“How did Andrew take it? Betty’s pregnancy?” Clara asked.
Anthony sighed. “He was livid. Told Alex he was throwing his life away for a woman. Called her all manner of bad names to Alex’s face. Alex didn’t speak to him for over a week. Mom told me later it was like a war in the house, with all the glares. Betty wouldn’t even come over, it was so bad. Andrew wasn’t nice to her to begin with, and this just made things worse.”
Clara hated to make this whole date about his family, but she had to know. “Was Andrew ever violent?”
Anthony rubbed his face and laughed a little. “Yes, all the time. He was quite the troublemaker as a child. Always doing something he shouldn’t, getting into fights, those kinds of things.”
Clara nodded and then grinned. Not wanting to spend the whole date discussing his brothers, she leaned in so that he got a good view of her cleavage.”Enough about that. Tell me about yourself.”
He shook his head. “Oh no, I’ve already talked enough. Tell me about you. Where did you come from and why did you move here?”
Clara wrapped her hands around her coffee cup. “My dad got a job here and moved us all here at the beginning of the school year. There was an opening for my brother as well, so it was kind of perfect.”
Anthony leaned back, stretching out his legs. “That had to be hard, moving here your senior year.”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You know I’m a senior?”
He laughed. “Do you think I came to coffee without finding out more about you?”
She shook her head in amazement. “Well, I’m glad you want to know more about me. I hear that you really aren’t into dating.” She looked at him shyly, afraid of what he’d say.
“Like I said before, I’m not interested in dating the girls who live here. Unlike my brother, I’m not willing to settle here and go nowhere. You don’t believe me?” he asked slyly.
“If that’s true, why are you still here?” Clara leaned in closer, showing more cleavage.
He shrugged. “I haven’t really found a reason to leave yet. Plus, I think Andrew needs me. With Alex not being around, he seems kind of lonely.”
“He has Samantha. That has to count for something,” Clara said.
Anthony laughed. “Samantha? That’s not gonna last. Not by a long shot. She’s a nice girl, don’t get me wrong. But Andrew isn’t really in it for the long term.”
Clara bit her lip. Telling Anthony about Samantha’s pregnancy wasn’t her place. She decided to change the subject.”What do you really want to do with your life?”
He grinned. “Well, I want to move out of this town. I want to finish school.”
“Yeah, but why? What are you going to school for?” Clara asked.
“Right now, I’m just taking some business classes. Stuff to tide me over until I get out of this town,” he said.
“And then?” she prompted.
“I want to be a vet. Take care of animals. My brothers don’t understand it. Andrew thinks only about playing football and Alex just wants a family. Neither one understands why I want to spend my time in school. At least Andrew understands why I want to leave this town. But he seems to think that we’re going to go to college and play football together. I just don’t see that happening.” Anthony shrugged.
“So, you aren’t going to play ball anymore?” Clara asked.
Anthony laughed. “I’m too old now. All the young punks would kick my butt out there on the field. I’d be lucky just to keep up with them. It’s OK, I can do other things. I don’t need football to make it.”
Clara nodded in understanding. She was so wrapped up in his story, she didn’t realize Andrew had walked into the coffee shop. Nor did she notice him walk up to the table until he was standing right in front of them. “Anthony, who’s this?” he demanded.
Anthony looked up, trying to smile. “Oh, hey, Andrew. This is Clara. She’s a senior here in town.”
Andrew cocked his head to one side. “Hmm, you do look familiar.” He smiled at her; his look sent chills up her spine. Anthony looked at his brother uncertainly.
Clara smiled slightly. “I should look familiar. I tripped over your backpack on my first day at school.”
Andrew’s eyes narrowed and it looked like he was about to say something, but Anthony interrupted him. “So, uh, Andrew, what are you doing here?”
“Looking for you. I thought we were gonna hang out tonight,” he whined.
Anthony ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.” He gave Clara a sheepish grin. “Duty calls. I hope you don’t mind.”
She shook her head, watching them closely.
