“It sure as hell isn’t Natalie!” Ava said. “Shit, Vanessa! Who do you think it could be?”
I looked at her. “At this point, anyone.”
“That’s true,” Brad said. “If it’s Lisa then I’m gonna kick her ass!”
“I don’t think it’s Lisa, Brad,” I said.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Just like the ones that Natalie was sending to me, and Ava thought it was Lisa. I just don’t think it’s her because she wouldn’t do something as obvious as that.”
“Well, she’s done enough to earn some prison time, I know that much!” Brad said.
“Amen to that!” Ava said.
“Oh, here’s what it said,” I said, and then showed it to them.
They looked at it and shook their heads.
“Vanessa, you are NOT TO BLAME for Natalie’s death! I hope you really don’t believe that bullshit!” Ava said.
“Exactly! It didn’t matter that you had a secret relationship with John at the same time that she had one with him, the fact of the matter is, you had nothing to do with what happened to her because it’s not like you and Natalie knew about each other and you wanted John all to yourself and he told you to kill her for him, or you just did it on your own will. John killed her because he didn’t wanna lifelong bond with her; you had nothing to do with it so never blame yourself, and you are sure as hell not responsible for her death — he is,” Brad said.
“Well said, Brad!” Ava said with a big smile.
I tried to suppress the tears that were swelling up in my eyes. “I know. Thanks, guys.”
“Do you think Marie could be sending them now?” Ava asked.
I sighed. “No, I don’t think she is. It may seem like it now, but I know Marie’s not like that. I think that if it’s her then she would’ve never told me about Natalie being the one who was sending me the original texts. Marie and I have no beef with each other — never have — I honestly don’t know who this could be.”
“Well, it’s someone at this school because everyone knows that Natalie was killed, however, only we all know the story of why she was and who actually did it,” Ava said.
“Yeah, and that’s exactly it. It’s only us who knows, so who else could be specifically blaming me for her death? I’m as confused as I could be,” I said.
“Well, we’re gonna find out who it is — either on our own, or someone’s gonna tell us,” Ava said.
“Yeah, but hopefully they won’t die before we do find out,” Brad said.
“Brad!” Ava and I said.
Brad grinned. “Sorry, but it’s true.”
“Well, I’ll let you both know if I get anymore texts from this new secret person, but our first priority is getting John’s DNA,” I said.
“Exactly,” Brad and Ava said.
Several minutes later, we all headed off to class.
CHAPTER 3
It was Friday afternoon in the same week, and Ava, Brad, Marie, Zac, and I were the only ones that still knew that John was Natalie’s real killer. It was very hard for us to see John around school or anywhere knowing that he was the real killer, and especially hard for all of us to act as if we still didn’t know who it was. I also hadn’t received any new texts from that new secret person, so I concluded that maybe it was a one-time thing and that they already got tired of being a stalker or in this case, a troll. I thought about all of this as I waited by Brad’s locker for him at the end of the day. Even though it was Friday, I just wasn’t in the mood to go out like the way I usually was.
Brad approached his locker as he smiled at me; I smiled back. “Hey, baby,” he said.
“Hi,” I said with a smile.
He opened his locker, and then looked both ways.
“What?” I asked.
“I just wanna let you know that I’m gonna be hanging out with John tomorrow afternoon.”
“Brad, we’re supposed to be going out for a small picnic in the woods tomorrow since it’s been unseasonably warm this week.”
“I know, baby, we’re gonna go as soon as I come from his house.” He looked around again as if he was looking for John. “This will be an opportunity for me to see what I can find in his house to take for DNA testing, and also see if I can find his gun.”
I nodded. “Okay, take your time over his house because we need to get him for this. You haven’t told Marc, have you?”
“No, not yet, and I don’t know when I’m going to. I’m thinking about doing it after I collect some evidence from John’s house like a tissue or soda can — something that I know has his DNA on it — and then turning it into the cops. If I tell Marc right now that John is Natalie’s killer, he’s gonna beat or shoot John’s fuckin’ ass for trying to set him up for killing her.”
