“Well, I personally can’t wait to get out of this town. I need a change of scenery,” Allison said.
“I get that. And, I’m so sorry about your friend. When we were there on Saturday, we still thought it was a runaway case. Tell you what, don’t worry about the license. Just be more observant, okay?” He nodded to Lucas. “Who’s the little guy with you?”
Lucas waved hello. “I’m her brother.”
“Well, you need to keep this young lady in line. She looks like trouble.” Officer Sullivan gave Allison a wink. “Have a good day. Hope to see you again soon.” He tipped his cap and went back to his car. Allison waited for him to leave before putting the Jeep in drive.
“I think he likes you,” Lucas said, grinning.
“Oh whatever. Don’t be weird.” She gave him a playful shove.
They continued driving through the neighborhood, but none of the vehicles in the driveways or on the streets matched the description of what they were looking for.
“What if he isn’t even in this town anymore?” Lucas asked.
“That’s a real possibility. Henderson is a small town. I couldn’t imagine someone being able to hide for too long. We’ll keep looking though.”
Allison had definitely thought the same. After Ariel was found and the case went from being missing person to homicide, the police presence and interest surrounding the case escalated. There was a lot of heat, and whoever it was in the black car had, Allison assumed, probably skipped down by now.
“I hope he’s gone,” Lucas said. “I don’t want to have any more nightmares.”
“I know what you mean. I don’t either.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Thursday March 20 | 4:38pm
THE iPHONE BUZZED and Lucas pulled it out of his pocket. Hey bro. See if you can spend the night. It was from Tyler. The last time Lucas had seen him was on Monday, not counting the brief hello at the memorial service. Lucas typed OK and sent it.
He paused his Minecraft game on his computer and went across the hall to the home office. His dad was busy working on the plans for a building, the drawing displayed on the large television above the drafting table. Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” played on the Amazon Echo perched on the bench.
“Dad, Tyler asked if I can go over there. So, can I?”
Bobby, sitting in what was essentially a black and chrome barstool, swiveled around to see his son in the doorway. “I’ll drive you over there, but I don’t want you out by yourself on the bicycle right now. Give me thirty minutes so I can finish this.”
“Cool!” Lucas ran back into his bedroom and thumbed out I'll be there in 30 minutes and sent it.
Sweet. I’ve been working on something I want you to see, Tyler replied. Lucas grabbed his backpack and shoved in a pair of jeans and a Houston Astros T-shirt. He pulled on his black Chuck Taylor’s and got ready to go, wondering what it was Tyler wanted to show him.
As he shut down his laptop and got all his things together, his dad knocked on the door. “Alright, I’m ready if you are,” Bobby said.
The drive to Tyler’s house was just a few blocks, and Bobby fiddled with the radio until he found a station that wasn’t playing commercials. Lucas looked out the window and saw two little kids, no older than six, riding in circles in their driveway. Their parents sat under the covered porch watching the brother and sister. “I can’t wait for everything to go back to normal so I can ride my bike again.”
“I know, buddy.” Bobby patted his son on the shoulder. “You’ll be able to. Right now, everyone is a little on edge though.”
“This is not how I wanted to spend spring break,” Lucas sighed.
“Well, it’s almost over. You’ll be back in school on Monday.”
“What do you think it’s going to be like, going back? Are they going to keep us locked down all day too?”
Bobby shot a look at his son that said knock it off. “You’re not on lockdown. We just want you kids to be safe. As much as we hate to admit it, we have no idea what happened to that little girl. We don’t know who took her, or why. And, as a dad, that scares me.”
Lucas felt guilty. He never stopped to take into consideration how the parents must be feeling during all this. Wondering if, at any given moment, their child could or would be the next one dumped in the woods. “I’m sorry dad.”
They pulled up to the curb in front of the Washington home. “It’s okay, kid. I get that you’re frustrated. You just have to understand and know that all we want is what’s best for you. I’m not being an asshole just to be an asshole. We just want you kids to be safe.” Bobby turned off the ignition. “I’m gonna say hi to John while we’re here.”
They went up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Victoria, dressed in her workout attire, leggings and a light pink Lululemon tank top answered, “Hey y’all, come on in! Tyler’s been so antsy, wanting you boys to come over again.”
Bobby and Lucas entered the home, and John came in from the garage to greet them as well. The two men went back out to the garage, talking about Mr. Washington’s latest restoration project.
Lucas went to Tyler’s bedroom, where Tyler and Elijah were playing Fortnite. “Hey guys!” Lucas fist-bumped both of them. “I’m so glad we’re all here again. I’ve felt like a prisoner!”
Elijah, not looking away from the television while controlling his character through the virtual brush and looking for an enemy, “Oh, dude. Same. I practically had to beg my mom to let me come over here.”
“So, what did you want to show me?” Lucas asked Tyler.
“I’ll pull it out in a second, but I want to wait til later this evening before doing anything. But let’s just say, we’ve got some work to do,” Tyler said with a grin.
Elijah’s character popped up out of the brush on the screen and shot the other player on the screen. The words “Victory Royale #1” popped up and his character danced to the victory music. “Finally!” Elijah exclaimed. “I’ve been going after that dude for twenty minutes!”
