Dare You to Lie

by Amber Lynn Natusch

  “I—I didn’t mean for it to happen. I had no idea how old she was.…”

  “The prostitute? How old was she?”

  “… Sixteen.”

  “Doctor, are you admitting to me that you had sex with a minor for money?”

  He nodded his head.

  “Say it out loud.”

  “Yes, I had sex with a minor for money—but I didn’t know!”

  Holy. Shit.

  “When?”

  “Two years ago.” His eyes slammed shut as his features tightened. He looked like he was trying not to cry. “I swear I didn’t know she was underage!”

  “I don’t believe you,” Dawson roared, slamming his fists down on the counter. “What you’ve just told me is enough to get a warrant to dissect your life piece by piece, Doctor. Tell me I won’t find other incriminating evidence somewhere. Kiddie porn on your home computer? Dubious internet searches? Give us enough time and we will find it.”

  “NO!” the doctor yelled. “Don’t. My wife will find out.”

  “I think your wife will be the least of your concerns by the time I’m done.”

  “I’m a pediatrician! I love children. I swore an oath to take care of them. I would never hurt them intentionally!”

  “But that’s exactly what you did, isn’t it? You gave them medications knowing that they had every intention of abusing them, and you sexually victimized another. You’re a disgrace to your profession. But you’ll have a long time to think about that—in prison.”

  “No. you can’t! You said you’d—”

  “The DEA will go easy on you for the fraud. I’m a man of my word and I’ll keep that. But you haven’t given me enough on who’s behind the prostitution ring to reduce your charges. You’ll be arrested for soliciting and for sexual assault of a minor. And I’ll see to it that you do time. Believe that.”

  I lunged away from the window, needing to get out of there before Dawson left his interrogation. I stepped out into the hall and took off running—until I slammed right into a disheveled-looking attorney headed toward the interrogation that had just ended.

  “Sorry! I didn’t see you.” When I looked up to apologize, I realized it was Luke.

  “Ky, what are you doing here? Are you okay? Did something else happen?”

  “No! Nothing like that.”

  “Did you get arrested?”

  “Oh, my God, no! I was just … hoping to track down that missing file.”

  His lips pressed to a thin line. “Okay. Good. I’m glad you’re all right. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a client waiting.”

  “Dr. Carle?” I asked, unable to hide the surprise in my tone.

  He looked over his shoulder, eyes narrowed. “Yes. Why?”

  I shrugged, hoping to play it off.

  “I saw them bring him in and I put two and two together.”

  His features tightened, marring his normally jovial expression.

  “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later, Kylene.”

  I waved, then watched him walk into the room that held his guilty client. He was not going to be happy when he found out that Dr. Carle had spoken before he arrived. As I walked toward the main area of the building, I wondered how awful it would be to have to represent someone who’d done what Dr. Carle had done. Luke’s love of constitutional rights must have been as strong as his love of football.

  I made my way toward the main entrance, almost back to my seat, when someone caught my arm. I turned to find Dawson staring at me. His expression was a blend of emotions—a mix of disbelief, anger, and awe. The urge to smile at him in victory was hard to contain.

  “Where were you just now, Danners?”

  “The bathroom. Why?” He looked unconvinced but couldn’t prove otherwise, so he let it go. “Did you get what you were hoping to? For your case?”

  “Yeah. I did.”

  We stared at each other for a second in silence before he opened his mouth to say something. Just as he started to speak, a guy I didn’t recognize rounded the corner and called him over.

  “I guess you better go get ready for your big dance now, Danners,” Dawson said. “Try to keep your nose clean while you’re there. I don’t want to get any frantic calls tonight, requiring me to come bail you out.”

  Prick.

  “Don’t worry, Dawson. If I wanted someone capable of rescuing me, I wouldn’t call you. Your track record is a bit shoddy. And since I seem to have lost the bet, I won’t be seeing you there. Let me know when you need that old-man car of yours washed.”

