Lies Never Sleep

by Stacy Claflin

  “Brielle?” He struggled to sit up. “What are you doing here?”

  She pulled some dark hair behind an ear and approached the bed. “The twins told me what happened. I wanted to come and see how you’re doing. I just can’t believe how much you’re dealing with right now—Atlas, Lila, and now being shot.”

  “What do you mean by Lila?”

  Brielle fixed his blanket. “Well, you know. That whole thing that came up at the park. I didn’t really want to bring it up. I feel bad saying anything since I knew about it before she did.”

  “It’s fine. We worked through it.”

  “You did? Oh, good. I was worried because you guys are like second parents.”

  Morgan nodded. “We just needed to talk about it. That’s what married couples do.”

  She leaned against the bed. “I wouldn’t know. My mom’s dead and my dad’s a workaholic.”

  Pain squeezed his temples. “I really need to get some more sleep. Thanks for stopping by.”

  “Of course. Do you need anything?”

  He shook his head no and closed his eyes.

  “Wait.”

  “What?” He didn’t open his eyes.

  “I have a question, then I’ll get going.”

  Morgan groaned and opened his eyes. “What is it?”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I have to ask.”

  “Okay.”

  “You didn’t want Lila or the twins to know about the baby, right?”

  He studied her. “What are you getting at?”

  “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

  “What doesn’t?”

  Brielle twisted a lock of hair around her finger. “Well, the fact that Atlas found out about that and then disappeared right after.”

  Morgan’s stomach twisted. “What are you trying to say?”

  “It’s just odd timing.”

  “Are you insinuating that I hurt Atlas?” Morgan struggled to keep his voice quiet.

  Her eyes widened. “Did you?”

  “No! How could you even think that? I would never do anything to hurt any of my children. Especially after what I’ve been through with my first.”

  Brielle stepped back. “I didn’t mean to upset you. The more I thought about it, the more it bugged me.”

  “I think you should go now.”

  “I’m not trying to be mean. In fact, I thought that by asking you directly, I was being respectful. I haven’t breathed a word of this to anyone else. It just seemed like too big of a connection to ignore, and it wouldn’t let go. So I figured I’d ask you directly.”

  Morgan clenched his fists, but immediately released the one on his bad arm. “It’s unfounded. Again, I would never do anything to hurt any of my children.”

  “Even though Atlas wanted to tell Lila?”

  “No!”

  “Okay. Sorry to upset you. I hope you get some rest and heal quickly.” She turned around and took her time leaving the room.

  Morgan’s heart raced. How could Brielle even think that? Much less bring it up while he was in the hospital?

  Hopefully he’d closed the matter and she would drop the whole theory.

  19

  Brielle Harrison

  * * *

  The house loomed in front of Brielle, the night’s shadows making it look more like a haunted house Emmett and Atlas might visit rather than the family home it actually was. It was almost enough for Brielle to spin around and head home.

  Almost. But she was bound and determined to speak with everyone who had even a remote chance of having done something to harm her best friends. She’d nearly chickened out from confronting Atlas’s dad, but she’d done the brave thing and spoken up for her friends.

  And she could do it again. Layne had just as much reason to want to harm Emmett as Morgan had for Atlas. Maybe more. Morgan did care about his kids. Layne had nothing to lose by hurting Emmett. She was the perfect suspect, actually. Why else would she keep acting like Emmett hadn’t broken up with her?

  Brielle had to face Layne and ask her the difficult questions. The girl would deny everything. Brielle had no doubt about that. But she would get her to fess up one way or another.

  She took a deep breath and marched up the walkway like she didn’t have a worry in the world. It was all about appearances, and she couldn’t let Layne think she had a single weakness.

  Brielle pressed the doorbell and waited.

  A minute later, Layne’s dad opened the door. “Can I help you?”

  Brielle stood tall. “Hi, Mr. Zander. Is Layne home?”

  He arched a brow. “It’s a little late for a school night.”

  “Oh, is she already asleep?”

  “No. Don’t you kids all text these days? Does she know you’re coming over?”

  “We’re trying to find Emmett. I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d stop in and ask her something.”

  He raked his hands over his thinning hair and sighed like he was put out. “Hold on. I’ll tell her you’re here. What’s your name?”

  “Brielle.”

  “Right. Hold on, Brielle.”

  “Sure.” She sat on the porch swing and waited.

  Before long, Layne appeared. She wore a silk pajama shorts set and had her hair up in a messy bun. “Brielle?”

  “Hi, Layne.” She jumped up. “I thought we could make those Missing posters we talked about.”

  “Oh, right. Now?”

  “It’s been almost exactly two days since anyone has seen them. We have to do more. Maybe passing those out will help. I brought my laptop full of pictures of the boys.” She patted her school bag.

  Layne rubbed her eyes. “Okay. Not like I’m going to be able to sleep, anyway. I’m tired, but can’t sleep, you know?”

  Brielle held back a yawn. “Same here. I just can’t get my mind to settle down.”

  “Exactly.” Layne stepped aside so Brielle could come in. She led her upstairs to her room. It had a bit too much pink for Brielle’s taste, but that wasn’t why she was there.