“That’s very true, and we don’t need anyone else in trouble right now.”
“That’s for damn sure, baby,” he said.
I looked to my left and saw John and Marc coming down the hall towards us to their lockers as they talked. I held on to Brad. I had to admit that just looking at John scared the shit out of me now, even though I tried not to show it.
Brad talked to them as they got what they needed out of their lockers as if nothing was wrong. Since John’s locker was across from Brad’s and Marc’s, he kept looking back at me, and I felt like he knew that I knew something.
Ava approached us. “Ready to go?”
“I’ve been ready,” I said, and then lightly tugged Brad’s hand. “Come on, baby, let’s go.”
Brad, Ava, and I walked out of school to our cars.
“Seeing John is just really unnerving me. I mean, he’s walking around school with a smile on his face like he didn’t do anything. I really just wanna punch him in his fuckin’ face,” I said.
Brad and Ava chuckled.
“And that’s a great way to get his DNA! All we need is some blood and he’s done!” Ava said.
We all laughed hard!
“Well, he’s not gonna be walking around like that for that much longer because his ass is gonna be in jail around this time next week if I can help it,” Brad said.
I looked up at him and smiled. “Brad, I’m really counting on you to get his DNA from him and his gun if you can find it — I know you can do it.”
“I think so, too,” Ava said.
“Well, ladies, I’m gonna do the best I can to get it. Remember, he doesn’t know that we know that it was him who killed her, and I think we’re all doing a great job about not showing that we know that it was him who did it,” Brad said.
“We are, and I think Marie is doing an excellent job. Every day she says that it takes everything that she has not to kill him herself when she sees him,” Ava said.
“I’m sure it does. Natalie was her best friend, and we want John alive to pay for what he did. What’s the use in killing him? It’s better to have him suffer the consequences for what he did than to have him in an early grave,” Brad said.
Ava and I nodded with a smile.
Brad and I kissed, and then he opened the door to my car for me. “I’ll call you tonight, baby,” he said.
“I look forward to it,” I replied, and then got into my car and left.
Hours later, I was sitting at my desk doing my homework and it was very rare for me to be doing it on a Friday night, but I had to take my mind off of everything that had been going on. Suddenly, my phone rang; I answered it without looking to see who it was. “Hello?”
“Hey, Vanessa.”
I gasped! It was John! “Uh . . . hi, John,” I said, as I tried not to sound surprised that he’d called me.
“Hey, I was wondering how you were doing because of everything that’s been going on; you still seem down about it.”
“Well, of course I’m still down about it, John — who wouldn’t be? Natalie was my friend. I can’t believe she’s gone.”
“Neither can I. But if you don’t mind, I don’t wanna talk about her.”
You don’t have to tal
k now about killing her, but you’re gonna have to talk about it later, guaranteed! I thought. “Okay, then what do you wanna talk to me about?”
“I wanna fuck the shit out of you again, Vanessa,” he boldly said.
I gasped in shock! I couldn’t believe that he’d said this! “John, you know that can’t happen. Why are you talking to me like this? Are you drunk? You know Brad wouldn’t like it at all — you two are friends,” I lied, knowing that because of what he did to Natalie, Brad was no longer friends with him, and neither was I.
“I know that. But I think about that last time we had sex here at my house all the time — I can’t lie. It almost made up for the fact that you dumped our secret relationship to be in one with Brad.”
I couldn’t help but notice that he said the word almost, and this showed me that I was right all along — he still wasn’t over it . . . and never would be.
“Look, I’m here all alone right now. My parents are both working late and are going out to dinner afterwards, so you can come over if you want to.”