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  Gramps was working on my car when I came home. It was as good as new—windows and all—and ready to take me to the dance. It wasn’t sexy, but it was working, which was good enough for me. Gramps started to go into what had happened to Heidi, but I stopped him with a big hug and kiss. I didn’t really care what had happened to it. I cared that it was working.

  “I’ll pay you back when I get my first check,” I said, pulling away from him.

  “You will not. I got the parts from the salvage yard. Cheaper than filing a claim. You just keep your money for yourself, Kylene. You earned it.” I smiled up at him, then hugged him again. Gramps truly was the best. “I left you some money on the kitchen table for tonight, too—in case you kids are goin’ out for pizza after.”

  “Thanks, Gramps.”

  “I just want you to have a fun night.”

  “I will.”

  “Now I gotta go get cleaned up for work. Won’t be home tonight, but the rules still apply. Don’t be out too late. And no boys at the house, except for Garrett.”

  “I know, Gramps. I’ll be home without issue. Promise.”

  He gave me his famous side-eye glance, then headed for the house, wiping his hands on a rag along the way. I followed behind him and made my way to the kitchen to fix him some lunch. I hadn’t seen him for a while. I thought a little family time was overdue.

  * * *

  A couple of hours after Gramps left, it was time to get ready for the dance. As I laid everything out in preparation, I realized I needed some things from the store, so I rushed into town to get them. When I got there, I all but ran to the makeup section and stared at a wall of lipsticks until my eyes hurt. After a few minutes, I just grabbed a shade of red I thought would work with my dress, then headed for deodorant.

  That was a must.

  There was someone in the aisle when I turned down it. His back was to me, but I recognized him right away. Mark Sinclair. Yay for me.

  “Mark,” I said dryly, reaching for whatever brand of deodorant was cheapest. He turned to look at me. On his forehead was a bruise, and his lip had clearly been split. “Yikes … what happened? Kru Tyson go hard on you this morning, or did you get jumped in aisle seven?”

  He scoffed and shook his head. “I don’t understand you, Kylene. You’re a smart girl. Tough. Pretty. But you don’t know when to walk away. For whatever reason, you just have to hang around and poke the cooling corpse.”

  “Are you the cooling corpse in this analogy?” I asked. His expression soured. “I just want to be clear.…”

  After making his selection, Mark started past where I stood, stopping to whisper something in my ear as he did.

  “You need to leave what happened back then alone, understand?”

  My blood ran cold.

  “Or what, Mark?”

  He looked at me, his eyes filled with a mix of frustration, anger, and something else I couldn’t quite place in the harsh fluorescent lighting.

  “Something really terrible is going to happen to you.…”

  * * *

  I drove home with Mark’s words echoing through my mind. Something about it just didn’t sit well with me, and I couldn’t shake that feeling. When I got home, I tried to focus on getting ready for the dance instead, but my home-alone status made me edgy. I watched some ridiculous romantic comedy while I got ready to help ease my anxiety about what he’d said. By the time I’d finally managed to pull up t
he zipper of my dress, I felt calm.

  Before I walked out the door, I looked in the mirror at my reflection and smiled. Mom always said that the right shade of red lipstick on a blonde was a sight to behold. She would have approved of my choice. She would have told me how beautiful I was. She would have cleaned up any rogue makeup and checked my teeth for lipstick before I left. But she wasn’t there to tell me those things. She was gone.

  Instead, I did all those things by myself, alone in my room.

  Then I wiped away the tear forming in the corner of my eye and walked out.

  * * *

  “Well, well, well,” Garrett said, standing outside the school, waiting for me. “You’re making me rethink my stance on blondes, Kylene Danners.”

  “Who are you kidding? You’re way too stubborn to admit you’ve been wrong all these years!”

  I smiled as I walked up to him and wrapped my arm around his waist. He pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head.

  “So, you ready for this?”

  “Kids dressed in rented tuxes and cheap satin dresses, dry-humping each other on a dance floor? Garrett, this is what dreams are made of.”

