Four of a Kind

by Kate Kessler

  Audrey’s face was pale. “It could have just as easily been Alisha. It might still be.”

  “Wait a second,” came a voice from the doorway. It was Alisha—and she didn’t look happy to be the topic of conversation. “Are you saying someone might try to kill me because I slept with Luke?”

  Audrey went to her. “Did you tell anyone else what really happened between you and Luke that night?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  Neve looked at Luke. “Did you?”

  “No.”

  Neve and Audrey then shared a glance. Neve knew exactly what she was thinking, what she was afraid of. And Neve wondered if she could use it to her advantage.

  She turned her attention to Alisha. “How do you feel about being bait?”

  “No,” Audrey said. “No frigging way, Neve!”

  Alisha folded her arms over her chest. Luke, his mother, and Neve were watching her while Audrey glared at Neve. “Bait for the killer, you mean?”

  Neve nodded.

  Audrey clapped Neve on the shoulder. “I said no.”

  “I want to do it,” Alisha said. “I’m going to.”

  The woman she already thought of as her aunt looked heartbroken—and afraid. “Haven’t you been close to enough danger this last year?”

  “Haven’t you?” she countered. “I want to help.”

  Neve folded her arms over her chest. “All we have to do is get word out that you and Luke were together that night.”

  “Wait,” Luke said. “I don’t want people talking about Lish like that.”

  “Like what?” Neve challenged.

  “Like they still talk about girls who have had sex,” he replied.

  “I don’t care about that,” Alisha told him. “People are going to say whatever they want anyway. Someone already asked me if you and I killed Tala together.”

  “Who the hell was that?” Audrey demanded.

  She shook her head. She wasn’t getting into that now. “It doesn’t matter.” Then to Neve, she said, “Do you really think this will work?”

  “I do.”

  Alisha walked over and put her hand on Luke’s arm—the one without the handcuff. “If it proves you’re innocent, I have to do it.”

  “I don’t like it,” he said. “I’ll worry about you.”

  “Don’t,” she told him. “Neve’s got my back. I won’t go anywhere alone, and I know how to use a gun.”

  “No guns,” Neve amended. “Stay away from the damn guns. I’ll make sure you’ve got someone watching you at all times.”

  “How can you do that when she’s at school?” Audrey asked.

  Neve looked like she was debating whether to answer. “We’ve got someone who we use at the school from time to time.”

  “A cop?”

  Neve nodded. “The point is, I can make sure Alisha is safe, and she’s not stupid. She knows how to protect herself.”

  At least someone had faith in her. Of course, it was the person wanting to use her for her own gain. “I’m going to do this,” she told them. “Whether you all want me to or not.” She looked at each of them, daring them to stop her.

  Surprisingly, it was Linda who spoke. “Alisha, I love you for wanting to help my son, but are you sure you know how dangerous this might be? Someone murdered Tala and they hadn’t even…shared the same intimacy as you and Luke.”

  Alisha smiled at her as she blushed. “Tala didn’t see it coming. I will.”

  “Jesus,” Audrey swore under her breath.

  Alisha turned to her. “You have to promise not to tell Mum or Uncle Jake.”

  Sometimes there was something unnerving about staring into Audrey’s mismatched eyes. It was like looking at two different people in one head. This was one of those times.

  “You’re putting me in a tough spot, kid.”

  She knew that. She also knew Audrey was the only person who understood how she felt about Luke. “Please.”

  “All right. How do you plan to do it?”

  Alisha smiled at her. “Oh, I have a friend on Twitter that I think will help me.”

  Audrey arched a brow, but she didn’t say no, so Alisha knew that she had won.

  Before leaving the hospital, Neve went back downstairs to check on Kendra. Elle wasn’t in the waiting area anymore, but Lucy, Kyle, and Josh were.

  “Any word?” Neve asked as she approached. She expected attitude from at least Kyle, but they all looked so scared and young. None of them offered any lip.

  “Not yet,” Kyle said.