  Brielle pulled her laptop out and sat on the end of the bed. “I was thinking we should make one poster for both of them. Separate ones would get confusing, and we know they’re together. Or at least, they were. They went ghost hunting together, right? They invited you, too? Or at least Emmett did.”

  Layne hesitated. “Yeah. I just didn’t go. Middle of the week and all that.”

  “I totally get that.” Brielle typed on her keyboard. “They wanted me to go with them, but I said no way. But you know those boys.”

  “Can’t tell them anything.” Layne laughed nervously.

  “Right?” Brielle watched her from the corner of her eye as she typed. “They’ve always been like that. Once when we were kids, they went skunk hunting. I was all, No way, José. And an hour later, guess who was the only one who didn’t stink?”

  Layne relaxed and smirked. “That sounds about right.”

  Brielle told some more funny stories about the guys as she set up the poster in her presentation program. Layne loosened up more, even going downstairs to fetch them a snack.

  When she did, Brielle jumped up and dug through Layne’s drawers, hoping to find something condemning. If she did have anything, she’d hidden it somewhere safer.

  Footsteps sounded, and Brielle leaped back onto the bed. She started typing nonsense and glanced up at Layne. “Oh, pizza bites. Perfect late night snack.”

  Layne put the plate between them, then leaned against a pillow. “Do you want any help with the poster?”

  “Yeah, totally.” Brielle erased the nonsense she’d typed, then handed over the laptop. She popped a few snacks while Layne read it over. “Did I miss anything?”

  “Not that I can think of. These are really good.”

  Brielle took her laptop back. “You really think so?”

  “Yeah, it’s way better than what I could’ve come up with.”

  “Do you have a printer?”

  “My dad h
as one.” She connected the computer to the printer, then disappeared to grab the copies.

  Brielle jumped off the bed and looked under it. Just shoes.

  Where did that girl hide the good stuff?

  Footsteps.

  Brielle jumped up and turned around. “Dropped my ring.” She slid it off her finger then held it up. “Found it.”

  “Cool.” Layne handed her one of the sheets of paper.

  Brielle looked it over to make sure she hadn’t made any mistakes. “It’s perfect, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah. I can’t believe you put that together so fast.”

  “It wasn’t that hard.” Brielle shrugged. “So, where do you think we should hand these out first?”

  “School tomorrow.”

  “You want to wait until tomorrow?”

  Layne tugged on her pajamas, obviously to remind Brielle that she was ready for bed.

  “We don’t have a moment to lose.”

  “There’s only two of them.” Layne waved hers and pointed to Brielle’s. “And my dad will kill me if I print out a whole bunch. We’ll have to do this at school tomorrow.”

  Brielle frowned and considered her wording. “Maybe Ms. Johnston could help us.”

  Layne’s eyes widened. “Ms. Johnston?”

  Brielle nodded slowly. “Yeah, she has first period free, right?”

  “Oh, I guess. I don’t know.”

  “But you know her, right?”

  Layne nodded.

  “Because I saw you talking with her after school.”

  “I had questions about my homework. Are you getting at something?”

  “Just homework?”

  Layne crossed her arms. “What else would I be talking with her about?”

  “Well, she’s close to Atlas. I thought maybe you were talking to her about them.”

  “What do you mean, she’s close to Atlas?”

  Brielle took a step closer. “You know. Close.”

  “Um, I think she was tutoring him. Does that make them close?”

  “Depends on what they were doing while she was tutoring.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Seriously?” Brielle exclaimed. “What I mean is that I think she was as close to Atlas as you are to Emmett.”

  Layne’s face paled. “I sure wasn’t talking to Ms. Johnston about that. Now I kind of wish I had, but she was just helping me with my homework. That’s it. You really think Atlas and Ms. Johnston?”

  “Why not? She’s young and hot. Atlas is an adult legally. There’s, what, a four- or five-year age gap at the most?”

  Layne cupped her chin and looked deep in thought. “You could be on to something. Come to think of it, she was tutoring Atlas a lot. I mean, way more than anyone else—and he’s no dummy.”

  “Right! You never suspected anything?”

  She sat on her bed. “Not until you brought it up.”

  “Do you think she’s behind this?”

  Layne gave her a double-take. “Ms. Johnston? I doubt she could hurt a fly.”

  “What if he wanted to break up with her? Maybe he threatened to tell.”

  “It’s a long shot.”

  Brielle snapped her fingers. “I know! You should ask her.”

  “What? Are you crazy? I’m not asking her that!”

  “Why? Do you think she’s capable of hurting them?”

  Layne shook her head. “I can’t see her taking on the both of them. Besides, she’s too nice to do something like that.”

  “So, you don’t think there’s any possibility of her being involved?”

  “It’s a stretch. Hooking up with Atlas, maybe. Hurting him and Emmett, I can’t see it.”

  “What if she had help?”

  Layne put her hands over her face. “You’re making my head spin.”

  “I’m just trying to figure out what happened. Somebody knows something, and they sure aren’t talking.”

