Dirty Girls

by Lily White

  “Did you ever come back?”

  Shaking my head, I cleared my throat as if that would dispel the memory of what my home had been like while my father was still alive.

  “No. Once I finished college, I moved to the east coast to train and join the FBI. I’ve only returned once or twice to visit my mother and brother.”

  “What about your dad?”

  My eyes slid her direction to see shadow and light dance over her skin as we passed street lamps and trees.

  “He died.”

  Gaze holding mine for a brief second, she shifted in her seat to stare out the windshield.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It happens.”

  “I know. But it’s still not easy to lose a parent.”

  Sadly, losing my father hadn’t been as difficult as she wanted to assume. In truth, it was a relief to hear the old man had finally worked himself into a heart attack. While many revered the former police chief as a great man, I knew a different person entirely.

  Not knowing what to say to her, I remained silent and took a turn to head out onto a long stretch of road that would lead us into Crayton.

  Time ticked by, the interior of the car quiet except for the smooth hum of the engine and the sound of Olive’s body shuffling over fabric as she shifted in her seat.

  Now was a good time to bring up her brother.

  “Were you happy to find Nolan home when I dropped you off a few weeks ago? We haven’t had a chance to talk since then.”

  Her relaxed posture changed, tension returning to her shoulders. “I saw you in the diner that night.”

  “I wouldn’t say we talked much, though. There was a stubborn wall between us, if I remember correctly.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Ignore Soren. He thinks he rules the world when he only manages to manipulate and push around a small part of it.”

  “Including you?”

  Head rolling my way, she sighed. “Those bruises weren’t from him.”

  “So, who caused them?”

  Another heavy sigh.

  “My brother. But not intentionally, I don’t think. Besides, Soren beat him up for doing it, which is why his face was messed up too.”

  Slowly, we were getting somewhere.

  “Is your brother normally so violent?”

  Silence, and then, “Are you attempting to accuse my brother of killing those girls again, Jonah? Because, if you are, I can promise you that you’re wrong.”

  I smiled in an effort to help her drop her guard.

  “Busted, huh? I apologize. It’s my nature to ask a lot of questions.”

  The girl was staring holes in the side of my face while I continued watching the road.

  “You should do that more often, you know?”

  I flicked her a quick glance. “Ask questions?”

  “No. You do that enough for a hundred people, I’m sure. But you should smile more. It softens your face.”

  My hands gripped the wheel tighter. Her voice had changed in a way that touched something deep inside me, something I’d tucked away long ago.

  “It’s hard to smile in my line of work. It’s not often we see the good in people.”

  “Which is why you should try it more,” she answered. “I imagine with all the bad you see, only a strong person can continue to enjoy life. What’s the point in living if you let yourself get dragged down all the time?”

  It was my turn to be honest. “It’s not easy.”

  The tips of her fingers touched my forearm and I fought not to pull away for fear that I liked it too much.

  Please, God, don’t let this girl be the next body we find...

  Eventually she withdrew her hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to reach across for you. It’s just that you looked so sad.”

  Sparing her one more passing glance, I smiled again to reassure her.

  “You don’t have to worry about me, Olive. It’s my job to worry about you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Olive

  Behind all the professional brooding, Jonah was a good-looking guy. Not as classically beautiful as Soren, or cute like Quinton, but more of a mystery you couldn’t help but want to solve.

  While we drove along in comfortable silence, I wondered if he had a girlfriend back home. His left hand didn’t have a ring, or even an indentation from where one should have been, so I assume he’d never been married.

  Still, despite my curiosity, he didn’t cause sparks to burst to life inside me. Not like Soren.

  But that didn’t mean the attraction wasn’t there.

  It was wrong of me to use him to avoid getting chased down by Soren. The moment we passed that black Escalade, I held my breath worried that they would turn around to follow us. When they didn’t, the relief was so sudden that it ached for my muscles to relax.

  There were several times I wanted to tell Jonah what happened at my house, if for no other reason than to have someone agree with me about how wrong it was. But I feared even admitting that much would get Soren in trouble. Was it illegal to shove a girl off a second floor balcony even if she didn’t die in the process?

  There had to be laws against it, and although I didn’t know if one existed, I’m sure Jonah would.

  Maybe I was also afraid that he would tell me I was complicit for having asked Soren to teach Becky a lesson in the first place.

  The last thing I needed was his confirmation that I was right to feel so guilty.

  In the end, it didn’t matter. She was alive and would never say anything about what the group had done for fear her social life would be over.

  After a half hour drive, we entered Crayton, the streets bare as we weaved through town to eventually turn off onto a private driveway with a sign at the front of it.

  Vaughan’s Funeral Home was carved into the wooden sign with three small spotlights illuminating the letters.

  My brows tugged together. “Why are we here?”

  “This is where I grew up.”

  Confusion flooded me. “At a funeral home?”

  Combined with the confusion was a cruel memory. The only other time I’d been out here was when my parents were buried. I’d found it odd that the only graveyard was in Crayton about a mile down from where we were, but I’d assumed that Winter Ridge was too worried about appearance to ruin it with the reminder of death.

