“Thanks for making time for us, Mike.” Mel offered the man his hand before sitting. “I know that you’re probably curious, and maybe a little nervous, but we need some information and we figure you’re the best one to give it to us.”
“That’s not ominous or anything,” Mike quipped, his eyes darting between the two men. He was in his forties and clearly out of his depth. “Do I even want to know what you guys are doing here? I’m betting I don’t because it’s going to be horrible.”
“I don’t know that I would go that far,” Mel hedged. “We’re here about Andy Cornell.”
Mike’s frown deepened. “What did he do now? Are you here to arrest him? I would prefer calling him to my office before you put the cuffs on him. The other kids will make a big deal out of it if they see it go down.”
Jared couldn’t contain his surprise. “You think we’re here to arrest him? I guess I don’t have to ask your opinion of him.”
“My opinion is extremely low. What did he do?”
“We don’t know that he did anything yet and we’re not here to arrest him,” Mel replied. “We can’t question him without his father’s approval and Pete opted not to give it to us. It’s hardly a surprise but ... it is what it is.”
“Oh, well ... then why are you here?” Mike was understandably confused. “I can’t give you permission to question Andy if that circumvents his father’s wishes. Although ... I’m surprised that Pete didn’t just throw Andy to the wolves. He’s not exactly what I would call a stellar father.”
“He’s a terrible father,” Mel agreed. “He knows his way around the law, though. He’s had more than a few run-ins over the years. That’s simply the sort of guy he is.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” Mike exhaled heavily and leaned back in his chair. “Lay it on me. What did he do?”
“We honestly don’t know if he did anything,” Mel replied. “We have reason to believe he might — and I stress the word might — be tied into the recent break-ins we’ve been dealing with.”
“I heard about that.” Mike looked grave. “A lot of the kids have been talking about it. The assumption is that it’s kids and I get the feeling that they’re looking at one another trying to ascertain who the guilty party is. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s Andy.”
“What can you tell us about him?” Jared prodded. “I’ve only talked to him once or twice and I’m not exactly impressed with what I’ve seen.”
“You would be one of many adults who feel that,” Mike said dryly. “As for what I can tell you, I honestly don’t think there’s much that you don’t already know. I tried to take an interest in the kid when he came in as a freshman because I felt bad for him.
“His father has a certain reputation around town,” he continued. “My father was a drunk, too. Pete doesn’t care what effect his actions or words have on Andy. I thought maybe there was a chance I could act as a lifeline for the boy, but he rebuffed my every attempt and even got aggressive with my daughter at one point in retaliation. She’s twelve.”
Jared was horrified. “Why didn’t you report it? We would’ve taken him in.”
“Because she didn’t want to go on the record. She was terrified, and he never touched her. He just said things to her.”
“Well, that’s great.” Jared slid his eyes to Mel. “We can’t just let that kid run wild. He sounds incorrigible.”
“He is,” Mike agreed. “I can’t wait until he’s out of this school. The thing is, he’s smart. He does horrible things, but he doesn’t overtly cross lines and give me a reason to expel him. I’m guessing he learned that from his father.
“Honestly, I wanted to help him because I assumed he was feeling lost after the death of his mother but he was too awful for me to continue trying. If he’s your guilty party, I won’t shed any tears when you lock him up. Actually, I know it sounds horrible, but I’m hoping you will. He’s an awful, awful kid.”
Nothing Jared was hearing made him feel better about the situation. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense for Andy to be the guilty party, whether he was alone or not when things went down.
Now they just had to prove it.
12
Twelve
While Jared and Mel traveled to the prosecutor’s office, Harper and Zander settled in at her house to research Lucas Olsen. Harper was determined to track him down. The dream was too much to ignore.
“Where do you suggest starting?” Zander had stopped at his house long enough to grab his laptop so they could both research at the same time.
“I think he has to be close,” Harper replied. “I mean ... how else did he find me? He has to have died in Whisper Cove or one of the surrounding communities. It’s honestly not that many to check.”
“Unless you’re wrong.” Zander didn’t want to pick a fight, but something about the dream bothered him. “Harp, you know I have total faith in your abilities and would never say otherwise. The thing is ... you said you woke up from the dream and found him watching you from the foot of the bed. Maybe that was still part of the dream.”
Harper had considered that herself ... and discarded it. “It’s too specific, Zander. I got a first and last name. And, besides, I saw him hanging out by the river before he invaded my dreams. He has to be real.”
Zander hadn’t considered that. “Fair enough,” he said after a beat. “I don’t know that he’s local, though. We would’ve heard his name before if he was. We pay attention to the missing persons reports.”
That was true. Because she wanted to help, had a giving heart at her core, Harper always watched the evening news just in case. If her talents could help a grieving or bewildered family, she wanted to be that person even if she was doubted and ridiculed.
“Maybe he’s been missing for a long time,” she supplied. “Maybe he’s been gone for ten years or something. We would’ve been in college back then, not in the area. We weren’t monitoring the news as much then.”
