by Sara Shepard
She sighed, her thoughts returning to Alex again. If only he’d text her back. If only he’d explain—and she could explain, too. She turned her phone over in her hands. She needed to talk to him, but calling him wouldn’t yield any results. He hadn’t answered a single one of her calls or texts—why would he start now?
So, she decided, she would go to his house.
As she stood up, Ava caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and nearly burst out laughing. Her hair jutted out in all directions, her normally glowing, caramel-colored skin looked sallow and worn, and bags had taken up residence under her eyes. She must have lost some weight, because her skinny jeans sagged on her hips, and her boobs didn’t quite fill out her shirt. But she didn’t have the energy to transform herself into her normal, perfect self—the girl who was smart and beautiful. Alex would have to see her like this. Perhaps it would show him exactly how much she was suffering because of what he’d done.
Taking the car out would probably get her into more trouble, so Ava pulled her old ten-speed from the garage and threw her leg over the bar. As she pedaled, she rehearsed what she was going to say to Alex when she saw him—if she saw him. I know what it looked like, but it wasn’t true, she’d start off with. But what if Alex saw her doing that striptease for Granger through the window? What would she say—I was trying to save my friends’ lives because we’d broken into his house and thought he was a murderer?
God, she felt nervous. And that was new, too—she hadn’t felt nervous in front of Alex, ever.
Alex’s house was only a few neighborhoods away, but she was winded by the time she got there, and damp from a drizzle that had begun to fall. She sucked in her breath as she turned onto Alex’s block—which was Granger’s block, too. Granger’s house was still surrounded in yellow police tape. Technicians in matching jackets that said CRIME SCENE streamed in and out of Granger’s front door, and a news van idled at the curb, its giant antenna jutting from the top. Ava twitched nervously, wondering what they were finding inside. Did Granger actually know something about Nolan’s murder that cost him his life? Or were the forensic people just digging up more evidence against her?
She hit the brakes a few houses away. It was probably a terrible idea to return to the scene of the crime. The cops might see her and assume she was here to laugh at them or something.
She squinted at Alex’s house. Strangely, it was surrounded by cops, too. Two police cars with doors flung open blocked the driveway. And there on the stoop stood four officers, their bodies tense. It looked like they were shouting at someone.
Ava edged up behind a neighbor’s oak, not sure what she was looking at. But when an officer moved slightly to the side, she realized that the person on the porch they were shouting at was Alex. He was waving his hands wildly. Then, before Ava’s eyes, two policemen grabbed Alex by the arms and spun him around. He kicked and struggled and tried to pull away, but the cops pressed his face against the front of the house.
Ava gasped. “No!” It pained her to see the boy she loved being treated so brutally. Why on earth were they doing this?
Then one of the officers began to cuff Alex. Ava let her bike fall to the ground and walked across the grass, no longer afraid of showing her face. She weaved through the throng of investigators, reporters, and rubbernecks from the neighborhood. “No!” she cried again. “Stop!”
Alex was struggling to get free. “Get off me!” he screamed. “I told you I didn’t do anything!”
“You have the right to remain silent,” one of the cops was telling him in a loud voice. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
Ava’s mouth fell open. They were reading him his rights?
She had reached the front walkway. She pushed around a few random people until she had a clear view of the porch. “Alex!” she called out before she could properly think the situation through. “Alex, it’s me!”
Alex turned his head sharply and met her gaze. His mouth fell open. Suddenly, an officer touched Ava’s shoulder. “We need you to stay back. This guy could be dangerous.”
Dangerous? Alex was the type of guy who let spiders outside instead of squashing them. He had been the one who’d held off on having sex, saying he wanted to wait until it was absolutely and positively special and right. “Why is he being arrested?” Ava cried. Then she looked at Alex. “Alex, what’s going on?”
Alex just stared through her. The cops pushed him across the lawn, holding him by the arms. And as they shoved him into the squad car, a strange thought began to take hold in Ava’s mind. This guy could be dangerous. She thought of Alex’s blank look as they led him away. Whatever had happened, Alex couldn’t explain it to her.