  We laughed as we made our way around to the back of the school, where the gymnasium entrance was. Mobs of students dressed in formal wear were posing outside, getting pictures taken by family and friends as quickly as they could. Given the forecast and the ominous clouds brewing above, it wouldn’t be long before it started to pour.

  Garrett and I sneaked past them and made our way into the dance. It was just as tacky as I’d expected. Maybe even more so. Streamers hung from every available surface like someone had TP-ed them with rainbow-colored toilet paper. Tables lined the perimeter of the room, each decorated with a barrage of metallic paraphernalia. I was pretty sure the shelves of the party store in town had been raided.

  “Sweet Jesus. This place is a train wreck.”

  “C’mon, Grumpy. Let’s get you some punch. Sounds like your blood sugar is dropping.” Garrett smiled, pleased with his dig.

  “Lead the way.”

  We made our way over to a refreshment area at the back of the dance. The one that would surely be spiked with some cheap liquor before the night was through. Garrett poured us each a glass and then headed toward a table not far away. We sat and watched as more kids started to come in.

  “Let the games begin,” I said, raising my glass to Garrett. He clinked his against it and we both took a big sip. If it hadn’t gone so poorly for me the last time I drank, I might have been open to doing a shot or two just to get through the night. I really needed something to perk me up a bit.

  I needed Tabby.

  “When’s the eager beaver getting here?” I asked.

  “I think she said she’d be an hour late. Her dad’s dropping her off.”

  “I could use some of her sunshine right about now.”

  “Or you could just witness the awesomeness going on in the corner over there and enjoy.” He pointed to a dark corner near the entrance to the gym, where two obviously drunk freshmen were going at it. Apparently the chaperones were asleep at the wheel, because her dress was almost pushed up over her hips before Ms. Davies came flying out of nowhere and accosted the two of them, dragging them out of the room. I was half tempted to go eavesdrop on that conversation. I doubted Ms. Davies would disappoint.

  “That was entertaining, but we need something that’ll last longer than five minutes.”

  Garrett laughed. “So, do you want to dance?” I looked at him like he’d been possessed by demons. “I’ll take that as a no.…”

  “Listen, I’ll let Tabby drag me out there because her enthusiasm is hard to deny at times. But you I can say no to.”

  “You’re a crappy date.” He winked at me and downed the rest of his drink, but my attention was pulled somewhere across the gym.

  AJ strolled into the room, looking like he owned the place. He’d always had such natural confidence. It was one of the things that I was initially attracted to. I remembered his swagger the day he walked up to me in the cafeteria and, in front of everyone there, asked me out. It was as if he never doubted I’d say yes. Not because he was cocky, but because there was an assuredness to him. It made it impossible to say no.

  Even for me.

  I snapped out of that memory. Occasionally my mind would forget everything that had happened between us—disconnect the AJ I’d once known from the one I thought he’d become.

  “Ky, are you listening to me?”

  “Huh? What? Oh, sorry. My mind just wandered off. It’s been a long day.”

  “C’mon. We’re dancing, and that’s final. No thinking tonight. Just fun. Can you handle that?”

  “You fight dirty, Garrett Higgins.”

  We got up and made our way to the mob of students on the dance floor and survived our Tabby-less homecoming time by making each other laugh with nineties-themed battles and quirky moves.

  “Hey!” he yelled at me over the music. “Did you hear they shut the Williamson Pharmacy down? Rumor is they were filling bogus scripts.”

  “You don’t say.…”

  He looked at me, realization dawning in his eyes.

  “I don’t know how you pulled that one off, Ky, but your dad would be proud.”

  “Yeah … I can’t wait to tell him.”

  Just about the time I was ready to take a break, I caught sight of a redheaded beanpole in a midnight-blue cocktail dress, standing at the entrance to the circus.

  “It looks like our special snowflake has arrived,” I said, turning Garrett around to see Tabby on the far side of the room. He reached up to wave her over, a smile on his face as he did so. She lit up the second she saw him and came darting across the room toward us.

