by Box Set
“He’s younger than me, but he’s not little.”
Oh. The seventeen-year-old. “Is he in your gang too?”
He gazed at me, his eyes unreadable. “I’ve said too much already. You should go.” He stood.
I had to know more. “Wait.”
He stayed standing, his eyes on me.
“Why was he supposed to kill your brother?” And did that make it all right for Dylan to kill him first?
“I can’t tell you that,” Dylan said.
My mind tried to fill in the blanks, and I came up with all sorts of nefarious reasons why someone would want to kill a gang member. “Was Jeremy in a rival gang?”
Dylan laughed and shook his head. “What makes you think I’m going to tell you all of this? I don’t owe you an explanation.” His smile transformed into a glare alarmingly fast. “I don’t owe you anything.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket, sending a pulse of fear through me. Is that from Shelby? I glanced around but didn’t see anyone, so I stood and faced Dylan. Words came into my head, but the thought of speaking them sent my pulse soaring into the stratosphere.
Dylan’s eyes narrowed. “What, Courtney? What are you thinking?”
Am I so easy to read? “If you don’t want me to . . . to tell the police what I know . . .” My mouth had gone dry.
“Yeah?”
I swallowed, trying to moisten my tongue. “Then I think you do owe me something. More information.”
He laughed. Loudly. “Wow. You’re really something.”
My phone vibrated again. Then again. Then once more. It wasn’t like the rhythm of the phone ringing. More like multiple texts. My head jerked around, and that’s when I saw them. Two men about Dylan’s age. Walking our way.
“Just,” I stammered as I turned back to him. “Just forget it.”
“Yo, Dylan,” a male voice called out.
Dylan spun around, and when he spotted the two men, he didn’t look pleased to see them. “You should go,” he muttered to me. “Now.”
I’d never wanted anything more, but when I reached the edge of the gazebo opposite from the two men, a third man stepped into my path, stopping me.
“Where are you going, beautiful?”
“She was just leaving,” Dylan said.
“I don’t think so. I think we need to talk to her. And you.”
The two men who’d been approaching from the other side of the gazebo joined us, and I moved to Dylan’s side. Not that I thought he would protect me, but I had no idea who was who, and he obviously did. Regardless, I trusted Dylan more than these men I’d never seen before.
“The two of you look awfully cozy,” one of the men said as he looked between Dylan and me. His head was shaved and he had several earrings in both ears and multiple tattoos on his neck, arms, and face.
“What do you want?” Dylan said, his voice distinctly unfriendly.
Confused, I looked at their faces. These men didn’t seem to like Dylan. Were they in the same gang?
“We want to know what you talked about,” Baldy said. The other two men stood behind him, but didn’t speak.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Dylan said.
I noticed that though his tone was less than warm, it wasn’t defiant.
“How can I be sure of that?” Baldy asked. Then he turned to me.
The blood drained from my face. I didn’t want his attention on me. At all.
“What did he tell you, girl?”
I looked at Dylan, not sure what I was supposed to say.
“Look at me,” Baldy demanded.
My gaze snapped to him as my phone buzzed like crazy in my back pocket. Does Shelby think I can take a call right now?
“What. Did. He. Tell. You?”
Nausea climbed my throat and I swallowed convulsively to push it back down. Throughout this ordeal I’d discovered I wasn’t great at thinking on my feet, so I decided to tell the truth. “He said I needed to keep quiet.”
Baldy nodded. “What else?”
“That if I didn’t, someone would hurt me or my mom.”
A wide grin spread across Baldy’s face. “That’s right. And?”
The look of glee on his face at the idea of hurting me sent a blast of pain directly into my skull and I found I had trouble thinking clearly as my instincts were screaming at me to run. “That’s all,” I barely whispered.
The distant sound of sirens broke the air and I wondered if Shelby had called the police. Not sure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing at this point, a sense of comfort swept over me. The calvary was coming.
“Let’s go,” Baldy said to his companions.
The three of them trotted off, leaving Dylan and me alone.
“Go,” he said, his face grave, then he turned and ran.
I didn’t need any further urging, and I bolted for my car. I jumped inside, then glanced at Shelby, whose expression was frantic.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I nodded and turned the key in the ignition, and a moment later we were driving away from Elmwood Park.
Chapter Eighteen
Neither of us spoke as we drove to Shelby’s apartment, and when we pulled into a parking space, it seemed like I had left one world and entered another. At least I hoped the two worlds would remain separate.
I turned off the engine, my hand shaking, and dropped my keys into my purse.
“I called the police,” Shelby said. “I hope that was okay.”
I looked at her and nodded. “Yeah. That was the right thing to do.” It got Baldy and his friends to leave.
“What did Dylan say? Who were those other guys?” A crease formed between her eyes. “They looked scary.”
Scary didn’t begin to describe the way they’d looked to me. More like determined, tough, no-nonsense. And mean. “Yeah.”