Anthony kissed her hand as he slipped out of the booth. It was only after they had walked out that Clara realized he had also slipped her a piece of paper. It read, “Call me” and had his number on it. She grinned the whole way home, thinking about the coffee date.
…
At home, Clara’s mom stopped her at the stairs. “Your friends are here. I sent them up to your room.”
“Friends?” Clara ran up the stairs, curiosity getting the best of her.
All three girls were sitting on her bed, Betty’s diary between them. Hannah sat the farthest from it, like she didn’t want it to touch her. Her green eyes were big with fright. Tracy bent over it, like she wanted to open it, her long, red hair almost touching it.
Stacy looked up first when Clara walked in. She had a big grin on her face. “Well?”
Clara set down her purse, trying to stall. “Well what?”
Hannah leaned closer, her black tank top tight around her chest. “Oh, come on, Clara, we know it was really a date. So, what did you talk about?”
“Anything and everything. Him, me, his family. It was really enlightening,” Clara said demurely.
“Anything that’ll help the investigation?” Hannah asked.
Clara sat next to Hannah. “Actually, yes. Andrew was very mad at Alex for getting Betty pregnant. He threatened her. It pissed off Alex pretty bad, too. And Andrew has always been violent.”
Hannah snorted. “I could’ve told you that.”
Clara sighed. “OK, so did you find the ex?”
Tracy nodded. “Yes. She lives in Los Angeles now.”
Clara leaned back against her headboard. “And?”
“Andrew threatened her.”
Clara raised an eyebrow.
“It’s true!” Tracy exclaimed. She looked to Stacy for support. Stacy nodded.
“Totally true. When Andrew went to get Anthony, he told her that if she didn’t leave his brother, bad things would happen to her. That bad things always happened to people who didn’t do what he told them to do. He was pretty aggressive with her,” Stacy said.
“How aggressive?” Clara asked.
“He backed her into a corner, put a hand around her throat, and squeezed while saying all this.” The color had drained from Hannah’s face as she relayed the information. “She figured if Andrew was that crazy, Anthony must be too.”
Clara let out the breath she was holding. “Damn. He’s psycho.”
“Yeah but how do we prove it?” Tracy asked.
Clara shook her head. “I don’t know. All this is circumstantial. I mean, what can the police do with any of this?”
“There’s a pattern of behavior,” Hannah pointed out.
“Yeah, but nothing that actually proves he did anything.” Clara scratched her chin.
“What about the other towns? Are there any other missing girls?” Stacy asked, looking at Clara hopefully.
Clara pulled her laptop from her nightstand. After a quick search, she said, “Three girls fit the criteria. Young, pretty, pregnant.”
“So what? He doesn’t like pregnant women?” Tracy shook her head.
“Maybe they were his babies?” Clara suggested.
“No. He’s never dated anyone outside of town,” Hannah said.
“But Alex did!” Stacy exclaimed.
Clara leaned in. “Wh
at?”
“Betty wasn’t his first girlfriend. Alex was quite the ladies’ man. He dated a couple other girls out of town until he started dating Betty.” Stacy grinned triumphantly.
“Does anyone know what their names were?” Clara asked. All the girls shook their heads no. Clara sagged back against the headboard.”We can’t prove anything if we don’t know their names. And Andrew sure isn’t going to tell us. Maybe Rodney can call the families or look at the case files.”
Hannah looked at her watch. “It’s getting late. Talk to Rodney and let us know tomorrow, OK?”
Clara nodded and waved as the girls headed out.
Rodney slipped in after they left. “Party central here, huh?”
Clara rubbed her eyes. “What do you want?”
He sat on the bed. “I heard what you guys were saying. You need to leave the case to me now, OK? I’m the detective and I can’t have you getting hurt. This guy could be dangerous.”
She looked at him through her fingers. “And if he is?”
“Let me handle him. I’m the cop,” he said forcefully.
“But Rodney…”
“No buts. I can’t keep an eye on you AND Jasmine at the same time,” Rodney interrupted.
