by D'Ann Burrow
Smiling people shouted as I ran past. Someone told me to slow down and enjoy the show. But I couldn’t stop. Because if I stopped, he’d catch me. I slipped on a mud puddle left over from the rain earlier in the day.
My knees hit the ground with enough force that they were bleeding even through my jeans. God, what had I been thinking, agreeing to meet him here? Too much mud still covered my shoes, and I stumbled while trying to get up. A tourist was too intent on looking up at the buildings and wasn’t watching where he was going. He knocked me down again just as I’d almost regained my footing.
“Watch where you’re going.”
I could have said the same to him, but that would have just slowed me down.
And I had to get away.
I allowed myself one quick glance over my shoulder. I’d done it. I sighed in relief. I’d made it.
He was gone.
I couldn’t see him pushing through the crowd. I needed to catch my breath. God, I’d been running forever. I turned a corner into a dark alley. He wouldn’t see me now, even if he knew where I was. And he didn’t.
Taking a moment to get ahold of myself, I brushed my hands against my hoodie. A mixture of blood and mud stood out starkly against the gray fleece. My dad was going to kill me when I got home. I’d just ruined my birthday present.
I took a shaky breath. That wasn’t my biggest problem right now. I wanted to go home. I needed to go home. But I didn’t know how. Noise from the crowd almost overwhelmed me. How had so many people seen me but no one realized anything was wrong?
I had to ask someone. I was just going to have to tell myself to suck it up and admit I needed help. That’s what I was going to do.
Then a hand closed on my arm. I started to scream.
“Kennedy.”
My shoulders shook like I was in an earthquake. “Kennedy! You’re freaking me out.”
Tanner’s eyes were filled with genuine fear as he woke me up. At some point, he’d parked the truck just off Main Street, and from the expression on his face, he was about five seconds away from driving me to the hospital. “You were screaming.”
Slowly, my heart resumed its normal pace. I wasn’t running through a crowd. No one was chasing me. I was in the cab of Tanner’s truck. “I’m sorry. I guess I was dreaming.”
“Must have been a nightmare.” He put the truck in gear and eased off the curb. “God, you freaked me out.”
He wasn’t alone. My teeth were chattering so hard that I was almost certain he could hear them. Gradually, my pulse started to slow and stopped pounding like a passing train in my ears. I’d been in a nightmare all right.
It just wasn’t mine.
14
Not Quite Piney Bluff
9:45 p.m.
* * *
As we bumped along the road leading away from town, I tried to figure out what in the hell I was doing.
I wasn’t Prince Charming. Kennedy wasn’t a damsel in distress.
She was just way too drunk for her own good, and she had already fallen back asleep after almost scaring me out of my mind. Maybe she was a little bit of a damsel in distress. She was obviously a damsel who couldn’t drink.
Now what was I going to do with her?
I had the strong suspicion that Loretta must be out of town for an art weekend. That was Scarlett’s typical schedule. She’d organize a party when Loretta went out of town, get wasted, torture one or more people who shouldn’t have been brave enough to attend the party anyway and then go home, crash and appear to be the perfect halo-clad cheerleader Loretta somehow thought she was raising.
For an artist, she sure had a hard time seeing what was really in front of her.
Or maybe the whole world just looked as weird and unfocused as the pictures she painted.
Kennedy’s eyes didn’t open again for the whole drive. When we came to a stop at the train tracks, they opened a hint at the whistle, but they quickly snapped closed with a groan. She was going to feel like crap in the morning.
“Is your aunt home?” I hit the brakes and let the truck crawl to a stop on the side of the gravel road in front of their house. It was dark—the house, not the road. To be specific, the road was dark too. The city hadn’t bothered installing lights in a corner of town where respectable citizens preferred not to drive.
“Hey, Kennedy, where’s Loretta?” I shook her shoulder gently, not wanting to risk movement that might inspire her to do something that would make me need to clean out my car later. Nothing was worse than drunk vomit. I’d know. “Kennedy?”
“Not home.”
So she wasn’t quite as out of it as I thought. She’d managed two whole words.
“Is she coming home tonight?”
A cluster of lines formed between her eyebrows as she gave the question serious thought. Her tongue clicked off the roof of her mouth, and I could almost see the blue of her eyes. “No. Not till tomorrow night. ’S okay. She left food in the fridge.”
“Right now, I’m more worried about how to get you in the house. Do you have a key?” Yep, leave the drunk girl home alone. I was the best Prince Charming ever. Go in. Drop off the girl.
I never said I was a perfect gentleman.
“A key? Come on.” I shoved her shoulder harder this time.
Her head rocked back and forth, confirming my worst suspicions. “Doesn’t have a spare. Scarlett’ll let me in.”
The problem was that I didn’t know if Scarlett would be home. I knew that from experience. A really bad experience.
I put the truck into drive, hoping I didn’t regret this decision in the morning.
I parked in front of my house. The porch light was on, and the lace curtain rustled. I was late. I knew it. Mom knew it. Addy knew it too. I couldn’t see her, but I knew she was there, putting another nose print waist-high on the window. Mom would wash it away in the morning.