“True but ... you said he was wearing a hoodie, that his clothes weren’t dated.”
“I hate to break it to you, but fashion hasn’t changed that much in the past ten years. You’re still wearing the same jeans from when we graduated.”
Zander frowned. “Those jeans are classics for a reason. They don’t ever go out of style.”
“I’m not casting aspersions on your apparel choices. I promise. I happen to love those jeans.”
“Because my butt looks great in them.”
“Amongst other things.” She grinned at him. She really was feeling better. “This is about Lucas, though. There was nothing in his wardrobe that screamed eighties ... or even nineties. Ten years ago, though? I think that’s a viable option.”
“Well, then we’ll start looking.”
They sipped coffee and started typing. Because he was still leery about Harper’s determination that the boy had to be local, Zander expanded his search parameters ... and came up with something within five minutes.
“Um ... Harp?”
“Hmm.” Her gaze was focused on her computer screen.
“I think I found something.”
“What?” She lifted her eyes, legitimately curious.
“Is this him?” Zander turned his screen so she could study it and she practically jumped out of her chair.
“You found him!” She was so excited she almost spilled her coffee, but he managed to catch the cup before it tipped over onto her keyboard. “How did you find it?”
“I’m gifted,” he replied dryly. “And I set my search to encompass the entire state.”
She stilled. “Where did you find him?”
“Grand Rapids.”
She was floored. “But ... that’s way on the other side of the state.”
“It is.”
“How did he get here?”
Zander shrugged, noncommittal. “I’m not sure, Harper. He’s a ghost. Can’t he just pop wherever he wants to go?”
“In theory, yes, but why wou
ld he come here? His family is over there, right? His loved ones. He probably died over there. Why come here?”
“Perhaps your reputation is growing and ghosts travel more than we realize.” Zander went back to studying his screen. “It says here that he was in the woods, hanging out with friends, and never came home. The police discovered his body days later. He was fifteen at the time of his death.”
Harper listened, her heart becoming heavier with each word.
“A group of kids were identified as having been out in the woods that night, but all of them claimed they had no idea what happened to Lucas, even though he was stabbed and bled out. The medical examiner’s report says he could’ve been saved if an ambulance had been called right away. It wasn’t a quick death.”
Harper felt sick to her stomach. “Are they suggesting the kids knew he was in the woods, dying, and they continued partying around him?”
“Um ... the information in this news article suggests he was found about a quarter of a mile from the spot where they were partying, so it’s not as if he was right on top of them. It’s possible the other kids didn’t know.
“You remember being that age,” he continued. “We drank in the woods with the rest of them. There was never any reason to leave once we got to the party spot. It’s not as if we wandered around the woods either.”
“No, but someone must’ve noticed he’d gone missing. How big of a group are we talking about?”
“Twenty kids, both boys and girls. All the kids were protected by their parents and guardians. They refused to allow the kids to talk to police and the prosecutor expressed frustration because he said it was obvious the kids were covering up for a murderer. They knew more than they were saying but hid under the umbrella of being minors.
“He also said that he had no doubt the killer was one of those kids, that no grifter managed to sneak up and take out Lucas when they weren’t looking, and it was a travesty for the Grand Rapids community,” he continued. “He insisted, if he had to wait until the kids were adults, he would and then haul them in for questioning when their parents couldn’t protect them.”
“It sounds like he was upset,” Harper mused. “I don’t blame him. They put up a brick wall of silence and he couldn’t take them all in because he didn’t have enough evidence.”
“Pretty much,” Zander confirmed. “Lucas was an only child with a single mother. His father was killed during a tour overseas and the community rallied around her. There was public outrage and, apparently, the kids were ostracized because they were assumed guilty.”
“How did the names become public?” Harper asked the question out loud, but it was more for herself. “Minors wouldn’t have their names printed in the newspaper unless charged, and it doesn’t sound like these kids were ever charged.”
“Yeah, but Grand Rapids isn’t that big. The other kids knew who was out there, they would’ve spread the word.”
“Yeah.” She tapped her fingers on the table, her frown deepening. “When did he die?”
“Um ... about eight months ago. Why?”
“Because Rain is from Grand Rapids.”
Zander jerked up his head, surprised. “Are you suggesting she was one of the kids?”
“The timing makes sense. She would be the right age. Ezra said she got in with a bad crowd. The aunt was supposed to take care of her for a few years, which shouldn’t have been an overtaxing job, but she told Ezra she couldn’t keep her. Maybe it’s because the community turned on her, too.”
“I ... .” Even as he opened his mouth to shoot down the possibility, Zander thought better of it. “And maybe Lucas followed Rain to this side of the state because he wants her to pay.”
“Or tell what she knows. I’m not saying that Rain killed him,” she cautioned. “It’s possible she knows what happened, though. Maybe that’s why she acts out the way she does. Honestly, it makes sense ... in a very weird and unfortunate way.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Is there a way to find the names of the kids online? That would be confirmation for us.”