Bobby popped his head in the bedroom door. “Hey kid, I’m leaving. Be good for John and Vic.” Lucas hugged his dad goodbye and the man left. The boys watched the Toyota Tacoma drive off, back toward the Beaker home.
“I was really hoping they’d let you ride your bike over,” Tyler said, turning to Lucas.
“So do I. But they don’t want me out on it by myself right now. That’s why my dad drove me over,” Lucas said.
Elijah sat down the Xbox controller and said, “That sucks. We could have definitely used it for tonight.”
Lucas looked at his friends, confused. “Why? What’s happening tonight?”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Thursday March 20 | 6:52pm
TYLER REACHED INTO the top drawer of the wooden nightstand beside his bed and pulled out a sheet of paper. He handed it, still folded, to Lucas. Lucas unfolded it and pursed his lips, unsure of what he was reading. It was a computer printout with addresses and vehicle types with license plate numbers. Five of the listings were circled with black pen. “What is this?” he asked.
“Long story short, my dad has this program at work that lets you do a database search for the whole county. You can search for vehicle registrations, vehicle types, and stuff like that.”
Lucas looked up from the paper at Tyler, who, by judging the look on his face, was very proud of himself. He couldn’t believe they had access to this type of information.
“Last night, after he and my mom went to bed, I got on the computer and started doing some investigating. I was able to log in to the database program. That,” he said, confidently, “is a list of every black Ford vehicle registered in the county. The ones circled are the ones that aren’t pickups or SUVs.” He pointed at the circled items on the list. “Our guy is on here. And we’re going to find him.”
Lucas read each listing individually across the page, the crease from the fold in between the “vehicle type” and “address” columns. As he scanned the page, he saw things li
ke Ford Excursion and F250 crossed off. Ford Fusion, Ford Fiesta and Taurus were circled. One of these, they assumed, was the suspect’s possible vehicle.
“I can’t believe you were able to do this!” Lucas hadn’t been this elated since before the treehouse was completed. This was more than just aimlessly running around town hoping to see the black car. This was actual progress, a plan that had action. As he scanned the page, however, he noticed something missing. “Where are the names? It just lists addresses and license plates.”
“Apparently you have to put in another password to access some more confidential data, and I couldn’t figure that one out. But this has everything we need,” Tyler said. “All we have to do now is find the car.”
Lucas nodded in agreement. The names of the people on the list weren’t as necessary as simply finding the vehicle. Once they found the vehicle, they knew they had the killer. “Where are these addresses in town?” Lucas asked.
Elijah pulled a black Dell Chromebook from his backpack and opened it up. “I’ve already mapped them out,” he said as the Google maps page loaded. “Tyler told me when I got here, so I started working on this. As you can see here,” he pointed at the screen where he’d created a route that connected each address on the list, “we can start here, at Tyler’s, and go south before coming back up on the other side of Kilgore.”
“Since you your parents wouldn’t let you bring your bike, you can ride on my pegs. Which may be best. That way you can focus on the cars at these addresses without having to ride as well. But tonight, after my parents go to bed, we’re going out there and finding this guy,” Tyler said.
Lucas liked the plan, as dangerous as it sounded. Aside from getting caught sneaking out, there was also the risk of being seen by the guy. “So, I just have to identify the car that tried to run me over?”
“Yup,” Tyler affirmed. “That’s all we have to do. On this list, find the one that tried to run you over. If you can do that, we can take that information to the cops. They’ll arrest him for what he did to you, and then they’ll find that girl’s DNA in the car somewhere.”
“Right,” Elijah said. “If he drove her body out to the woods in that same car, they’d be able to find her DNA in it. We could literally get this case solved tonight. Do you think you’d recognize the car again if you saw it?”
Lucas thought for a second. “I think so, yeah. I’d need to see the front end. I don’t think I could ever forget those headlights though. When I thought he was going to run me over, they were right on me. Wait a second…”
“What?” Tyler asked.
“I just remembered. I rode my bike over the curb and hid in the bushes on the side of a house over there. When he drove off, I noticed that one of the back lights was broken and taped over.
“That’s awesome!” Elijah said. “That’s the clue we need!”
Tyler fist bumped Lucas. “We’re definitely going to get this guy.”
Elijah went back to the computer screen. “I’m going to send this map to my phone. When we leave tonight, I’ll navigate. Tyler will give you a pump and you look for the car with the broken tail light.”
Lucas was beaming. For the first time in almost a week, he wasn’t scared, and he could tell his friends were feeling the same way. He was excited and nervously impatient. “What time do we head out?”
“My parents usually go to bed around eleven on the weekends. I think sometime after that, we should be fine,” Tyler said.
Mrs. Washington called for them from the kitchen, “Dinner’s ready, boys!”
Tyler took the paper, folded it up and put it in the back pocket of his Old Navy jeans. “Let’s go eat. We’re gonna need our energy for tonight.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Thursday March 20 | 9:10pm
“OH MY GOD!” Allison squealed and wrapped her arms around Amilyn. “It feels like it’s been forever!” Amilyn had popped into her room, almost appearing from thin air in the doorway. She was in a short denim skirt and maroon shirt that hugged her curves with Texas A&M emblazoned across her chest.