  “This place is amazing!” she squealed. She practically tackled me, wrapping her thin arms around my neck to hug me. Then she disentangled herself and did the same to Garrett. “The decorations are so pretty! And the music … I love this song! Why aren’t you dancing?”

  Garrett shot me a sidelong glance.

  “Tabby,” I started, giving her my most serious look, “did you drink some happy juice before you got here?”

  She blushed. “I snuck a sip or two when my mom and dad were upstairs … right before we left the house.”

  “Okay then, Gingerpants. Let’s go see what those skinny legs of yours can do.”

  As if she’d been waiting for permission, Tabby started dancing, nearly knocking over anyone in her way. Those bony elbows of hers cleared a path for us, and the three of us soon found ourselves having a good time. But just as soon as we’d gotten started, the DJ played a slow song—one I had no intention of dancing to. Garrett looked at me, and I jerked my head at Tabby.

  “Don’t make Americans look bad,” I said, and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Tabby, go easy on him.”

  She smiled.

  I made my way back to my table while the two of them danced. As I stared out into the crowd, letting my eyes jump from couple to couple without focus, I could sense someone approaching. When I looked over, I found AJ standing a few feet away from me wearing a tentative smile.

  “I know what you’re probably going to say to this, but—”

  “AJ, don’t. Please. I’m begging you. Don’t—”

  “Kylene Danners, will you dance with me?” He reached his hand out to me, and I stared at it. I remembered how much I used to love to hold that hand. How safe and warm it felt when it was wrapped around mine. How, at one point in my life, I’d have let the hand guide me just about anywhere.

  But in that moment, I just wanted it to go away.

  “I don’t want to keep you in suspense, so I’ll be blunt. No, I don’t want to dance with you. I don’t really want to dance with anyone, for that matter. I hate dances. I’m literally here because Garrett and Tabby guilted me into coming.”

  “Of course. Garrett. Guess I should have known.”

  “Yes, Garrett. The guy out there dancing with Tabby.
Not me. Because Garrett doesn’t want me and never has, remember? We’ve been through all this already. He was your best friend, AJ. You know him better than that. And besides, you know he doesn’t go for blondes. Never will.”

  “Some exceptions are worth making.”

  The weight of those words and the sadness he clearly felt when he spoke them could not be ignored. AJ Miller was still heartbroken about how things ended between us. He didn’t hide it nearly as well as I did.

  “Where’s your date? Maybe you should try dancing with her. That’s kinda how these things work, ya know?”

  “I didn’t bring one.”

  “Ah, I see. Going stag so you can pick off the solo chicks. It’s a good strategy, though it seems to be slim pickin’s.”

  Intense eyes met mine.

  “The pickin’s look just fine to me.”

  “AJ, can we just not do this? I need you to give up. It’ll be better for us both.”

  “I disagree.”

  “Of course you do.…” I sighed, wishing the DJ would play something else so I could go join Garrett and Tabby. As it was, I was considering that option anyway. “Is your plan to just wear me down?”

  “Nope.”

  “Then why must you be such a pain in my ass? I forgive you. Really. Cross my heart and hope to die and stuff. I absolve you of your guilt—again. Now, go, fly away, my unburdened dove. Be free!”

  I shooed him with my hand to little effect. Instead, he pulled up a chair right in front of me and sat down. He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees as his bright green eyes stared at me.

  “Prove it, Ky. Prove you forgive me.”

  I eyed him dubiously. “Prove it how?”

  He reached his hand out for me again. “Dance with me.”

  “And fuel this delusion of yours—that things can just go back to how they were? Nope. Not doing it.”

  “One dance. That’s all. One dance and I leave you alone.”

  My eyes narrowed. “One dance and you leave me alone? For good?”

  “I won’t bother you again.”

  “For tonight or in general?”

  He smiled. “In general.”

  I sat there and once again stared at his hand as if it belonged to the devil. And I knew how deals with him went.