  Neve’s phone rang, so she went a short distance away to answer. “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s Ed. I only have a minute, but I wanted to tell you that your girl tested positive for GHB as well as lorazepam. I think she’s been using for a while, because the amount should have brought down an elephant.”

  “Thanks, Ed. I owe you.” She hung up before he could respond. Turning and pocketing her phone, she walked back toward the young people in the waiting area.

  “I know the three of you are worried about Kendra, but I need to ask you a question. Do you have any idea where she might have gotten her hands on GHB?”

  The three of them looked startled. Lucy stared at her, but Josh looked at Kyle first.

  “Isn’t that a drug rapists use?” Lucy asked.

  “Sometimes,” Neve replied. “It’s a sedative.”

  “That’s what she took?” Kyle asked.

  Neve nodded. “A lot of it, apparently, over an extended period of time. Have you seen her with anything at home?”

  He shook his head. “She’s got some prescriptions, but I’ve never seen her do any other kind of drugs.”

  “What about you?” Neve asked Lucy.

  The girl shrugged. “We’ve smoked pot, that’s it. She’s started smoking more since Tala disappeared.”

  Ed hadn’t mentioned finding THC in the girl’s system, however. Neve turned to Josh, who rubbed the back of his neck. “I found Kendra and Tala all done up on something one night, but I don’t know what it was.”

  “And none of you have heard of anyone selling GHB in the area?”

  Three heads shook.

  “Is my sister going to be okay?” Kyle asked. His voice sounded almost meek. It seemed strange coming out of him.

  “I don’t know,” she replied, honestly. “I hope so. Has she been depressed lately?”

  Lucy snorted. “Yeah.” Like, haven’t you been paying attention? she seemed to ask. “But not suicidal, if that’s what you’re asking. If she killed herself she’d definitely never get Luke back.”

  Kyle scowled. “Like he’s good enough for her.”

  Neve took that as her cue to leave. She was walking to her car, and shrugging out of her jacket because it was too damn hot, when her phone rang again. She had to grope around to find the right pocket. “Neve Graham.”

  “It’s Lincoln.”

  “Hey. Please tell me your buddy came through.”

  “He did, although reluctantly. He said he only knew of a couple of people buying GHB in the area.”

  “Is that how he put it? Like he knew people who had bought it, but not that he had sold it?”

  “Yeah.”

  Asshat. “Okay, who?”

  He didn’t know names, but he said he’d sold some to a frat boy over spring break. A kid with brown hair and blue eyes. That was all he remembered.”

  That was more than enough. “Think he’d recognize the kid if you showed him a picture?”

  “Probably, but I’m not sure he’ll talk again.”

  “Tell him I’ve got no interest in nailing him for drugs. He can be classified as a confidential informant.” That meant compensation.

  “Really?”

  “Linc, I’m after a fucking killer. Yes, really. I’m going to text you the photo now. Call me when you’ve gotten an answer.” She hung up and sent him a photo of Kyle Granger she’d snapped when she arrested the kid for beating up Luke. Then she got into the car and headed toward he
r office in Machias. She had paperwork to do, and she wanted to sit down with Vickie for a face-to-face.

  She was just going through the door when her phone dinged. It was a text from Lincoln—with no punctuation: He says thats him.

  Neve smiled grimly as her thumb tapped the keypad. It rang twice before a familiar voice answered.

  “Yeah,” she said. “It’s Neve. I need another search warrant.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  When was your last period?”

  Audrey sat on the exam table, in the ugly little johnny shirt the PA had given her. “About a month ago. I should start soon.”

  “About a month?”

  “I’ve never been terribly regular. Stress goes right to my ovaries.” She smiled when she said it. The PA didn’t return it. “Okay, we’ll put down a month. If you remember a date, let me know.”

  “Sure.” And if you happen to find a personality, you let me know. She’d peed in their little plastic bottle, been weighed, and all that crap—she was up a couple of pounds—and was now just waiting to see the doctor so she could poke around Audrey’s insides without even buying her a drink first. It was the icing on the cake of an already shitty day.