The cop closed the car door on Alex, then made his way around to the front. The lights were already blaring, and as he opened his door, the reporters descended on him. “Officer!” they cried. “What’s the nature of that boy’s arrest? Can you tell us?”
Ava leaned forward, heart pounding.
The cop touched the walkie-talkie on his belt, then looked into the camera. “All I can tell you is what I know,” he said gruffly, his hand on the top of the door. “Which is that as of now, Alex Cohen is under arrest for the murder of Lucas Granger.”
CHAPTER SIX
JULIE PULLED INTO THE JUDY’S DINER parking lot on Tuesday night. It was pouring down rain, but the lights of the diner were warm, and the people inside looked happy and relaxed. Suddenly, a flash of auburn hair inside the diner caught her eye, and her heart seized in her chest. Was that Ashley? Julie hadn’t seen her enemy since before the email went out, and she was still dreading the inevitable showdown.
But then she looked again. It was just another girl with similar-colored hair. She spooned what looked like rice pudding into her mouth and smiled at the guy she was sitting with. Julie breathed out. She so wasn’t ready to see Ashley yet.
Someone tapped on her window, and she looked up with a start. It was Parker—the reason Julie had come to the diner—and she was soaked. Julie hit UNLOCK, and Parker threw herself into the passenger seat. “Didn’t you see me waving?” she asked, sounding annoyed. “You could have pulled closer to the curb.”
“Sorry,” Julie said. “I thought I saw someone inside.”
“Ashley?”
That was the thing about Parker—she knew Julie far too well. “Maybe,” Julie muttered.
Parker gritted her teeth. “I hate that girl. Like, really, really hate her.”
“I know. I do, too.”
“Yeah, but you’re just rolling over and taking the abuse. Then again . . .” Parker homed in on Julie, staring at her pink blouse, dark-wash skinny jeans, and high ponytail. “You have actual clothes on. You don’t even seem that upset.”
Julie wanted to tell Parker that it was because of Carson—he’d called her that day to check in, and they’d talked for almost two hours. But sometimes it was hard to tell Parker happy things, considering Parker’s own troubled life. So she just shrugged. “I’m trying to cope.”
“I think we should do something to Ashley in retaliation,” Parker growled.
“Like what?” Julie asked as she pulled out of the lot. “Let air out of her tires? Post some mean stuff on Facebook? It’ll just look like we’re stupid high school girls trying to get revenge.”
Parker slumped down in the seat and muttered something Julie couldn’t hear. Julie stared at her friend for a moment. Parker was pale, and she looked exhausted and upset, probably for something more serious than Ashley.
The windshield wipers swished noisily. “So . . . where have you been anyway?” Julie had no idea where Parker had been sleeping. Before she’d received Parker’s call this evening saying she was at the diner and needed a ride, Julie had almost been ready to report her to Missing Persons. Sure, Parker had disappeared before, but never for this long, and never without telling Julie where she was going.
Then again, they hadn’t ever been wanted for murder before.
&n
bsp; Parker shrugged. “Around.”
Julie paused at a stop sign. “Just . . . around?” She wondered if that meant Parker didn’t remember. A shot of fear spiked through her chest. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked tentatively.
“Not really.”
Julie shut her eyes. She wished Parker would talk about it—about anything. It seemed like her friend was retreating more and more into herself, especially after Nolan’s death. If only the therapist she’d found for her had worked out. Instead, whenever Julie even thought of Elliot Fielder and what he’d done to Parker, she was seized with such crushing guilt she could barely breathe. She had made a lot of mistakes with Parker, horrible mistakes she couldn’t undo. She would have to be very, very careful to take care of her from now on, she promised herself.
“So where are we going again?” Parker asked languidly, staring out the window at the passing redwood trees.
“Ava’s,” Julie answered. “She called a little while ago. Her boyfriend was arrested for Granger’s murder.”
Parker raised an eyebrow. “Wait. Ava’s boyfriend, the guy who turned us in?”
“Yeah. Weird, huh?”
