funeral, I looked into the baby's face. He focused on the buttons on my school blazer. "He's adorable," I said. How old is he?"
"Five months."
I handed Asher back to his mother, distracted by unbidden thoughts. Ione had fainted at the funeral, and now she was in bed with the flu. I had the flu once. I'd thrown up a couple of times, but I don't remember needing tissues. Ione looked like she'd been crying. Why?
Pregnant. When Sinder had said it, I shrugged it off as grief and jealousy. But now...did Desmond want Ione back because she was pregnant with his baby?
Chapter Thirteen
When I asked Embry to drop me off at Sinder's house, he didn't ask why. He was curious about something else, though.
"Sinder wasn't the only reason you wanted to see Ione, was it?"
I played dumb and furrowed my brow.
He sighed. "You're thinking about Sinder's comment, wondering if Ione's pregnant."
I bit my lip. "That didn't occur to me until we were leaving. Honestly."
An uncomfortable silence followed. I shifted in my seat.
"Ione isn't pregnant," he said.
"Okay."
"I know this because we haven't had sex. She's a virgin."
I cleared my throat. "You didn't have to....sorry."
He gave me a sideways glance. When he looked at the road again, I studied his profile. We didn't grow up together, but I had vague recollections of the black-haired, blue-eyed boy who came to my house on visits with his parents. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't picture him as a bully's target.
"When Ione fainted at the funeral," I said, "she'd been talking to Mrs. Drake. Did she say something to upset Ione?"
"I didn't hear the conversation, and Ione hasn't mentioned it. I do know that Desmond's mother liked her."
Whatever the woman had said unnerved her. Or maybe it really was the onset of the flu.
"She went really white," I said.
"Desmond's mother?"
"Ione. She'd gone stiff, too." I shook my head. "I don't know."
"You like this stuff. I can tell."
I turned my head slowly in his direction. "What stuff?"
"The mystery," he said. "Trying to figure things out."
I shrugged. "Doesn't everybody love a mystery?"
"On TV, maybe, or in books. But not in real life. Not when it involves me or my friends."
A ping of guilt bounced around in my stomach. I felt the same way back in Ridge Grove. I hadn't given much thought to how this was affecting Embry. Here I was, questioning people'
s integrity. Was that really the kind of person I was?
"You ever wonder whether someone set all this up for you?"
I gaped at him. "You mean what happened to Desmond? Why would anybody—"
"People do all sorts of things, Guinan, for reasons most of us can't even guess. Want me to wait?"
I blinked and looked around. He'd pulled up in front of Sinder's house. "That's okay. There's a Metro station down the street."
"What if she isn't home?"
"I could do with the fresh air." When he didn't return my smile, I said, "Look, I'm sorry if I'm being insensitive. I just have this fear of someone getting away with murder."
Until this moment, I hadn't articulated this. I hadn't even put much thought into it. Is that why I had the ability to hear dead people's thoughts, to uncover the truth about deaths ruled accidents or natural causes?
Embry stared at the wheel. "Would you believe I've never ridden the subway?"
I peered around the interior of his SUV. "Yes."
His laughter boomed through the open window as he drove away. It made me feel better, considering what I was up to.
I stood in front of Sinder's house watching the front door. It seemed like a good idea a few minutes ago. Was I giving my friends the impression I suspected them of murder? I had to think about it logically. Although most students knew Desmond was allergic to peanuts, which one had a strong enough motive to kill him? I squared my shoulders and marched to the door. I rang the bell and shifted my weight.
A short woman with fuzzy blonde hair opened the door. She squinted and looked me up and down. "I don't believe in God, and I'm not interested in—"
"I'm not a Jehovah's Witness," I said quickly, pointing to the school crest on my blazer. "I'm a friend of Sinder's."
Her face relaxed into a smile. "Sorry about that, love. Come on in." There was a slight slur in her voice, and she gave off an odor of alcohol. "Rosie's in her room." She picked up a short glass from a stand near the door and sipped the brown liquid.
I smiled politely and walked down the hall to find Sinder waiting at her bedroom door.
"Sorry about that."
"About what?"
"My lush of a mother."
I ignored the heat clouding my face and stepped into the room. A soft light from a small lamp on her desk illuminated the space. Sinder had her hair pulled back in a ponytail, the first time I'd seen it styled that way.
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