  She hated Pap tests. They literally made her grit her teeth. Now, there was the extra awesomeness of having cervical cancer in the family. She tried to curb her anxiety by looking around at the various posters on the walls, but there were just too many that kind of freaked her out.

  Yancy had made an appointment for Alisha, apparently. She was totally paranoid about the girl getting pregnant, or worse, and Audrey didn’t blame her. Yancy had been fifteen when she got pregnant with Alisha. Audrey didn’t know who the guy was, but apparently he’d been much, much older. It was around that time that Yancy went to live with Gracie—where Jake had been since he was much younger. Their mother wasn’t much in the mother department, and figured Brody Tripp’s family could have his annoying offspring. The only one she ever seemed to like was Lincoln, and he’d be the first one to say her love wasn’t something to wish for.

  Alisha didn’t seem to think the appointment was necessary, but apparently Yancy put her foot down. Jake did too. Alicia could stand against one of them, but not both.

  There was a knock on the door and her doctor walked in. Dr. Aaron was a small, middle-aged woman with graying blond hair and kind green eyes. Audrey had known her since she was a kid, as she was also her mother’s and Jessica’s doctor.

  “Audrey, how lovely to see you.”

  She smiled. “Sorry it’s been longer than it ought to have been.”

  “It happens. What’s important is that you’re here now. I’m assuming you’re here for blood work or a prenatal Pap?”

  All the blood drained from Audrey’s head and fell somewhere around her knees. “What?”

  The doctor’s smile froze. “There was hCG in your urine. I assumed you came to confirm pregnancy or get a checkup.”

  “I…I.” Shit, it had been more than a month since her last period. “I’ve had a false positive before.”

  “Then we’d better do blood work to confirm or rule out pregnancy. Let’s get you examined and then we’ll get that blood sample.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “I should have the results tomorrow if not the next day.” Her smile was reassuring. “Don’t get yourself all stressed just yet. How about you lie back and put your feet in the stirrups?”

  On autopilot, Audrey did what she was told. Her mind seemed to be both blank and moving at a thousand miles a minute. Pregnant? She couldn’t be. This was just a fake-out like before—like Jake’s cyst.

  But she’d gained a little weight, and she’d been queasy lately…

  Fuck.

  She couldn’t be pregnant. She didn’t want to be pregnant. As much as she liked helping kids, the idea of being responsible for how one turned out had always terrified her. She didn’t want to change diapers and heat up bottles. She wanted her career.

  “I hear your home for troubled kids is coming along great guns,” Dr. Aaron commented as she began the exam.

  Audrey expelled a deep breath, telling herself to relax. “It is. We’re planning to open this fall. We already have a waiting list.”

  “That’s fabulous news. Okay, I’m going to insert my fingers inside you and press down on your belly.”

  Staring at the ceiling, Audrey tried to wish away the warm, prickly feeling in her head. She was a grown-ass woman, not a teenager. She could handle this. There was just some pressure, nothing more. That didn’t stop her from trying her best to zone out while Dr. Aaron did her thing.

  Afterward, the doctor stripped off her gloves. “Okay, you can sit up.”

  “So?” Audrey asked, pushing herself up on the paper-covered table.

  “I did feel a few things that are usually indicative of pregnancy, but I can’t say for certain without blood work. We can do that here, if you like.”

  She nodded dumbly. This was really happening.

  A short while later, with a bandage in the crook of her arm and a dazed expression on her face, Audrey made the drive back to the house. Just last week she’d given Jake hell about keeping things from her and now she was debating keeping this from him. Why have both of them freaking out? And wasn’t it primarily her decision? That was what she tried to tell herself, but it didn’t work.

  She drove straight to Gracie’s, barely noticing the cars in the driveway. The lunch crowd.

  “Hey, Audrey. He’s in the storeroom,” Donalda, one of the few wait staff, said as she walked in.