“Definitely weird,” Parker said quietly as they turned onto Ava’s street. Then she cleared her throat. “Wanna know something else that’s weird? I found out this morning that someone killed my dad.”
Julie unwittingly slammed on the brakes in the middle of the street. “What?”
“Yup. He died in the prison yard. They cremated him already. Good riddance, right?”
Parker’s voice was robotic and toneless, and for a moment, Julie thought she was joking. But there was pain behind her eyes. And Parker wouldn’t joke about that.
Julie clutched Parker’s hand hard. “Oh my god,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. But maybe we should be happy?”
Parker pulled her hoodie tighter around her face. “I know.” She looked Julie square in the eye, something she rarely did anymore, considering her scars. “I mean, I was always talking about how I wanted him dead—and now he is. It’s like my wish came true.”
“My wish, too,” Julie said faintly. But strangely, Markus Duvall’s death didn’t give her much satisfaction. It couldn’t undo what he’d done to Parker.
Julie shut off the car as they pulled up in front of Ava’s house and glanced worriedly at her friend. “Are you sure you want to go in there right now? We can skip it.”
Parker nodded. “I’m fine. Really.”
Julie gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Well, if you get uncomfortable, we can leave, okay? And it’s movie night in my room tonight. Your choice. Even something with Ben Affleck.”
They got out of the car and started up the walk. Just before they could ring the bell, the door swung open. Ava’s stepmother, Leslie, stood in the foyer. Her eyes were cold, the corners of her mouth turned down, and she swayed back and forth. When the wind shifted, Julie could smell white wine on her breath.
“More of you,” she said bitterly, looking at Julie and Parker with disdain. “Everyone’s in her bedroom. Please try not to trash the place, okay?”
Julie just nodded, but Parker glared at the woman, puffing up her chest. “Actually, I was planning on setting fire to the house, thanks. And maybe doing heroin in your bathroom. That cool?”
“Parker!” Julie said, elbowing her. Parker was never great with authority figures. Her dad used to prey on that.
Ava’s stepmother looked from girl to girl, clearly irritated. “Who are you again?” she asked, her words slightly slurred.
“Come on,” Julie said, grabbing Parker’s arm and dragging her upstairs. No wonder Ava bitched about that woman. She had the demeanor of a snake ready to strike.
Upstairs, Ava’s door was ajar. Ava sat on her bed, while Caitlin and Mac were sprawled on the floor. Everyone looked stricken, but Ava’s beautiful face was a teary mess.
Julie gave her a tight hug. “Are you okay?”
Ava shrugged, grabbing a Kleenex. “Not really. What about you? I haven’t seen you in school since that horrible email.” She looked Julie over, then smiled and flicked Julie’s chandelier earrings. “Those are pretty.”
Julie ducked her head. “Thanks. And I’m . . . getting there,” she said quietly. “I might even go back to school soon.” That was thanks to Carson, of course. He’d bolstered her so much she actually thought she could face the onslaught.
“You should totally come back,” Caitlin said gently. “Don’t let ’em see you sweat. And we’ll support you.”
“That’s right,” Mac echoed. “We’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Julie wanted to hug all of them. In the terrible pain of her secret getting out, this knowledge—that she had new friends, girls she had barely known just weeks ago, who wouldn’t judge her—felt like a gift. Whatever happened, they had one another’s backs. They were in this together.
Ava shut her bedroom door firmly behind them, and they all stared at one another for a moment. Then Caitlin took a deep breath. “So. Alex.”
“I can’t believe it.” Julie looked at Ava. “You were really there when he was arrested?”
Ava nodded, looking tormented. “They dragged him out of the house and shoved him into the car. It was brutal.”
“So do you think he . . . did it?” Julie asked Ava cautiously.
Ava pulled her bottom lip into her mouth. “No way. He wouldn’t stab anyone.”
Mac cleared her throat. “But what about this?” She pulled up a website on her phone. A newscaster from the local station appeared on the screen. “The newest suspect in the Granger murder case, Alex Cohen, has a history of violence,” the reporter said in a grave voice. “We spoke to Lewis Petrovsky, a student who knew Alex at his old school in Monterey, California.”