My first thought was to say no, but then again, I thought about the possibility of going over his house to see if I could get his DNA and find his gun, and if I could, Brad didn’t have to go over his house tomorrow. But I was scared of John because of what he did to Natalie, so I couldn’t be alone with him anywhere anymore, especially all alone in his house. “John, I can’t. I have a ton of homework to do.”
“It’s Friday night. Even though I’m studying to be a neurosurgeon, I even take breaks from studying — especially on the weekends. C’mon, baby, I need to have sex with you again. I loved licking your pussy and fucking it, too — it was definitely like old times when we were seeing each other. That face ride you gave me and that sixty-nine position was off the fuckin chain—”
“John, stop it! Okay?! Have you been drinking or something?”
He laughed. “Yeah, I have — but just a little,” he said, as he watched TV while he sat on his couch in the dark family room with a big bottle of beer in his left hand.
“John, since Natalie was murdered, I haven’t been in the mood to even have sex with Brad. I’m just so upset about all of this. We still don’t know who killed her, and it seems as though we won’t find out since all of the males have been eliminated,” I lied, as I tried to throw him off as much as I could.
He took a swig from his bottle of beer. “I said I didn’t wanna talk about Natalie, okay?”
“Okay, we don’t have to.”
“So, did you like sucking my dick for the first time since you’ve been Brad’s girlfriend when we were in that sixty-nine position?”
“John! If you don’t mind, I don’t feel like talking about the first time I had sex with you since being Brad’s girlfriend or about the time when we were seeing each other in secret, okay?”
“But I feel like talking about it, so let’s talk about it. It sure in the fuck beats the shit out of talking about someone who’s no longer alive.”
I couldn’t believe that he’d said this and it infuriated me! “John, I have to go. Ava just got here.”
“I’ll love to fuck the both of you . . .”
“John!”
“And I’ll love for the both of you to suck on my dick at the same time . . . shit! That’ll feel so fuckin’ good—”
I hung up on him — I couldn’t take any more of his talk.
John sat at his house and grinned as he hung up the phone, took another swig of his beer, and then broke out into a long, hard laugh.
I got back on my phone and called Ava since she really wasn’t over my house.
“Hey, Vanessa. What’s up?” Ava said.
“Ava, I just got off the phone with John.”
“What?! Oh, my God! What did he say?”
“He just called me talking all of this shit about what we did that day when I was over his house for the first time since becoming Brad’s girlfriend, and was talking about how much he wanted to fuck me again . . . and you, too. I could tell he was drunk. I think he knows that it’s all a matter of time when he’s gonna be questioned again about Natalie’s murder. You know he wanted me to come over there?”
“Oh! I know you said no!”
“Of course I did! I can’t believe how insensitive he’s being about what happened to Natalie! Oh, my God! He’s fuckin’ evil, Ava! I’m really scared! I want his ass in jail for what he did to her and now her unborn child!”
“So do I, Vanessa. But the only way he’s gonna be in jail is if his DNA matches the one found on Natalie’s body, and that is what we all have to be concerned with getting now since there is no way he’s gonna voluntarily give it. The school seems to have forgotten about the fact that he’s the sole person that has not submitted his samples.”
“Yeah, that’s what Brad said, so it’s up to us to get his DNA from him without him knowing because he’s just gonna make all kinds of excuses not to give it to the school.”
“Exactly, Vanessa. So, what time is Brad going over to John’s tomorrow?”
“Early afternoon. He said that he’s gonna talk to him for a while, and then excuse himself to get something or have John get something for him, and then that’s when he’s gonna make his move to look for something that has John’s DNA on it, and to also see if he can find his gun — he says he’s gonna search his bedroom first for both things.”
“Please tell him to be careful. We’re both counting on him to get this done for Natalie. I’m really scared, Vanessa.”
“I know, Ava. I’m scared, too — really scared.”
CHAPTER 4
John opened his door to Brad standing in it. “Hey, man. C’mon in.”
“Thanks, man,” Brad said as he walked in and looked around.
“So, what do you wanna do?” John asked.