Clara looked confused. “Jasmine? What’s wrong with Jasmine?”
Rodney ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus, Clara, do you not pay attention? She’s head over heels for some guy and I’ve got a feeling it’s not the right kind of guy.”
“Like who?” Clara asked.
He just looked at her and that look said it all. All the worry, all the fears that he had been feeling for their sister were relayed to her in that one look and she felt her stomach plummet. “No,” Clara said.
Rodney nodded.
“But why? I mean, I had my suspicions, but I figured that she was too young and that he was too busy. There’s Samantha and…” Clara rambled, trying to deny what Rodney was saying.
“He was ready to move on even before Samantha got pregnant. Jasmine was ripe for the picking,” Rodney growled.
“Oh, God. Rodney, how do we keep her safe?”Clara asked.
He took her hands in his. “We don’t do anything. That’s my job. You stay out of trouble. Your friends, too. I’ll look into those other missing girls and try to see if there’s a pattern or connection, OK?”
Clara nodded reluctantly.”OK, fine. But what about the fingerprints? Don’t you need those?”
Rodney shook his head. “I looked at the files some more after you left. He must’ve worn gloves. There were no fingerprints.” He held up his hand at her protest. “And even if there are now, they won’t matter because they could be there for any number of reasons. I’m sorry, Lil’ Sis, but you need to leave this to the real detective, OK?”
She nodded with sadness and disappointment in her eyes. “But if you need help, I’m right here.”
He nodded, kissed her on the forehead, and left the room.
As Clara changed into her pajamas, she couldn’t help but think about what a wonderful coffee date she’d had. She tried to push the worry for her sister and the case as far from her mind as she could.
13.
DINNER WITH JASMINE
C lara called Anthony the next day. When he didn’t answer, she left him a quick message, hoping it didn’t sound too cheesy. Rodney didn’t come home that night after work and Clara wondered if he was in one of the other towns, investigating those other girls. It hadn’t been hard for her to find them; the fact that the police hadn’t found a connection between the four girls amazed her. But, then again, they hadn’t been looking for a connection like she had.
She decided that if she couldn’t help Rodney, she’d help Jasmine. She knew she’d been neglecting her sister, but when you have nothing in common with someone, it’s really hard to be involved in their life. Clara went to Jasmine’s door after school and knocked. When Jasmine cracked it open, Clara held up ice cream and a movie. “Movie night?”
Jasmine smiled slightly.”Really?”
Clara nodded. “Just you and me.”
Jasmine let her into the room. It still looked the same but now Clara looked at it with different eyes. The walls were pink, a total Jasmine color, but all the posters were gone, the walls bare of Jasmine’s favorite bands. A single poster of a cheerleader hung on the wall. “Hey, Jas, what’s with the random poster?”
“Oh, um, well, there’s this boy at school and he likes cheerleaders. Told me he likes to have his girls rooting for him right there on the field,” she whispered, not meeting Clara’s eyes.
Clara jumped on the bed and tossed Jasmine the movie. “So, you gonna be a cheerleader now?”
Jasmine shrugged as she put the movie into her DVD player. “I don’t know. I might not be good enough. But I want to try because it’s what he wants.”
“You know, you don’t have to do what he wants. You’re your own person,” Clara said, trying to get Jasmine to look her in the eyes.
Jasmine sighed. “Can we just watch the movie? You can’t run my life, OK?”
Clara nodded and lay back. Getting through to Jasmine was going to be harder than she thought. She’d need more help. And Clara knew just whom to ask.
Clara sat with the girls the next day at lunch. “Rodney says Jasmine is seeing Andrew.”
Stacy bit her lip worriedly. “Why?”
Clara sighed. “I don’t know. She was lonely when we got here, and we were fighting a lot. He may have taken advantage of that. It’s my fault, I know.”
Hannah shook her head. “You guys are sisters. Sisters fight all the time. We have to convince her that he’s no good for her.”