A guy with wild curly hair and freckles popped up. “We all know about Alex here,” he said. “He had this ex-girlfriend, Cleo, that he just couldn’t get over. Practically stalked her. And one night he hurt Cleo’s new boyfriend, Brett, really badly. Brett was hospitalized for a month.” His mouth wobbled. “Brett’s my best friend. I was so worried about him.”
The newscast cut to the reporter again. “Channel 11 tried to contact Cleo Hawkins and Brett Greene’s parents for questioning, but they couldn’t be reached at this time.”
Ava’s mouth dropped open. She stared at Mac’s phone. “How can this be true?”
Julie felt a pang. It was clear Ava hadn’t heard this piece of the puzzle, not from her own lawyer, and certainly not from Alex. She looked like someone had just slapped her hard.
Mac winced. “I’m sorry you had to hear it like this.”
Ava said nothing. She pressed PLAY, and the video started over. “Alex isn’t like that,” she said after it finished.
“It fits, though,” Parker piped up. “He sees you doing a striptease for Granger, and he snaps and kills him.”
Ava glared at her through tear-blurred eyes. “Alex isn’t the type who snaps.”
Caitlin bounced her balled fists on her knees. “Actually, my attorney told me the same story about the kid from his old school. Apparently the cops found a text from Alex to Granger saying ‘Stay away from my girlfriend or I’ll kill you.’”
Ava was growing paler and paler by the second. “What?”
“Alex sent it after you confessed that Granger hit on you,” Caitlin said in a small voice. She peeked at Ava. “Your lawyer didn’t tell you any of this?”
Ava made a face. “I haven’t even heard from my lawyer yet. And he’s supposed to be the best.” She looked down. “Even with a verbal threat and a motive, and a supposedly violent history.” She said supposedly as if she didn’t fully believe it. “It still doesn’t seem like enough to arrest Alex.”
Caitlin coughed awkwardly. “Well, Alex’s prints are all over Granger’s doorknob, too.”
“Wow,” Mac exhaled.
“Why didn’t I know any of this?” Ava exclaimed, her voice shaky.
“Maybe you
r lawyer or your parents were trying to protect you?” Julie volunteered.
Ava shook her head, looking shocked. “I just don’t understand.”
Julie looked around at the others. “But this means that we’re no longer suspects, right?”
“That’s what my lawyer told me,” Caitlin said quietly.
Julie had to admit she felt relieved. If she never visited that police station again, it would be too soon. Still, Ava’s face made the victory bittersweet. “So, if Alex killed Granger,” she began, working something out in her mind, “and if he did it for jealousy reasons, does that mean Granger did kill Nolan? And the two murders are unrelated?”
“Maybe.” Mac pulled her knees into her chest. “Maybe it’s all cleared up after all.”
No one spoke for a moment. Julie looked away from Ava. Then Parker cleared her throat. “Someone else was killed recently, too.”
Everyone looked at her. Suddenly, Parker couldn’t speak. Julie took a breath, having a feeling she knew what Parker wanted to talk about. “Parker’s dad was killed,” she said.
The others gasped. “Oh my god,” Ava said. “How?”
Parker cleared her throat, regaining her voice. “He was stabbed in the prison yard. They haven’t figured out who did it yet, but obviously it was another inmate.”
“Wow.” Mac ran her fingers along the stitching on Ava’s comforter. “There’s a lot of death going around.”
Caitlin cocked her head. “You don’t think that’s an awfully weird coincidence?”
“How so?” Mac asked.
Caitlin looked at Julie. “Julie, you said you wanted him dead in that same film studies conversation about Nolan. And now . . . he is.”
Julie suddenly remembered what Caitlin was talking about. Before they’d plotted how to kill and then prank Nolan, they’d each gone around and named someone they would kill, and how they would do it. Julie’s pick had been Parker’s dad. And, come to think of it, hadn’t she said, he could be stabbed to death in the prison yard?
“I don’t want to be paranoid, but the timing of it is eerie,” Caitlin said quietly. “First Nolan dies exactly how we planned, and then Parker’s dad does, too?”
