I stopped at a traffic light and tried to keep my fingers from tapping on the wheel impatiently. “Did he know anyone from Saint View High? The principal? Their football coach?”
She shook her head, dark hair falling around her face gently. Even this upset, she was still beautiful. “I don’t think so? I can’t imagine why he’d have anything to do with the principal of a school like that. And he didn’t even like football. Maybe they got in, hoping for money?”
“In a school? How much money would be kept on the grounds on a Sunday night?”
She mulled that over. “Perhaps for the computers and equipment, then? But surely someone would have seen something if that were the case. A truck or van leaving the premises.”
“I don’t think this was a random attack. The man knew my name.”
My aunt darted a worried glance at me. “Are you sure he said your name? You were so out of it that night, sweetheart…”
I shot her a look as the light went green and I let the car roll forward. “Please don’t say you don’t believe me either.”
She reached across the gearshift and gripped my arm, squeezing it reassuringly. “Of course I believe you. Always. It’s just that none of this makes sense.”
“I know.” I swallowed hard. “Appin thinks I’m lying, doesn’t he? You’ve known him a long time.”
She nodded. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks.”
“But it does. He’s going to waste all his time investigating you, and me, and not paying attention to the facts. I don’t want him on this case. Ask for someone else.”
Selina sighed. “Who, though, Lace? He’s the most senior detective they have. And I have no pull with the police department. Even if I did somehow manage to persuade them to give the case to someone else, you think he wouldn’t have his nose all in it? It would just make things worse. He’d be embarrassed in front of his colleagues and he’d come after us twice as hard.”
Frustration rose inside me, and I gripped the wheel tighter. “So what? We just let him fuck this whole thing up like he did with my parents’ case?”
A dark shadow crossed her face. “Language. But, no. Not like that. That can’t happen again. I can’t stand the not knowing.”
An idea bubbled to the surface, and I pondered it in the silence that fell over us. My aunt would never go for it. I knew she’d be horrified, even by the thought. I’d seen the way she’d wrinkled her nose at the mere mention of Saint View. But the more I thought it over, the more it seemed like the only way. I had a chance now to do something I hadn’t when I was a kid.
I had a chance to make this right.
If the police weren’t going to investigate properly, then I would.
“Enroll me at Saint View High.”
My aunt’s head snapped in my direction. “What?”
Her eyes were huge, as if I’d just punched her in the gut. But surprise I could work with. It was better than an outright refusal.
“Seriously, Selina. SVHF. Saint View High Football. Doesn’t it make sense that someone there might know Uncle Lawson? Maybe someone he worked with? Or went to college with even?”
“I suppose,” she said slowly. “But what are you suggesting? That someone held a grudge since his college days?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. But I want to find out.”
“By enrolling at the school?”
I went quiet. We were almost home before I answered. “I can’t just do nothing. Not again. Please. I’d rather do this with your blessing, but I’m nearly eighteen and I can enroll myself If I have to.”
Selina sucked in a deep breath, and I knew why. I’d always been a good kid. Perhaps it was the fact that my aunt and uncle weren’t my biological parents, and I therefore still subconsciously felt like I always had to do the right thing in case they decided to give me up. I never stayed out past curfew. I did all my homework and got good grades. I had a perfect attendance record. But this wasn’t some insignificant thing, like getting another award at school. This was something I had to do. “Please, Selina. I have to.”
I pulled the car into the driveway and hit the beeper for the electric doors on the garage. They rolled open agonizingly slowly, while Selina pondered my request. I didn’t dare glance her way. I was full of bravado. I might have been able to enroll myself if I’d wanted to, but the fact was, Selina could find other ways to stop me. Take my car, so I couldn’t get there. Or worse, kick me out entirely for going against her wishes. I didn’t want either of those things. I loved my aunt. I had a nice home with her, and I didn’t want to lose it, right after losing Lawson.
But I had to do something.
“You’ve got that look in your eye,” Selina said with a sigh.
“What look? I don’t have a look.”
She laughed. “Oh, but, sweetheart, you do. You look just like your mother. Full of fire and determination.”
My heart squeezed. I barely remembered my mother. I’d blocked out so much of my early life, it was like a black hole. I remembered the way she’d made me feel, more than her appearance. And deep in my heart, I still knew that she hadn’t just disappeared of her own free will. She’d loved me. She wouldn’t have just abandoned me.
My eyes filled with tears. She’d been stolen from me. Just like my dad. And my uncle. I kept losing people, and I didn’t know why.
Selina leaned across and pulled me into an awkward hug. She sighed. “So, what does one wear on their first day of public school?”
4
Lacey
Saint View High had all the charm of a prison block.
Kids streamed from all directions, headed for the stairs that led up the squat, bare cement building, looking as thrilled as if they were headed to a funeral.
So many nameless faces. There wasn’t a single soul I recognized.
My attention caught on a couple, making their way across the patchy grass of the quad. She was a cute blonde, with athletic legs, shown off by a skirt so short it was little more than underwear. The guy she hung off was tall, his broad shoulders tapering down to a narrow waist. She talked animatedly about something I was too far away to hear, while he appeared bored, his gaze wandering around the crowd, as if he were searching for someone. Or perhaps searching for an escape from his girlfriend. His gaze caught mine, and I looked down quickly, embarrassed at being caught staring.
My cell buzzed in my backpack, the ringtone lost to the crowd of teenagers forced to divert around me. I fished it out and answered the call without checking the caller ID, just grateful I had something to do to busy my hands.
“Girl! Where are you? I thought we were meeting on the steps, but it’s five to, and you’re a no-show. Are you in the parking lot or did you sleep in?”
Shit. Meredith. Orientation at Edgely Academy. We’d organized to meet beforehand, and I’d completely forgotten. I cringed. “Actually, neither. I’m standing in front of Saint View High.”
There was a moment of surprised silence, then, “Uh, okay. But why?”
I sighed. “Too long to get into right now. It all happened last night. I’ll call you tonight and explain, but I’m not coming to orientation today.”