“I know! I’m pretty sure my parents tracked my phone the whole time I drove over. They almost didn’t let me come over, but I told them I was getting cabin fever.”
Allison released her friend from her grasp They shut the bedroom door and plopped on the bed. “It’s been so crazy here,” Allison said. “Like, I never thought anything like this could happen in Henderson.”
“I know. My parents have been hovering like crazy!” Amilyn said. “They want to know where I am every second of the day. Literally, my dad followed me to work yesterday to make sure I got there safe.”
“My parents actually let Lucas and me go out yesterday afternoon. This whole thing has hit him pretty hard.”
“I’m sure it’s scarier for the little kids.”
Allison knew why the situation had Lucas freaked out, and it didn’t have anything to do with his age.
“So, listen,” Amilyn said, bringing her voice down. “You know Jeremy, from the football team, right?”
Allison knew exactly who she was talking about, and she was definitely not a fan. Jeremy Collins was a jock and a jerk of the highest order. He was the kind of boy who thought the number of pounds on the bench press made up for the lack of cells in his brain.
“Yeah, why?” she asked, the disgust in her voice not disguised in the least.
“Well, he’s having a party tonight at his place. Everyone is going. There’s going to be a lot of cute boys there.”
“I don’t know, Am. The last thing I want is boys.”
“I understand. Well, let’s at least go and have a good time. Pretty much everyone from the volleyball team will be there.”
Allison didn’t want to let her friend down or seem like a loser, but the last thing she wanted to do was be around a bunch of drunk kids. “Can we just hang out here, Am? It’s been a crazy week.”
“It has been a crazy week, so let’s go out and get drunk and forget about it!”
A week ago, Allison would have been all about it. But now, after what she’d witnessed, and watching her little brother break down with what he and his friends had seen, she simply didn’t have any interest in doing anything stupid.
“Can you imagine how freaked out my parents would be if they saw that we were gone? They’d think the worst. I mean, Ari died last Friday, and everyone thought she had just run away. Now, our parents would worry if we’re dead.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Allison.” Amilyn said.
“I’m not being dramatic!” Allison could feel the heat rising in her face. “Ari was murdered and whoever did it is still out there. You can go, but I’m not. Besides, I thought you came over here to hang out with me.”
Amilyn stood up. “I do want to hang out with you, but I told some of the other girls I’d go to the party. If I go just for a little bit, can I leave my phone here? My parents track my location.”
“Fine,” Allison relented, feeling that her burst of frustration was in the wrong. “But please don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t, I promise. Also, hide my phone so your mom doesn’t see it or anything.” Amilyn handed Allison the red iPhone and Allison shoved it in the pocket of her shorts. Amilyn hugged Allison. “Promise you’ll be right back?”
“I promise. I’m just going to make an appearance and I’ll come right back.” Allison opened the door for her.
Mrs. Beaker was in the hallway, coming out of her office. “Are you leaving already?”
“Oh, she’ll be right back, mom,” Allison said, shooting a glance at her friend. “She forgot some stuff at home.”
“Yeah, I’ll be back in about thirty minutes, if that’s alright.”
“Of course, sweetie. Just drive safely.”
Amilyn waved goodbye.
◆◆◆
It had been over two hours, and Amilyn still wasn’t back. Allison would have been worried, but according to the Snapchat stories from everyone out at Jeremy’
s party, she was having a great time. Allison felt a touch of regret, but more than anything she was upset that her friend left her high and dry and basically used her as an alibi so she could go party.
It was things like this that made her want to go to college far away. She wanted to start over, with new friends and new experiences without any preconceived notions about who she was.
There was a knock at her door. “Come in,” she said.
It was her mother, dressed for bed. “Is your friend not coming back?”
“Oh, no.” Allison looked at the time on her phone. It was almost midnight. “She said she was having cramps.”
“Oh, poor girl. I don’t miss those days. Well, I’m off to bed. Goodnight, sweetie.”
“Goodnight, mom.”
As her mom shut the door, Allison sat up. “Wait, mom?”
The woman opened it. “Yes?”
“I just wanted to tell you I love you.”
Her mother beamed. “I love you too, sweetie. I think you’re a wonderful young lady. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She shut the door and Allison laid back down. Her phone dinged. She hoped it was from Amilyn, letting her know she was on her way back. She unlocked the screen. It was not from her friend. Instead she opened it to see a text message from Brandon.
Hey are you still awake?
Yes, she replied
Can we talk?
About?
Us. Unlock your window. I want to come over. Just talk.
Allison paused for a moment, deciding what she wanted to do. A part of her wanted to tell him to piss off. But at the same time, she really wanted closure on their relationship. She had no desire to continue hiding or sneaking around, and she wanted to be able to tell him this. She wanted to tell him she had no desire to go to Stephen F. Austin University with him, and that she was getting away from this town for good.
NO SEX.
No sex, he replied.
OK.
I’ll be there in about 30 min.
The Treehouse Page 8