  Layne scrunched her face as if deep in thought. “Maybe it was someone totally random. Like, whoever was doing the drugs the cops found. They could’ve been threatened by Emmett and Atlas, especially if they were stoned out of their minds.”

  “But why wouldn’t anyone be able to find them? Seems personal to me.”

  “If they killed them, they’d hide the bodies.”

  “While stoned out of their minds?” Brielle shook her head. “No way.”

  “You have a point.” They sat in silence for a minute before Layne spoke again. “What if Atlas and Emmett turned on each other?”

  Brielle stared at her. “That’s insane. They’ve been best friends for life. They have each other’s backs. No way are they going to do that.”

  “Think about it.” Layne scooted closer. “Atlas is so jealous of Emmett. What if he snapped and killed him? He’d know he couldn’t return home, so he ran away.”

  Brielle burst out laughing. “That’s seriously the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. By a long shot!”

  Layne’s face reddened. “Okay, if you think that’s stupid, try this one.”

  Brielle waved her to go on and tried to stop laughing.

  “What if Emmett lost it and hurt Atlas? Maybe he hid Atlas’s body, then ran away. He’s the more athletic one. It could happen.”

  “Let me get this straight. Your theory is that your boyfriend is guilty of murder?”

  “It makes more sense than Atlas being a killer.”

  “You make it sound like Atlas is a wimp.”

  Layne shrugged. “You said it, not me.”

  “Are you for real? Atlas is no wimp. He’s chill and down to earth.”

  “Computer nerd.”

  “Who caught the attention of the school’s hottest teacher.” Brielle could think of a thousand other reasons why Atlas was cool, but that wasn’t going to help find him.

  Layne flipped her hair behind her shoulder. “Guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.”

  “Apparently so. There’s no way they turned on each other. They’re opposites in many ways, but they’ve never been jealous of each other—and I’d be the one to see it if they were. Then I’d smack them and tell them to get over themselves.”

  Silence settled between them.

  Brielle leaned forward. “What’s up with you and Trevor?”

  “Trevor? Nothing. What are you trying to say?”

  Brielle shrugged. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him since Emmett disappeared. People are talking. Is something going on between you two?”

  “Seriously?” Layne’s eyes widened. “We’re friends. I’d think you could understand being best friends with a guy.”

  “Lighten up. I was just asking.”

  Layne’s brows knit together. “Let’s just agree to focus on finding them. Okay?”

  “Sure.” Brielle turned back to her laptop and started typing.

  “So what are we going to do with these posters? Print them off at school?”

  Brielle shook her head. “I’m going to take them to that print shop across from the post office. The sign says open twenty-four hours, right?”

  “Not sure.”

  “I’m going to print off a ton of them. You think a thousand is good?”

  “A thousand? Isn’t that a bit overkill?”

  “When my besties and your boyfriend are missing?” Brielle narrowed her eyes. “I’m thinking that’s a minimum. I should double or triple that, maybe even more. Others are going to want to help hand them out.”

  “Yeah, sure.” Layne leaned back against her pillow and closed her eyes. “I’m getting a headache. Why don’t you go print those off?”

  “You should come with me.”

  “Did you hear me? I have a headache.”

  Brielle had to stop herself from saying she understood why Emmett had dumped her. What she needed was for Layne to admit it herself. She pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen from her purse. “Here, have a couple of these. I know you don’t want to sit around while your boyfriend is mi
ssing.”

  Layne groaned. “I’ll take those, but my dad isn’t going to let me leave at this hour.”

  “Sure he will. Emmett’s missing.”

  “Exactly. He’s afraid I’ll get snatched.”

  “You won’t be alone. We’ll be together.”

  Layne sat up and took the pills. “Emmett and Atlas were together when they went missing.”

  “Would you stop? They went on a ghost hunt. We’re going to the print shop. Besides, I have mace. Anyone comes near me, they’ll regret it.”

  Layne swallowed the pills. “Fine, I’ll get dressed but I can’t promise my dad will let me go.”

  “Let me worry about him.” Brielle went out into the hall to let Layne get dressed.

  She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Violet, telling her that she and Layne would be stopping by with posters later. Maybe if Violet and Layne ended up in the same room, Violet would be able to convince Layne to admit the truth that she’d been dumped—and maybe done something as payback.

  20

  Rowena Powell

  * * *

  Rowena stared out the front window. Everything looked so normal in the neighborhood, but nothing could be further from the truth. Morgan had been shot right in front of their house, and Emmett and Atlas were still missing.

  Zion rested a hand on her shoulder.

  She took a deep breath. “It’s been over forty-eight hours since we’ve seen Emmett.”

  He let his hand rest on the small of her back and kissed her cheek. “And we’ll see him again.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I can feel it.”

  She wanted to ask if he thought he knew because of the voodoo, but she had no energy for a fight. Not when her son was missing. They needed to be on the same page. She needed Zion, and if he was back into voodoo—or had never stopped—it was something they would have to talk about another time. Even if he was lying to her about it.

  He leaned his head against hers. “Why don’t we go into the living room and sit down?”

  “How is that going to help anything? At least if we’re here, we’ll see Emmett if he comes home.”

  “We need to rest.”