I hopped out of the truck, trying to decide the best approach.
Knock on the door and warn my mom that I had a guest for the night? Just carry Kennedy in? Knock on the door and let Mom help me carry Kennedy in?
Two metallic clicks sounded in the distance, followed by a familiar chime. Two heavy footsteps answered my dilemma for me. “You’re late. And you forgot to send me a text.”
“Sorry.” I slammed the door closed with my hip. As I skirted around the front of the truck, my mom’s curiosity was piqued. “I had a bit of an issue.”
“What kind of an issue?” She leaned her head back in suspicion. “Please don’t tell me it’s another dog. I can’t handle any more strays. We’ve got enough mouths to feed around here.”
I didn’t bring a stray. I wasn’t Christian.
“Not a dog.” I cautiously opened the door and reached in. “But kind of a stray.”
That drew Mom off the porch. Christian came to stand next to Addy in the doorway, a hand on her shoulder to remind her to stay inside. The last thing I needed to do tonight was to spend hours chasing her through the woods.
“Come on. Work with me.” No dice. Kennedy was out cold.
“Tanner Blake Shields?” All three names. This was going about as well as I thought it would have.
“This is Scarlett’s cousin.”
“Loretta’s new girl? I’ve heard talk about her in town.”
Of course she’d heard talk. That’s the way Piney Bluff worked. “Yeah. That one.”
“What’s wrong with her? Is there drinking at that party?”
“There’s always drinking at the parties, Mom.” I slid Kennedy off the bench seat and got her somewhat settled in my arms. She was easier to carry than Addy. Judging by the expression on Mom’s face, I’d just attended my last Piney Bluff high school party. I wasn’t that upset. “I just don’t drink.”
Kennedy made a sound that was half-moan, half snore. She shifted, and her cheek rested against my shoulder.
“Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about this one.” I gave the top of Kennedy’s head a pointed look. “I don’t think
it’s exactly her fault. I think she’s had kind of a sheltered life.”
My mom studied Kennedy’s face and then looked at me. “Why is she here?”
“Loretta’s out of town.”
“Isn’t she Scarlett’s problem?”
“She’s the reason she’s like this right now.”
“What are we supposed to do with her?”
“No idea. But I couldn’t exactly leave her there. Ricky was trying to help her.”
“See, you could have left her with him.”
“He was taking her into the woods, Mom.”
Mom muttered something impolite half-under her breath, loud enough for me to hear it, but not distinct enough for Addy to pick up the phrase. “Well, you know she’s not sleeping in your room.”
“I figured that.”
“Get her inside. We’ll figure out what to do with her. I’ll call Loretta and let her know we’ve got her. Don’t want her to think she’s one of those girls gone missing. I heard about a new one on the news tonight.”
15
Rule #12 – Never lose focus
Way too early
No idea
* * *
I sat up with a start. Big mistake. Quite possibly the new winner of the list of Things Not To Do. Definitely the winner on the list of Things Not To Do After a Night Spent Drinking So Much That I No Longer Remembered What I Did But Also Had No Idea Where I Was.
Maybe that second one wasn’t a real list.
Still, it described the moment perfectly.
But I was going to have to figure it out after I settled one more issue.
“Bathroom’s that way.” A kid I’d never seen before sat in a chair I’d never seen and pointed down a hallway I’d never walked down before. It didn’t matter. Because I was going to be sick. “Better hurry up. If you make a mess, you have to clean it up yourself.”
I made it to the bathroom. Barely. At first, the kid from the hall tried to follow me, but the room was so tiny I could kick the door closed while leaning over the toilet. After emptying my stomach of what I’d eaten for quite possibly the entire last month, I had a headache that made me wonder if I’d gotten hit by a car last night. Sadly, I suspected my current issue had more to do with the fruity drink I remember Scarlett putting in my hand and less with a vehicle driving over my head. I probably wouldn’t have survived that.
Unless this was some kind of twisted heaven.
But I wouldn’t start my first day in heaven by vomiting in a toilet covered with an olive-green cover. At least I hoped heaven didn’t have a bathroom decorated in five different shades of green.
“You’re awake.” An unfamiliar woman was standing in the bathroom doorway. But she didn’t look totally unfamiliar. Had I seen her somewhere before? “I’m Tanner’s mom.”
Oh. That explained why she looked familiar. Their eyes were shaped the same. And her hair was the same dusty-brown. But she was much smaller, and her eyes were brown. And those brown eyes were currently looking annoyed and staring at me.
“You’ve been asleep all morning. Addy wanted to wake you up. She wanted to show you her cat, but I told her to keep away.” She stooped down and started rummaging through the cabinet. “I put Christian on guard duty to make her stay back. I figured you didn’t want a cat staring you down when you finally woke up.”
She was answering lots of questions, just none of the ones I currently wanted answered. “Um?”
Tanner’s mom stood back up, a bottle of mouthwash in one hand and a paper cup in the other. She opened the bottle and poured an inch into the cup with practiced precision. She offered me the cup and stepped back, away from the sink. “Figured this might help.”