“She won’t listen to me. No way will that work,” Clara grumbled.
Tracy crossed her arms. “What if we tell her about Betty and Samantha?”
Clara shook her head. “No, if she even thinks she’s in love with him, she’ll tell him.”
“She may have already,” Hannah mumbled.
Clara looked shocked.”What do you mean?”
Hannah leaned forward. “Think about it. You talk to Samantha and then she gets attacked. Samantha was locked up in that house for days, and then the one day you talk to her in front of that church, she’s attacked.”
Clara sat back, dazed. “She’s been spying on me?”
“He did randomly show up at the coffee shop. I’m assuming Anthony didn’t tell him he was going there.” Hannah looked Clara straight in the eyes. “She’s in way over her head. We need to talk to her now.”
“You guys do it. She’ll listen to you. I can’t be there. She won’t believe you if I am,” Clara said with a frown.
“And we can’t tell her anything that will tip off Andrew,” Tracy added.
The girls nodded and Stacy pulled out her phone. “Clara, this afternoon, go find Anthony. We’ll be having ice cream with your sister.” Clara nodded and stood as the bell rang. Hopefully this would work.
***
Clara decided a surprise visit to Anthony’s house was in order. She crimped her hair, applied some pink lip-gloss, and checked her makeup in the mirror. Just because she suspected his brother of murder didn’t mean she couldn’t look good for him. Her Capri’s stopped mid-calf, and she wore a red belt around her waist. Her red tube top was tight, leaving not much to the imagination. She knocked on the front door, worried that he wouldn’t be home.
Waiting outside the house, she looked up at the roof. The structure was similar to her house: two stories, wrap-around porch, and two rocking chairs facing the west. There was no front porch swing, but everyone had their own tastes. The bay windows were framed by lacey white curtains that blew gently in the breeze from the open window. Potted plants hung from the edge of the porch ceiling, containing all kinds of plants that Clara didn’t recognize. Unlike her own house, this house was painted light brown, with red trim and a red front door. There was no fence, so the yard appeared to be bigger than her yard.
She didn’t expect Alex to open the
door, but that was exactly what he did. Sure, Andrew lived with his parents, but Alex had his own house and job. Alex gave her an up-and-down look, a slight smile on his lips. His eyes, so similar to Anthony’s hazel ones, sparked in interest. His hair was a lighter shade of brown than Anthony’s and he was slimmer than his brothers, but the resemblance was there in the face and the shape of the nose. Not quite the Greek god that Anthony was, but pretty close.
Clara tucked some hair behind her ear and tried to smile. “I’m looking for Anthony,” she said.
“You must be the girl he’s been raving about. I can see why,” Alex said with a grin.
She shrugged and he stepped aside to let her in.
“He’s in his room. I’ll go get him.”
As Alex headed upstairs, Clara let out the breath she’d been holding and prayed that Andrew wasn’t there too. She had to talk to Anthony without Andrew overhearing.
Anthony came down the stairs looking like a model. His dark hair was mussed, like he’d just woken from a nap. He grinned at her and asked, “Couldn’t stay away from me, huh?”
“You’re just that irresistible,” Clara said with a grin of her own. He put a hand on her back and led her up the stairs.
“Come to my room. We can talk alone there.”
Clara stepped inside his room and stopped. It was simple, with a few photos on the wall, a calendar, and a dream catcher by the window. The bed was a queen size, made up with dark-colored sheets. Anthony sat on the bed and patted it. “Have a seat.” Clara sat next to him and looked at her feet, trying to figure out how to ask the right questions. Before she could say anything, he leaned in and kissed her neck. Shivers went up her spine and goose bumps cropped up on her arms. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I can’t resist you,” he said.
She pulled away. “Anthony, I really like you. And under different circumstances, I’d be totally down for a make-out session. But right now, we need to talk.”
He sat on his hands and smiled.”OK, hands off. You have my attention. It’s all yours.”
She took a deep breath. “It’s about Andrew.”
The Murder in Stall 4 Page 8
