Darkest Dawn (10 page)

She drove through the school’s empty parking lot, searching for the closest spot so she wouldn’t have to walk far in the rain. As she pulled into the teachers’ lot, her breath caught in her throat. Abbey’s car sat in the exact spot Bri had parked it yesterday.

Bri strained to see if her mom was in the car. Had she come back early? Why didn’t she call Bri back?

She knew she wasn’t supposed to use her mom’s keys to the school unless absolutely necessary. The keys burned in her jacket. She parked alongside the car and saw that her mom wasn’t inside. She lifted her cell from the cup holder and dialed her mom. Straight to voicemail. She tried two more times before leaving a message. “Mom. Call me when you get this.” Typical. Abbey probably forgot to charge her phone.

She held the phone in her hands, weighing her options. Maybe Abbey and Mrs. Blake, the other librarian, took Mrs. Blake’s car? Even though Abbey did say she was taking hers. If she was in the school, Bri could lie and say she forgot her homework in her locker. She’d never gone into the school without permission so she was sure it could slide this time. And as the librarian her mom would be able to figure out how to find the article of the accident Sloane had been in quicker than Bri would. She took a breath, pulled the car key from the ignition, and headed for the back entrance of the school.

***

Bri’s sneakers squeaked on the clean floor. She tried to walk slower but the sound still announced her through echoes bouncing off the rows of lockers. A slow chill crept down her spine. She’d never been in the school by herself when it was completely empty. She had come over from the natatorium with Max to get a ride with her mom before. This was different. The halls, completely void of loud shouting or lockers slamming, made the concrete walls feel more like a prison than a lively school. She didn’t even hear a janitor. By the time she’d walked to the hallway where the library was, her shoes were dry enough to be silent. She almost wished for them to squeak again since only her ragged breathing filled her ears.

She pushed open the door to the library, confident in her planned excuse if her mom happened to be there. She hoped beyond hope that Mom had got a ride from Mrs. Blake. Otherwise, she’d turn the tables and ask why she’d come home early from the conference without a phone call.

Bri would have to get Sloane to stay with Tucker for the remainder of her time in Willows Lake until some questions were answered. The emergency lights were on, casting an eerie glow over the space. She’d been in there enough after school not to be afraid of how menacing the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves looked. They threw even larger shadows across the room. Besides, she knew the library’s layout like the back of her hand. She and Max had played hide-and-seek as children while waiting for her mom to finish up work.

The office light was on, shining like a beacon in the darkness. She headed in that direction until she saw a shadow move inside the room. She was about to call for her mom when she heard several voices. She ducked behind the main counter. Her breath caught in her throat.

“Why are you freaking out?” a familiar high-pitched female voice said.

Bri slowly lifted her head and peered over the counter to match the voice to Chloe’s face. The blonde girl’s lips were puckered in an accusatory expression at whoever she was with. She found out soon enough when a male figure came into view.

Kael stood close to Chloe. Almost too close. How did they know each other? Kael wasn’t in high school; why would he even know Chloe?

“She left this.” He held up a cell phone to Chloe’s face.

Chloe didn’t back away. Instead she crossed her arms, staring at the screen.

Bri’s lips parted. That was Abbey’s cell phone. Her entire body protested her crouched position, yet she didn’t move. She needed to hear why they would want her mom’s phone.

“It’s not possible,” Chloe said defiantly. “I set it up. It’s foolproof. No one can come here.”

Kael shoved Abbey’s phone in his pocket. “She did and we have to do something about—”

Chloe groaned. “Can we not talk about her?”

Something pinched at Bri’s chest. This wasn’t right. The need to flee took over every nerve in her body, yet she stayed in place. She knew she’d be caught if she left now. How could she explain herself to the town’s recluse and her rival? She saw Kael in a new light after hearing Sloane talk about how angry he’d been at her, and after seeing him at the motel crime scene.

Chloe smoothed her hand over Kael’s chest. “Let’s go back to my place and figure this out.”

Kael’s head swung in Bri’s direction and she ducked.