“What happened? Did Dylan tell you what you wanted to know?” All the joking and teasing Shelby had exhibited earlier was absent.
After coming face to face with Baldy and his friends, the likelihood of me telling Shelby—or anyone—anything had been markedly reduced. My hands rested on the steering wheel as I stared straight ahead. “We talked.”
A huff of air burst from her mouth. “I know that. I saw that. That’s not what I asked.”
I turned to her with a scowl. “I can’t tell you anything, okay?” My anxiety and fear made my tone sharp.
“Okay.” She twisted away from me and looked out her window.
My voice softened. “When you called the police, did you give them your name?”
She turned back to me, and when she answered, she didn’t seem angry. “No.”
“What did you tell them?”
“Just that I was at the park and I saw some people that looked like they were causing trouble and harassing some little kids.”
That seemed harmless enough. “Okay.”
“Courtney,” she said, her eyebrows bunched. “When those men started walking toward you and Dylan, I got really scared.”
Now that the immediate danger had passed, a sense of giddiness swept over me, and I laughed. “I know. My phone was going crazy but there wasn’t anything I could do.”
She laughed as well. “I texted you, like, ten times.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and as I read her frantic messages, the feeling of terror and helplessness I’d felt at Baldy’s arrival came rushing back. I deleted the messages, then smiled at Shelby. “Thanks for coming. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there.”
“You’re welcome. But next time you tell me you might be doing something dangerous, remind me to stay far, far away.”
I laughed, but inside I worried. Until the police arrested someone for Jeremy Owens’s murder, this wouldn’t be over.
“Do you want to come inside?” Shelby asked.
Going home to an empty house, a house where Dylan—as well as Baldy—knew I lived, didn’t sound inviting at all. “Sure.”
> Shelby’s roommates weren’t home, so we sat on the couch in the living room and talked about school. Finals were only a few weeks away, and I was ready for the semester to be over.
“Maybe I should leave,” I said in a moment of silence.
“No. Let’s go get something to eat.”
I smiled sadly. “No. I mean, leave Los Angeles.”
“What? Why? Where would you go?”
I thought about the threat hanging over me and how nice it would be to run away from it. “I don’t know where I would go.” I thought about the conversation I’d had with my mom that morning. “My mom will probably be moving to Colorado. I could go with her. Or I could go out on my own.”
“No, Courtney. Who would I hang out with if you left?”
I smiled. “You could come with me.”
She tilted her head. “Would it be dangerous?”
“Less dangerous than here.”
“Hmm. I’ll think about it.”
I wasn’t sure I was actually ready to do something so drastic as to move away, but it was good to know it was an option.
My phone chimed a message. I looked at the screen, then smiled at Shelby. “It’s Tyler.”
“And?”
I read the message. “He wants to know if I’m busy tonight.”
“Yes you are,” she said. “You’re with me.”
I laughed. “If that was Jack texting you, you’d be gone in a minute.” Then I remembered that she was thinking about breaking up with him. “Oops. Sorry, Shel.”
She frowned. “That’s okay. And if you had said that a week ago, you would’ve been right.”
“I’ll tell him no.” I began typing a reply.
“No, you should go.”
As much as I liked Tyler, I didn’t want to leave Shelby alone. Not after what she’d done for me. Not when she was feeling down about her own love life. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you and I do something?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Like go to a movie.”
Her face brightened. “Okay.”
I let Tyler know I wasn’t available, then Shelby and I checked to see what movies were playing.
Chapter Nineteen
At school the next day I kept an eye out for Dylan or anyone else who looked threatening, but no one approached me and I didn’t see any of the men from Elmwood Park. When it was time to go to work, trepidation followed me there, and I thought about finding another job. Besides the memory of the recent murder, if I was going to support myself, I would need to earn more money.
“Did you hear?” Steven said as I put my things in a locker.
“No. What?”
He dropped his voice so everyone wouldn’t overhear. “The police found something. Something that might lead to the killer.”
A million thoughts flew through my head, and I wasn’t sure if this news was good or bad. “What did they find?”
“I don’t know.”
“How do you even know this?”
He straightened. “I read it online. In the news.”
“Oh.” I’d been avoiding any news about the murder. Seeing information about it in black and white would only make it more real, give it more power. But with this new development, I considered the ramifications of the police discovering Dylan was the killer all on their own. Would that take me out of the picture? Lightness flowed through me at the idea. This could be the answer to all my problems. “That’s good.”
“Yeah. I hope they get the scumbag who did it. It makes me sick to think about someone getting away with stabbing someone to death.” He shook his head. “And right behind our store, too.”
“Yeah.” I thought about Dylan. What he did was horrific, but if I hadn’t known he was the one who did it, I never would have considered him a scumbag. His gangster friends, maybe. But Dylan? I was torn by the two sides of him I’d seen.
I put aside my worries and got to work. Though conflicted about Dylan, the thought of the police solving the crime without my help made me feel better than I had since I’d witnessed the murder.