“Watching TV is fine; there’s some afternoon football games on.”
“That’s cool since I’m already watching one.”
They walked into the family room.
“Help yourself to whatever is in the frig, man,” John said, as he sat back down on the couch.
“Okay, man,” Brad said, and then went to the kitchen and straight to the refrigerator. He got out a can of soda and then closed the refrigerator door. As he walked over to the couch where John was sitting, he looked around to see if he could find anything laying out that could possibly have John’s DNA on it — he didn’t see anything. He sat on the couch that John was sitting on and watched TV with him, and noticed that John had a can of soda in his hand and didn’t have a napkin around it. He obviously doesn’t think that I suspect him of killing Natalie, he thought. He looked at John as John continued to watch the game that was on TV as he tried to figure out if he wanted to start a conversation about Natalie — he decided not to.
Several minutes later, the game was at halftime, and John got up off the couch. “I need to go use the bathroom,” he said.
“Okay,” Brad said. “Oh, do you have any condoms? I haven’t been able to get any lately. Vanessa and I are going out to the woods after I leave here.”
“You’re gonna fuck her in the daylight out in the woods, man?” John asked with a grin.
Brad grinned back. “You know I’ll do her anywhere, anytime.”
John laughed. And so will I, he thought. “I got some in the top dresser drawer in my bedroom.”
“Thanks, man,” Brad said, and then went upstairs. He walked into John’s bedroom and looked around it. He looked in the garbage can and noticed that there were at least six soda cans sitting in it. “Damn, fuckin’ caffeine freak!” he said, and then looked to see if John was coming up the stairs. He quickly took a pen out of his pocket, reached down into the garbage can, and picked up one of the soda cans with the pen. He took a large plastic bag out of his pocket that he brought with him just in case he found some evidence, and put the can in it. He continued to look around the room to see if he could find the gun anywhere; he didn’t see it in sight. He walked out of the room and towards the ste
ps to see if John was anywhere in sight; he wasn’t. He quickly walked back into his room and looked inside his closet since the door to it was open and there were a bunch of boxes sitting in it. He looked inside the first box that was sitting on top of another box. He looked back to see if John was coming up the stairs towards the room; he wasn’t. He quickly opened the box, moved some clothes out the way . . . and gasped as a semi-automatic handgun laid in the middle of the box! He quickly looked back since he wanted to check one last time that John wasn’t coming upstairs. He took a cloth out of his pocket and was about to pick up the gun . . . he heard a loud sound! He quickly put the clothes back on top of the gun and quickly walked out of the room, and then down the stairs and back into the family room. He noticed that John was still in the bathroom; he went towards it. “Hey, man. Vanessa just called me so I gotta go. I’ll let myself out.”
“Okay, man. See you later,” John said from inside the bathroom.
Brad picked me up at my house and we went out for our afternoon together alone in the woods as planned, and since it was a spot that most didn’t know about, anything went out in it. “Brad, are you sure John didn’t see you take that can?” I asked.
“No, he didn’t see me, baby. He was in the bathroom downstairs when I took it out of his garbage can in his bedroom, so I know these cans weren’t wiped off. As for the gun, that was a little risky so I had to keep looking back to see if he was coming up to his room since it took me a little more time to look around. I mean, when I saw those boxes in his closet, something told me to look in the top one. It’s like I knew that if there was any place that he was probably hiding a gun at then that was the place — so cliché, you know? I was about to grab it with a cloth that I’d brought with me, but then I heard a loud noise so I wasn’t able to get it. I went back downstairs and he was still in the bathroom so I just told him I had to go and just let myself out, and since he was still in the bathroom when I left, he never saw me carry the bag with the can in it out of his house. I could’ve went back up there and got the gun, but I didn’t wanna take the chance because he could’ve easily walked out of the bathroom and I would’ve been caught for real trying to take it.”
School, Sex and Secrets II (School, Sex and Secrets #2) Page 2