She held her breath. A vibration against her leg was as loud as a gunshot in the silent room.

“Wait,” Kael said.

Bri pressed the button on the side of her phone to turn the buzzing off.

She held her breath, sensing someone’s presence very close to her. She didn’t dare move to see how close he was.

The moment spread like an eternity and she closed her eyes tightly.
Please, please leave
.

And as if the message had traveled from her mind to their ears, they did. She moved in the opposite direction, her back pressed against the counter to keep her balance. It wasn’t until she heard the soft thump of the door closing that she took a breath. She stood on wobbly legs, numb from the position she’d been in.

She stared at the door for a few minutes before moving. She grabbed her phone and saw she had a few missed texts from Max. She didn’t have time for her best friend now. She had work to do. She pushed from the floor and scanned the room once more before moving.

All ideas that Kael was just a misunderstood guy flew out of her mind. The thought made her guts flip-flop. Why did he take her mom’s phone? And why was he hanging out with Chloe? By their conversation they seemed close and probably were sneaking around together. The thought filled her mouth with a bitter taste. She finally had Jake, well almost. She shouldn’t be thinking of Kael. With his betrayal of her mom, she shouldn’t be thinking of him at all.

Bri bit back a shiver. All she’d wanted to do was get information from the computer database. She wasn’t sure what she’d just witnessed but she knew there was no way to get in touch with her mom, other than via Mrs. Blake. Bri waited another agonizing minute to make sure she was alone before stepping from her cover. Her heart hammered in her ears with each step toward the office. She quickly moved to her mom’s desk and sat in the chair. She felt the violation from Chloe and Kael being near it.

Bri opened the middle drawer and grabbed the small address book. She smoothed her hands over the soft black cover before opening it. This was the first time Bri was grateful that her mom actually wrote down phone numbers in addition to being stored inside her cell phone. She went to the “B” section and found Mrs. Blake’s name immediately.

She entered the number into her cell and pressed the call icon. She sunk down into the chair as she put the phone to her ear.

Mrs. Blake picked up after the first ring. “Hello?” Her husky voice trilled over the line as if she’d been sleeping.

“Mrs. Blake,” Bri said quickly. “Hi. Um. Are you with my mom?”

A long pause came over the line and for a second Bri thought the call was dropped. “She is in a different presentation. I’ll have her call you later.”

“I just—” The line went dead. Bri stared at her screen, which only showed Mrs. Blake’s number. What if there had been an emergency? Her skin prickled with heat. She debated calling back but she could wait a little while. It wasn’t like Bri had a good excuse to interrupt the conference. Other than the fact that Chloe and Kael had stolen Abbey’s phone for some reason. Oh and her look-alike was in town. Maybe it was for the best. At least she knew her mom was at the conference and Sloane could stay with her for another day. She pocketed the address book in case she needed it later. She leaned down to the computer tower and pressed the power button, getting started with her task.

Within minutes she found herself lost in a sea of articles. Most didn’t have anything to do with Sloane’s mom. Bri read through them, not wanting to miss anything. She initially searched the terms “Willows Lake” and “accident” and then added “car”, which brought the thousands of results down to hundreds. Adding the street name brought the search down to two articles. One of them had been a Moped accident several years before Cara’s death, involving some animal.

Bri clicked on the only short article vaguely detailing Cara’s accident. She combed the article several times, hoping she’d find more information than Sloane had already told her but she came up empty. It only listed one casualty and one survivor. The only reason she knew it had been Cara’s car was the date of the accident. No mention of names or any details of who was in the car. Bri thought it was strange but maybe Sloane’s father had asked to keep the details private? She pressed the print button and both articles were so small they printed on the same page.

Her shoulders slumped and she leaned back into the chair, shifting the seat from side to side. Sloane had been counting on her and she was going to come back empty-handed.