  “Thanks, Dee.” Audrey knew every inch of Gracie’s now, so she knew exactly where to go. She found him unboxing ketchup, loading the large cans onto a metal shelf.

  “Hey. What are you doing here?” Jake’s smile faded as he looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think I’m pregnant,” she blurted.

  Suddenly, her father popped up from behind some boxes. His gingery hair stuck out from beneath a ball cap, and a huge grin creased his rugged face. “Pregnant? Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.”

  Audrey sagged against the door frame. “Well, fuck.”

  “Think Rusty will tell your mum?” Jake asked later, when they were nestled together in bed.

  “He knows how to keep a secret,” Audrey replied, absently stroking his bare chest. “I just hate that he knows.”

  “Because you don’t want to have it?”

  Something in his voice made her glance up. “I don’t know what I want. What do you want?”

  “It’s not my body.”

  “Jake.”

  “I’m serious. You are the one whose body will be taken over for nine months and then go through childbirth.”

  “But it’s our decision. Our baby.”

  He looked as though she’d punched him. “Our baby. Jesus.”

  Audrey knew at that moment, without a doubt, that Jake wanted the baby. Maybe he wasn’t even aware of how much he wanted it, but she could see it in his face, and it made her feel all the worse for feeling slightly sick over the news. It hadn’t helped that her father had practically danced a jig in the backroom at Gracie’s.

  Why did everyone treat pregnancy like it was an awesome, fabulous thing? Not every woman wanted to be a mother. Not every man was determined to be a father.

  Except, it seemed that Jake was, and that made her job all the more difficult, because she was 90 percent sure she didn’t want the responsibility of motherhood. She didn’t want to go through childbirth—and she sure as hell didn’t want to go through the teen years, regardless of her PhD. With their luck she and Jake would spawn the first kid to ever be arrested in kindergarten.

  “You’re quiet,” he said.

  “I’m thinking.”

  “Whatever you decide to do, I’ll support you.”

  “I don’t want to make this decision alone.”

  “In the end, it has to be what you want, Aud. I want whatever you want.”

  That pis
sed her off enough that it took her hours to get to sleep. She couldn’t argue it, because she knew it was true. Hers was the deciding vote, but would it kill him to at least be honest with her—and himself? If she had an abortion, would he despise her for getting rid of it? If she didn’t have an abortion, would she end up despising him for keeping it? Worse, would she blame the kid?

  God, she wished Gracie were still alive.

  The following morning, Jake made breakfast and offered to stay home rather than work on the long list of things he had to do that day. Audrey told him to go. She had work to do, and she’d take his eyes out if she had to deal with his love and support all day. Sometimes, she wished he was more of an asshole.

  Alone in the house, she powered up her laptop and logged into Twitter under the account she’d made up. HeadSick2017 had a job to do. She didn’t want to do it, but neither Alisha nor Neve had given her much choice.

  Looks like @LAPdawwg has an alibi for the night Tala was killed. She sucked in a deep breath. Alisha didn’t know what she was getting into, but if Audrey didn’t tweet about it, the kid would find a way to do it herself, and probably make it even worse. @TrippyLish—was it love or a one-night stand? Then, she added the JusticeForTala hashtag so as many people as possible would see it, and posted before she could change her mind.

  Within a few minutes the tweet got several reposts and comments. The news of Tala’s murder had spread across the country now, and people from all over were watching the case—and their tiny little town. There had been the odd mention of Audrey’s own scandal, but what was fresh in everyone’s mind was the “Boy Scout” murder case and how it had made its mark on the area.

  She was starting to think they should rename the place Cabot Cove, as they were getting almost as many murders as the fictional TV town. Or maybe Derry. Regardless, she had more important things to worry about than whether she’d brought bad luck down upon the place with her return home.

  She had a little time before she had to go to the school, so she got in the car and drove to the hospital with the intention of checking in on Kendra. Yes, she was being nosy and hoping to get something useful out of the kid, but she was also genuinely concerned about her well-being.