  Jonah’s face lit up with the smile I liked so much, but he didn’t turn to look at me.

  “My mother owned the business before passing it on to my older brother. We live in the house in the center, while the viewings and funerals are held in the building to the right.”

  Turning a corner, I spotted three buildings in front of us.

  “And what do you use the other building for? Is that where the bodies are kept?”

  He shook his head and laughed softly.

  “No. That’s another home used by whoever is helping Calvin with the business. My brother...”

  His voice trailed off and his expression changed. After considering his words, he spoke carefully when finishing the thought.

  “My brother is not like the rest of us. His brain works differently. It’s rare he has much to do with the outside world.”

  As he was parking the car, I teased him.

  “Wow. One brother that spends his life chasing killers and another who hangs out with dead bodies. You two must be the life of the party wherever you show up together.”

  Surprised laughter burst from his lungs, the sound inviting because there was nothing fake about it. Jonah the person was a hell of lot more desirable than Jonah the FBI Agent.

  Twisting to look at me, he grinned while the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkled. “We’re a regular riot, I can assure you.”

  I smiled in return, happy to have someone real to talk to, even if it was only a temporary break from social politics in Winter Ridge.

  The moment fizzled between us as quickly as it began, Jonah’s expression returning to the blank expressio
n I was accustomed to as he turned to stare at the large Victorian house.

  “I should probably have warned you before bringing you all this way.”

  That didn’t sound good. “About?”

  “Calvin is preparing Maia Forbes’ body for her funeral tomorrow. I didn’t think about it before inviting you. What we do out here is just life as usual, but I failed to remember that it may have an effect on you.”

  My stomach turned at the thought of seeing a dead body.

  “Is she...in pieces?”

  Head snapping my direction, he asked, “How did you know how her body was found? That wasn’t information we released to the public.”

  Crap. I was going to get Tristan in trouble by admitting the truth. But the look of suspicion on Jonah’s face left me with no other option. If Tristan hadn’t told me, then how would I have known? It would only mean that I left her out there or knew the person who did.

  “Tristan told me. And he knew because-“

  “Simon told him,” he answered grimly. Shaking his head, Jonah reached for the door handle.

  “She’s not in pieces. I’m sure Calvin’s had time to make Maia presentable. Her viewing tomorrow is open casket.”

  That made me feel a little better. But I was still worried for Tristan.

  “I didn’t tell anybody else about how she was found.”

  Jonah nodded, his thoughts somewhere else.

  “I just thought you should know that because I don’t want you to think Tristan is running around spilling secret details or anything. Honestly, he’s usually really careful about that stuff. I think Simon tells him because Tristan is planning on becoming a cop.”

  There was a nice pile of word vomit sitting in my lap after that, but I said it all to protect my friend.

  Seconds passed before Jonah answered. “I won’t say anything, if that’s what you’re worried about. I understand how secret details will often be shared with family. I’m sure Tristan knows more about police procedure than the majority of those not in law enforcement.”

  I blew out a breath. “Okay. I was just making sure he wouldn’t get in trouble.”

  “It’s fine,” Jonah assured me before tugging at the handle and opening the door.

  When I attempted to do the same, I couldn’t get the door to budge. Thankfully, Jonah ran around to open it from the other end.

  In an attempt to lighten the mood, I joked, “Guess the email about that door sticking didn’t do much good.”

  Offering me a smile, Jonah rolled his head over his broad shoulders as if to loosen tense muscles.

  “No, it didn’t. And they still don’t have crap to drink at the Winter Ridge Police Department.”

  I laughed, the sound soft because I was nervous about what I would feel to see Maia dead.

  Climbing down from the SUV, I waited for Jonah to shut the door before following him down a long cement path and up the large circular stairs to the wraparound porch. He opened one of the large double doors leading inside and the creak that sounded from the hinges was the perfect effect for the creepiness of the house.

  No lights were on except for a lamp in the hall, its glow not enough to expel the shadows. I stuck close to Jonah, my apprehension growing worse as we wound through what felt like a maze, entered a large kitchen and then descended a set of narrow stairs down to the basement.

  It hadn’t crossed my mind before that Jonah could be the man killing women and leaving them around Winter Ridge. But the thought came to me at the moment and, if it was him, it was too late to do anything about it now.

  Like an idiot, I was following him to the kill room, complete with metal tables and large storage freezers.

  Seriously, if I died at this point, I pretty much deserved it for being so stupid.

  Thankfully, we reached the bottom of the stairs and he didn’t reach for a club or anything heavy to whack my head in.

  Not so thankfully, I turned when a set of bright lights lit up the room beside us attracting my attention, and I froze at the sight of Maia’s body.

  Above her, a man who looked a lot like Jonah focused on her face as he ran a brush over her skin. His hair was cut short, and he had more fluff than muscle. Their faces were the same, except his brother didn’t have the deep worry lines that marked Jonah’s stern expression.

  Calvin was whistling as he prepared the body, apparently oblivious of the two people approaching him. I damn near jumped out of my skin when he spoke to us without bothering to lift his head.

