Pretty Little Killers (26 page)

One day, after having a cigarette on the back deck, Mary went to their bedroom and wept. Dave tapped up the volume on the remote until the TV was so loud he couldn't hear his own thoughts. Hours later, with a little help from the sleeping pills their doctor had prescribed, Mary and Dave finally found a bit of respite. Exhausted by worry, they slept for hours.

The next day Mary and Dave took control of the situation: they started their own Facebook group. Weariness with the growing discord had overtaken a number of TeamSkylar<3 members. Skylar's parents weren't the only ones who were fed up. Another member
took the step of deleting herself—but not before trying to reach out to the rest of the group. She asked, in part, for all family members and friends and
the good people who are trying to help us find
[Skylar] . . .
please leave this group and come to the TEAMSKYLAR 2012 group this group has denied administration rights to the parents of skylar. . . . We don't think this is right
.

With that, the fracture was complete. TEAMSKYLAR 2012, a closed group, was up and running. Now there were two main Facebook groups—plus a dozen smaller groups or tribute pages—but the two main groups were at war.

Meanwhile, Skylar's absence left a hole in the hearts of her classmates when school resumed. Many of her good friends thought she might actually show up for the first day back, but on August 16, 2012, Skylar was no less gone than she had been on July 6, when Dave Neese found his daughter's bedroom empty.

Everyone who knew Skylar almost expected to see the famous trio stationed in their usual place at one of the four pillars in the UHS cafeteria. Logic told them Skylar had been gone since July, but something in their brains anticipated seeing her there, still hanging out with her two best friends.

“It was always Skylar, Shelia, and Rachel,” several students recalled.

But not that day. As other students filed in, Shelia and Rachel stood alone. Their heads bent close, they talked only to each other. Their voices were hushed in the din of arriving students. Seeing the two together only made Skylar's absence more pronounced and it was jarring for many teens who passed by.

By this time the teens knew about Skylar's disappearance. The students knew about Shelia and Rachel's involvement, too—or thought they did. They had seen the various rumors texted, tweeted, and posted all over each other's cell phones and social media sites. They had heard the gossip as it spread through town—at coffee shops,
fast-food restaurants, and all the other places where teens hang out. Of course, few students then blamed Shelia and Rachel for Skylar's disappearance.

At least one person was sure of it, however: Daniel Hovatter. He knew Skylar wouldn't be at school, but he wanted to believe she would be. He had even worn his brand-new gray and orange pullover with a pair of black-and-white plaid shorts and Nike sandals just to hear her tease him. The two shared a trust that let them rib each other, and both teens enjoyed it.

Daniel and another friend talked about how strange it was to have someone from their school missing as they continued along the familiar route the first day back to school for the fall semester 2012. Daniel recalled the last time he and Skylar had been together on the bus.

“I don't want to sit with some creep!” Skylar had said when reminding him to save her a seat on the morning bus, not that Daniel needed reminding. He always saved her a seat even though he had to protect it from students who got on before she did.

Skylar was his rock. Throughout that spring she had repeatedly helped him. Daniel's parents argued constantly and he often had to hide in his room or go out for long walks. With Skylar, he could vent.

“Life with my parents is shitty,” he told her.

Skylar was optimistic and assured him the situation would improve. “Try to talk to them about what they're fighting about,” she said. “See if you can help make it better.”

That was Skylar's way: roll up your sleeves and dive in.

For Daniel, riding bus 257 would never seem the same again. Not without Skylar sharing his seat.

After getting off the bus, Daniel entered UHS through the back door of the school cafeteria. He stood with the rest of the student body, corralled there until the main doors opened, texting on his cell phone while waiting for the buzzer to signal the start of the new school year.

Jordan Carter saw Daniel when she arrived. She had been worried about Skylar since Jordan's mom first texted her about a missing UHS student. Jordan's mom was a big fan of Facebook and had seen the news there.