She turned off the computer, something to busy her hands, when a dangerous idea came to her. She knew she should be helping Sloane. The image of Chloe and Kael came to the front of her mind. She opened the middle desk drawer again and pushed her hand across the wood. She flipped her hand over and her fingers searched for the item she knew Mom hid there. Mom had told her about the key once before when Bri brought Kael’s sick father some food Mom prepared. Abbey had been ill on the day she intended to visit and with Bri’s insistence that she looked like the walking dead, Abbey had agreed to Bri’s offer to make the delivery herself. Mom had instructed Bri to go into the house quietly and leave the food in the front foyer. She had been so nervous that she barely remembered what the inside of the sprawling mansion looked like. Her mind created a dense fog over her memory.

Bri’s finger caught on a metal surface and she pulled the spare key from its hiding place, Velcroed to the bottom of the desk’s surface. She shoved the key into her pocket, leaving the fabric damp from her hands. She told herself it was just a precaution. Kael had Abbey’s phone and she would get it back. And she didn’t want to come back to the school alone again.

She tucked stray strands of hair behind her ears and surveyed the desk, trying to remember how everything looked when she arrived. She moved the keyboard closer to the monitor, something her mom always did. She folded the printed articles and shoved them into her back pocket. She turned off the light in the office and jogged toward the glass doors. As she approached the exit, a loud crash sounded from the hallway.

Bri froze in place, allowing the scene to unfold before her eyes. Someone shouted and the sound broke her trance. She was able to move away from the doors when one of the janitors, Gary, came into view.

He cursed to himself, fumbling with a large vacuum, its cord wrapped haphazardly around the machine.

Bri silently prayed that he would keep going. She wasn’t that lucky.

Gary pushed open the doors to the library while Bri wished she could melt into the wall. “Hey!” he shouted and she let out a squeak.

Her excuse fell from her lips as he continued to talk. Sing, actually. The familiar lyrics of a song flowed from his lips as she caught sight of white earbuds in his ears. He continued into the room, not noticing her there.

She waited until he disappeared down one of the rows of shelves before she booked it out of there and she didn’t stop until she reached Tucker’s truck.

CHAPTER NINE

Sloane

I scratched at the top of my ponytail for the hundredth time since we’d left the condo. A headache brewed in my temples and I resisted the urge to massage it away. I didn’t need Tucker to know how nervous I was. I could always blame it on the tight ponytail Bri had put my hair in for my “transformation” to look more like her. Apparently she rarely left home without one. And I rarely wore one because I found them so uncomfortable.

For a brief moment my mind wandered to the possibility of Tucker and Bri having a master plan to give me over to the police—maybe that’s why they’d separated us. Tucker’s thin frame didn’t fool me. His protectiveness over Bri was a strong enough motivator that I knew he’d be able to restrain me. I focused my mind on the weapon in my bag, something I wasn’t afraid to use if necessary.

The dark greens and browns of the dense forest blurred together outside the window. The police department was an excruciating, silent ride about twenty minutes away. Everything was so far apart in this town, separated by woods.

At first I was confused when we pulled into what looked like a residential driveway. The gray ranch-style home wasn’t at all what I expected when I thought of a police department. I was proved wrong by the wooden sign on the front of the house that read, “Willows Lake Police Department”.

Tucker pulled into a spot close to the front door and we both got out. The heavy silence between us dissipated in the fresh forest air.

He came to my side. “Let me do most of the talking. Smile and act nice.”

“I am nice,” I said haughtily. Then immediately I knew why he’d said that.

He held the door open for me and we walked inside.

“Well hey there, Tuck!” A young woman stood up from her desk with a big grin on her face.

I tried to mimic it since she seemed nice enough.

She raised an eyebrow at me. “You okay, Bri?”

Tucker pulled at my ponytail.

I glared up at his smirking mouth.

“She’s a little out of it right now, Amy. All that chlorine is starting to get to her.”

Amy smiled kindly at me. “Well Jake did tell me you were one of the top swimmers on your team.”

“Yeah.” Her bright eyes were the same as Jake’s: warm and friendly. I had to look away.

Tucker leaned over the counter. “So Bri and I have a school project for our Current Events class—”

Amy eyes lit up. “Do you have Mr. Parsons? Oh my God I had such a crush on him.” She winked at me conspiratorially.