When I got home that night, I looked up the news story Steven had mentioned. I saw the comment he’d been referring to, but after reading the story for myself, I had much less hope that an arrest was imminent. Still, it was good to know the police were on it. The more they managed to figure out on their own, the less involved I would need to be.
Two days later Mom told me she’d gotten the surgical nursing job in Denver.
“So you’re really moving?” Somehow I was surprised it was actually happening.
“Yes.” She looked at me closely. “You’re still okay with this, aren’t you?”
Mom seemed truly excited about this new opportunity. I couldn’t let my own fears hold her back. “Of course. I think it’s great.”
I hadn’t talked to Shelby about getting a place together yet. Maybe I’d been waiting to see if Mom’s job actually came through, but now I needed to take action. “When will you move?”
She grimaced. “Turns out the woman I’m replacing is having surgery next week—sooner than she’d planned—so they need me right away.”
My eyes widened. “Right away?”
“Yes. I’m really sorry, honey.” Her forehead wrinkled. “What about you? Have you thought about what you’re going to do?” She paused a beat. “Have you considered coming with me?”
The idea was tempting, but I was of two minds. Though it would be nice to still live with my mom and not have to be a complete adult, I was nineteen. I could live on my own. Besides, if Mom was away from me, she’d be safer. “I think it’s time for me to take care of myself. Don’t you?”
She reached out and touched my arm. “Oh, Courtney. I’m so proud of you. You’re paying your own way through college, and now you want to support yourself. That’s great.” A smile curved her mouth. “And with the raise I’m getting, I’ll even be able to help you out once in a while if you need it.”
“Thank you, Mom, but I’m a big girl. I’ll figure it out.”
She smiled. “I know you will. Good news though. I have to give thirty days’ notice to our landlord, so you can stay here for at least thirty days.”
By then the semester would be over and the summer break would have begun. A perfect time to figure out where to live. “That’s super helpful. Thanks.”
Wanting to put the focus back on Mom and her exciting news, I asked her if she had any idea where she’d be living.
“There’s an apartment complex not far from where I’ll be working, so I might move there.” A sad smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “It will just be me, so I don’t need much space.”
“It’s going to be different not living together anymore.”
She ran a finger along my cheek. “I know. I’m really going to miss you.”
I slipped my arms around her shoulders. “Me too.” Then I pulled away. “But we can Skype.”
“Absolutely. And you can visit me whenever you want.”
After Mom and I had a celebratory dinner, I called Shelby. In the three days since the incident at the park, we’d spoken several times, and each time we’d talked I’d wanted to bring up what had happened, just to be able to talk to someone about it. Someone who had been there. But whenever I’d opened my mouth to speak about it, I hadn’t been able to bring myself to discuss it out loud. It was as if talking about it would bring back all the feelings of fright I’d experienced, and I didn’t want to feel those emotions again.
“What’s up?” Shelby asked.
“I have some news.”
“About the murder?”
There it is. The topic I wanted to avoid. “No, actually. It has nothing to do with that.”
“Oh. Does it have to do with Tyler?”
Despite myself, I laughed. “Stop guessing and let me tell you.”
“Fine. Don’t let me have any fun.”
“Remember how I told you my mom might have an opportunity to change jobs?”
<
br /> “Yeah.”
“Well, she got the job, and she’s moving. Next week.”
“Oh, wow. What are you going to do?”
I told her what I had in mind—get a place together once I had to move out of my house. “What do you think? Would you be interested?”
“Yeah, I’d love to get a place with you. But my lease isn’t up for a few more months.”
That hitch hadn’t occurred to me. “Can you get out of it?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to see if someone can take it over for me.”
That put me back at square one. Maybe I should just move with Mom. Problem solved. But I was ready to be on my own.
Chapter Twenty
Over the next week I helped Mom pack up everything she was taking with her. She was leaving a few things behind for me to use when I got my own place, including enough kitchen implements to get by, and letting me sell the rest to add cash to my “Get Courtney Out On Her Own” fund.
On moving day, a moving company loaded all of Mom’s things into their truck. After the movers left, Mom and I said good-bye, and she drove away.
“This is weird,” I said as Shelby and I walked into the house that now felt so empty without Mom there.
“You’ll get used to it. When my parents moved to Kansas after we graduated from high school last year, I thought it would be really hard. But it turns out time goes by faster than you think. You’ll see your mom again before you know it.”
I nodded, hopeful she was right. We sat on the couch Mom had left for me and I turned to face her. “Any luck getting someone to take over your lease?”
A smile lit her face. “Yes. I found a girl who can move in this weekend.”
“Awesome! You can move in here, and by the time the rental agreement on this place runs out in three weeks, we’ll have a place of our own.” Excitement replaced the melancholy I’d begun to feel. “My boss said I could increase my hours, so that will help me pay the bills.” I frowned. “But I’ll probably have to get a student loan to cover tuition.”
Shelby shrugged. “Isn’t that part of being a poor college student?”
