by Frankie Rose
TURNS OUT I don’t know Morgan as well as I’d thought. Her parents aren’t shocked when I tell them she OD’d, and they don’t believe for a second that she was spiked. Morgan has landed herself in hospital twice before through drugs. TWICE. She’s struggled with cocaine and pills since her senior year, and her mom and dad packed her off to Seabrook House in New Jersey for three months. They only let her come away to college this far out of state because she maintains regular appointments with her doctors there, and they apparently know what kind of behavior to watch out for.
Well, her doctors can’t have been doing their job. And I haven’t been the only one keeping secrets. The difference is Morgan knows all of mine, or most of them anyway, and I’ve trusted her. She hasn’t trusted me.
Luke drives me back to Columbia after Mr. and Mrs. Kepler start shouting at the already harassed nurse in the ICU; there’s no way I wanted to go in and see Morgan while her parents were there and her mom was crying so hard. I’ll go back later during visiting hours. Mad isn’t even close to describing how angry I am at Morgan, but she still needs a friend right now. When she’s out of hospital and capable of standing on her own two feet, that’s when I’ll tear her a new one.
“I’d offer to go grab you some breakfast,” Luke says as he unclips his seatbelt, “but I had a hell of a shift and I’m gonna pass out any second now. Can you come by my apartment later? I’m sure there’s some things you’d like to look at.”
I swivel in my seat. “So you’ve got it? You’ve really got the Wyoming Ripper file?”
Luke gives me a small nod. “It’s a copy, obviously. My old partner, Chloe, she scanned everything and emailed it through for me. I…I could get into some serious fucking trouble if I showed it to you, Avery. So could she.”
“You’ve got to show me, Luke. I have to know! I have to—”
“Okay, okay,” he says, placing a hand on my knee. “I figured as much, but you can never, never tell anyone, all right? I don’t wanna get ass raped by all the people I’ve put in prison because you let this slip.”
“I would never. I swear.” Luke seems content, if a little uneasy with my promise. Reality suddenly hits me—the file that could condemn my father as a serial killer is within Luke’s possession. Can I do it? Can I really open up that file and rifle through it? I guess I don’t really have a choice. “It won’t be able to come by until later. Is that okay?”
Luke reaches across and unfastens my seatbelt, his knee pressing up against mine. I shift uncomfortably and stare at him. He seems engrossed by the way I’ve gripped my hands tight in my lap. His forehead creases a little when he looks up at me. “No problem. I’m off for the next three days so it doesn’t matter what time. Call me, though. I don’t want you travelling across the city after dark, Beautiful. I’d prefer to come and get you if it’s late.”