Omg!
Jordan texted back.
That's Skylar, my friend from Kaleidoscope!
She recalled the summer program where she and Skylar had met years before. Skylar had been the only girl who would get ice cream at the swimming pool with her. Because Jordan was two years older than Skylar, their only other interaction was brief. They were in the band together for a year in middle school. Skylar had played flute, Jordan the cymbals.

Since Jordan dated one of Mikinzy Boggs' bandmates, she knew Mikinzy and Rachel were an item, so she was eager to see her school friends. She hoped they had good news about Skylar. More than anything else Jordan wanted her childhood buddy to show up.

So did Daniel, which is why he kept watching the pillar where Rachel's red head bent close to Shelia's darker one. By the time the bell rang and students scurried off to class, Skylar still hadn't turned up.

Daniel was afraid she never would.

University High School in winter. Photo courtesy Meredith Marsh.

When Skylar didn't appear in her scheduled classes, it signaled a finality: Skylar wasn't coming back. Many students knew about Skylar's disappearance and had followed the unfolding events online. But there were many teachers who had not. In at least
three classes—chemistry, algebra, and AP English—teachers called Skylar's name during roll call. The silence afterward in one class was deafening.

“Skylar?” said Mr. Fisher. “Skylar Neese?”

The deep voice of a male student spoke up. “Uh, she's not here.”

“Our first absence, then,” the teacher said, bending down to make a mark next to Skylar's name.

“No, she's missing,” a small female voice said.

That student said Mr. Fisher glanced up and saw everyone looking at him. “Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know.”

She looked around, and realized she wasn't the only one crying.

A few miles away in Star City, Mary Neese had taken the day off work—just in case. Because Skylar loved school, her parents thought she might return for the new school year. Mary had put in a request with her supervisor for time off, hoping for a miracle.

But it never happened. When the
Dominion Post
interviewed Dave, he said it was a crushing blow. What he didn't say was he and Mary both felt like they had a hole in their hearts.

twenty-three

Two's Company . . .

“Leave me alone, Daniel,”
Rachel hissed across the aisle in drama class. Daniel laughed, even though the situation wasn't funny at all. Ever since Skylar disappeared, he had learned laughing was easier than crying or screaming. School had been back in session for only one day, but Daniel was already tired of Rachel saying she didn't know anything else. She refused to say much about Skylar or her disappearance, but he was positive she had crucial information. After all, Rachel and Shelia had been the last known people to see Skylar before she got into the strange car. Daniel knew what she and Shelia had told police—because Mary and Dave told him.

“Right, like you just drove around for, like, an hour, then dropped her off. The most boring joyride ever.” Daniel was disgusted. Rachel kept telling him the same story, like her voice was a looped recording. When he first heard Skylar had run away, Daniel didn't believe it for a second. He and Skylar worked together at Wendy's that day. She would have told him if something was wrong. No way Skylar would have run away without telling Daniel.

“Shut up, Daniel,” Rachel said a little too loudly. Rachel had a flair for the dramatic.

From the front of the classroom, Mr. Kyer stopped talking and glared at them.

Daniel saw the glower and chalked it up to Rachel being one of Richard Kyer's favorite students. Whenever anyone said that, Mr. Kyer insisted he didn't have favorites. He said he treated all students fairly, but pushed the talented students harder than the rest. Many students agreed with him, since numerous teens thought the drama teacher was the closest thing to a saint they could imagine.

Daniel was leaving class when Mr. Kyer stopped him. “Daniel, you can't be accusing Rachel of doing something wrong without proof. This is America and people are innocent until proven guilty. If you have other evidence, then you need to tell the police.”

That was the problem: Daniel didn't have any evidence. He just had a gut feeling based on how the girls were acting.

Daniel decided to back off, but only for the moment. He had been missing his buddy Skylar for almost six weeks, but now that he had access to Rachel, he was going to get answers. He had no plans to question Shelia. He never cared much for her. In fact, Daniel only hung out with Shelia because of Skylar. But Rachel, she would tell him the truth. Or else.