And that’s when I remembered I was still on the floor. No wonder my back was so cold. It was currently leaning against the olive-green bathroom wall. At some point, a long time ago, this house was probably on the cutting-edge of style. Unfortunately, that was probably before my mom was even born. I pushed to a stand, testing my footing. So far, so good.
I took a step. The room moved right along with me.
“Careful.” She grabbed my arm with a surprisingly firm grip. For someone smaller than I was, she was really strong. Solid. “I’m thinking you’re a little hung-over.”
If this is a little, I didn’t want to think about what a lot would feel like.
“Thanks.” She guided me to the sink like I was just learning to walk. It felt like I was a toddler. I was easily that unsteady on my feet. Either that or the floor wasn’t level, but the issue was probably on my end. After I was safely at the sink, I tipped the cup back and swished. Spitting made my head pound, but the mint flavor made me feel moderately more human.
Now to answer the more pressing question.
I chewed my lip, trying to decide how to proceed. A crash came from the living room. “Just a second.”
She rushed away, and I tried to figure out what could have made that kind of noise and how to make sure it never happened again.
“I told you to watch your sister.” Tanner’s mom snapped at someone. “And I didn’t mean watch her tip the chair over.”
“I always have to watch her. Why doesn’t Tanner have to?”
“Your brother does more than his fair share around here.” A door squeaked open and closed. Something swished and glass tinkled.
I took a few tentative steps. The floor stayed exactly where it was supposed to be, even if the walls were still a little questionable. I stopped in the doorway. Tanner’s mom knelt in the center of the kitchen, sweeping up the remains of a bowl and what appeared to be an entire bag of flour.
A little girl stood next to her, watching but not really watching. Despite being the probable cause of the mess, she didn’t look guilty. Instead, she just stood there, shaking her hands in front of her chest. Unlike most little kids I knew, she didn’t seem the least big fazed to have a stranger standing a few feet from her. I knew Tanner was a player, but based on his mom’s reaction to me, I didn’t think having an unfamiliar girl in the house could be that normal for her.
Then I noticed that she wasn’t really looking at me. She was kind of looking through me. I’d seen expressions like that before.
“What was that…” Tanner’s voice trailed off. His eyes widened as I tried to breathe.
His hair was shower-wet, and trickles of water washed down his chest. I didn’t look down to see if he was wearing a towel. I had more important things on my mind…like finding the toilet again.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been at Tanner’s house, but I was far too familiar with his toilet. Although I had to guess that vomiting in the bathroom was better than standing across the room from Tanner after being rendered speechless by his post-shower appearance.
God, even I could tell I was blushing. I’d never live that down. Unless Tanner never mentioned it. Or maybe he just might think I was sick. Really sick. After all, I was on my second trip to the tiny bathroom in the hall in the thirty minutes or so that I’d been awake. I was sick. I quickly corrected myself—I was hung-over. If I told Ellie about last night, she would never believe it.
Me—hung-over. And as sick as I could ever remember being in my life.
A faint tap sounded at the door.
“Come in,” I answered, mainly to get the noise to stop.
“You gonna live?” Tanner had taken the chance to put some clothes on. I almost laughed, realizing I’d known him for exactly two weeks, and I’d already seen him shirtless twice. Seeing him shirtless wasn’t that weird, not for someone who spent as much time at the beach as I did. But we were miles from the closest beach.
A wave of homesickness washed over me. I hoped it was homesickness. I couldn’t handle an up close and personal visit with the toilet again.
“My mom wanted me to bring you these.” He motioned for me to open my hand, and he plopped two painkillers into my palm. Only then did I notice the smallest glass of orange juice I’d ever seen in his other hand. “You safe to leave the bat
hroom yet?”
Without asking why she knew I’d need them, I popped the pills into my mouth and followed them by swallowing the juice in a single gulp. I started to stand, and the room swam around me. “Maybe I should wait to give the medicine time to kick in.”
“Maybe you should avoid Scarlett’s parties from now on.”
“You were there.”
“But I’m smart enough not to drink.” He took a seat on the floor, resting his back against the opposite wall. His expression was a mixture of concern and mild amusement. “You might want to consider going the bottled water route since you don’t seem to have the highest tolerance for alcohol.”
That’s right. He was carrying a can of diet soda. “You’ve got a point.”
We sat in silence for a while. He had a knack for asking questions, but he wasn’t the most skilled conversationalist I’d met. He didn’t have that annoying habit of needing to fill every silent moment with chatter.
Right now, I’d kill for a little distraction because every time I closed my eyes, I suspected I’d broken one of the rules. Not just any rule. The rule that was so important, it wasn’t even written down.
And now I was paying the price.
Focus. I needed to focus right now, but I just couldn’t. My head throbbed, and my stomach still seemed to think I’d been riding roller coasters—so not what I needed at a time like this.
If I let my attention wander even the slightest bit, I was back with her.
Alyssa. That’s what the guy on the radio called her.
Faceless.
But I knew she existed. She was worried about staining her birthday present, and she was in pain because she scraped her knees.
I felt her panic just like I felt my own head pounding right now.
He’d caught her. I was as certain of that as I was breathing. I didn’t want to think about who he was. Or who she was. Or what he was doing to her now. Or if she was still alive.