“I can search but I don’t think that any websites would be able to keep the names listed publicly without risking a lawsuit. We’re talking blogs and anything that might’ve been used to spread the word. It’s far more likely that kids texted and private messaged the information to one another.”
“So ... it would’ve been common knowledge, but only to those close to the situation.”
“Exactly,” he bobbed his head. “If we’re going to confirm it, we might need Jared to place a call to the police over there. He can probably find out the truth relatively quickly.”
“Yes, but he’s busy with Lionel’s death. I don’t want to pull him away for my thing unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“So ... what? You just want to give up?”
“Absolutely not. I’m just saying we can get the information someplace else.”
“And where is that?”
“The brother who took her in, moved her for a fresh start, and who seems to acknowledge he has limitations.”
“Ah.” Realization dawned on Zander. “You want to go to Ezra.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“No. I think it’s a good one.” He closed his laptop and stood. “We can have a late lunch in town and stop by his gallery. Even if he lies to us, I think we’ll be able to tell.”
“You read my mind. He’s an open book.”
“Then let’s go. I’m in this as deep as you now and I want to know.”
THEY GOT SANDWICHES AND SOUP at the deli because it was convenient and then pointed themselves in the direction of the gallery. They’d come up with an elaborate plan to question Ezra without coming across as obnoxious. Despite that, they were both nervous when they pushed open the door.
The gallery wasn’t yet open. It was freshly painted, all the walls barren of decorations, and it was ridiculously clean to the point of being sterile. It didn’t quite feel homey, though, because it was so empty.
Ezra was standing close to the east wall, a tape measure in his hand, and he looked up at the sound of their footsteps. A wide smile graced his handsome face when he saw who was visiting. “Hey, guys. We’re not open yet.”
“Oh, we know,” Harper offered. “We were just having lunch at the deli and saw you through the window. We thought we might see what you were doing. It looks like you’ve done a lot with the space.”
“It’s a work in progress, but it’s shaping up quickly.” Ezra’s pleasant expression never wavered. “It’s great that you guys are so enthusiastic. I’m so glad I met you.”
“We’re glad we met you, too,” Harper reassured him. She had a plan to engage him in conversation about Rain, but she found she was struggling with the steps.
Finally, because he sensed what was going through Harper’s mind, Zander took control of the conversation. “Did your sister sit back and watch a kid die in Grand Rapids and do nothing about it?”
Horrified, Harper slapped her had to her forehead. “Oh, geez. We had a plan!”
Zander ignored her. “It’s a straightforward question. We’re just wondering.”
Ezra bristled at the question. “What is this? If you have something to say, come right out with it.”
“I’m pretty sure we just did,” Zander countered. “We have reason to believe that Rain was one of the kids who either killed Lucas Olsen or sat back and protected the guilty party. We’re just looking for confirmation.”
Harper pressed her lips together and fervently wished for a hole to open beneath her and swallow her whole. She didn’t get that lucky.
“How did you even find out about that?” Ezra’s annoyance was obvious. “Have you been digging for dirt on us? I thought you guys were friendly. I guess I was wrong on that front, huh?”
“You’re not wrong,” Harper reassured him, taking a step forward. “We’re friendly. It’s just ... do you know what I do for a living? Did I tell you?”
&n
bsp; Ezra furrowed his brow. “You give ghost tours in the cemetery. Personally, I don’t know how you make a living from that, but I know what you do for a living.”
“It’s a little more involved than that,” Harper hedged. “The thing is ... I can see and talk to ghosts.”
“You already told me.”
“But ... I really can. Your expression tells me that you don’t believe me, which is fine, but it’s the truth. I’ve had the ability since I was a kid. Over the past two days, the ghost of a teenager has been ... well, for lack of a better word, haunting me. He’s visited more than once. He’s showed me things.”
“Is this going to a weird perverted place?” Ezra’s suspicion was obvious. “I think you guys should go.”
Harper wasn’t ready to let it go just yet. “It’s true. We know he was killed in the woods around Grand Rapids. We know the kids covered up what happened. We also know that Rain is the right age and you said she got into trouble back in Grand Rapids. We’re not judging you but ... I’m going to help put Lucas to rest. Information would be helpful.”
Ezra worked his jaw, annoyance obvious. “I can’t believe this. I just ... don’t you understand that I’m trying to get a new start here? Rain is a good kid. She just fell in with a bad crowd.”
“That’s all well and good. This really isn’t about her, though. This is about a dead boy ... and it’s obvious that our suspicions are true. She was one of the kids out there that night. Is that why your aunt didn’t want to keep her?”
“Yes, but this isn’t Rain’s fault.” Ezra looked as if he was in literal pain. “She was just out there to have a good time. She was looking to blow off some steam. Since our parents died, well, life has been difficult for her.”
“Life isn’t easy for anyone,” Zander pointed out. “Everyone has issues of some kind. She helped cover up a murder.”
“But she didn’t,” Ezra insisted. “She was there, partying. She doesn’t deny that. Lucas was there, but he disappeared at some point. He wandered away and they all assumed he left. They didn’t know anything had happened to him.”
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