  “Welcome, Jonah. I didn’t know you were bringing a friend.”

  There was no emotion in Calvin’s tone. Not even a little bit. It cranked up the creepy factor of the moment by a thousand percent.

  Jonah continued walking forward and I followed, stopping only when we reached the doorway to the side room because I was too chickenshit to get much closer.

  “I should have called to let you know. It wasn’t planned for Olive to come along with me.”

  Calvin glanced up, his gaze sweeping past Jonah to lock on me. “It’s fine,” he said after watching me for several seconds.

  His attention went back to Maia’s body and mine was dragged right along with it. From where I was standing, she didn’t look like she was dead. More like she was sleeping.

  I had to hand it to Calvin: his skills with whatever makeup he was applying were impressive, to say the least.

  “Is Olive a cop?”

  It was odd how he spoke about me as if I weren’t standing in the room. Well, technically I wasn’t. Chickenshit and all.

  “No. She lives in Winter Ridge and attends school there.”

  “She’s dirty,” Calvin answered, his hand stilling in place over Maia’s body. “Dad wouldn’t approve.”

  “I’m not-“ Jonah’s mouth snapped shut without finishing what he had to say. His shoulders rolled before he glanced back at me and to his brother again. “She’s not like the others.”

  “They’re all dirty girls in Winter Ridge, Jonah. Stop lying.”

  Okay...this is getting weirder by the minute...

  I was going to die. I knew it. Just as soon as they were done making Maia pretty, I was going to be slapped down on that cold, metal table and gutted for my stupidity.

  Briefly, I glanced at all the weird tubes and metal utensils used to prepare bodies and imagined being alive while they sucked the blood from my veins, the thought of the slurping sound sending chills down my spine.

  This was a bad idea. Suddenly I missed Soren.

  As if intuiting my thoughts, Jonah turned to look at me.

  “You’ll have to excuse Calvin. My father took issue with the way teenage girls behaved in Winter Ridge when he was Chief of Police there. They were promiscuous from what he often told us.”

  “Dirty,” Calvin said, negating Jonah’s effort at being polite. “Not just in one way, though. They’re mean. Heartless. More concerned about money than friends. They’re the type willing to step on people to make themselves feel tall. They sling mud at others as if it makes them cleaner. But it only makes them dirty.”

  He wasn’t wrong in his assessment. In many ways, he’d described the kids of Winter Ridge perfectly.

  Feeling a tad defensive at Calvin’s insistence that I was like all the rest of them, I shuffled my weight between my feet, not sure what to say.

  As it turned out, not much, because Jonah filled the awkward silence for me.

  “Did we miss anything about Maia? I emailed you my notes and the Medical Examiner’s report. I hope you’ve had a chance to read them.”

  Nodding, Calvin went back to working on Maia’s face, his voice cold as he answered.

  “There were no other injuries, if that’s what you’re looking for. I saw the hair was cut off the same. Same killer. Someone really hated this girl.”

  A burst of laughter barked from my lungs. Not in the funny ha ha way, more in agreement. Sadly, there were a lot of people who hated Maia Forbes, so I didn’t think Calvin’s observation would help
much in finding who killed her.

  Unfortunately, that short sound drew both their attention my way. Wishing I could shove it back in so they weren’t looking at me with accusation behind their eyes, I stumbled over my words trying to explain.

  “Sorry, I...It was just that...I mean Maia was...”

  Blowing out a breath, there was no use in lying. “She was a bitch. There, I said it. Nobody really liked her.”

  Jonah blinked, but it was Calvin that spoke first.

  “You were her friend?”

  Hand flying to my chest, I shook my head. “Me? No. Not at all. I barely knew her. She was just part of Soren’s group.”

  Head turning to Jonah, Calvin asked, “Soren?”

  “Callahan. He’s in his twenties and lives in Winter Ridge as well.”

  “Callahan...”

  Calvin rolled the name over his tongue as if tasting the flavor of it. Although the way he’d said it meant nothing to me, it must have meant something to Jonah. His attention was now firmly fixed on his brother.

  A minute or two passed with Calvin staring off into the distance. I looked around to see if someone had come down the stairs, but the only movement in the other room was the slow rotation of the ceiling fan.

  “Do you know the name?” Jonah gently prodded.

  Nodding, Calvin went back to looking at Maia’s face. He selected another brush, dipped it in some cream makeup and was dabbing it on when he finally answered.

  “I met a girl named Emily Callahan from Winter Ridge. Sweet girl. Not dirty yet. But then, she was only eight. Mom took care of her before she was buried. She drowned. It was sad. Mom said someone hated her too. She was so lonely. I didn’t want to leave her alone, so I snuck into the funeral to make sure she had a friend.”

  He glanced up at Jonah. “Soren was her brother’s name.”

  My jaw went slack at the information while Jonah’s body went rigid.

  “Are you sure?”

  Calvin nodded, not understanding that he’d just clued us both in to some unknown fact.

  “She’s buried in the children’s area of the cemetery. Nobody visited her for two years. Not until today.”