Set You Free (14 page)

“Oh, absolutely,” Grady says, taking a few breaths to slow his giggles. “But they sure aren’t going to say anything.”

He looks over at me. I cover my mouth, but it’s impossible to hold it in.

We return to our laughing fits, bowled over in the moment at having actually, somehow, accomplished something.

NINETEEN

WEDNESDAY

I know Grady was right the second I see Detective Evans leaning against the window in Principal Smith’s office the next morning.

“My presence was requested?” I say. I’ve been pulled out of History class.

Principal Smith stands. “Lauren, I believe you know Detective Evans?” I don’t respond, so the principal goes on. “She would like a word with you. She has requested that it simply be the two of you, but school policy requires me to be in attendance unless…”

“It’s okay with me,” I say. “I’m sure Detective Evans just has a few quick questions. Right? Or maybe an update on the investigation into who they think threw that brick through our window.”

“A couple of questions, Lauren,” Detective Evans says. She turns and leans against a table beneath the window. “It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Principal Smith says, skirting around her desk. “I’ll leave you to it.” She exits the office, closing the door behind her, and for the first time since meeting Detective Evans, I don’t feel intimidated. She has her arms crossed and is looking down at me. I stand a little straighter.

“How are you today, Lauren?” Detective Evans asks.

“All right,” I respond. I hold my hands behind my back and put a foot against the wall. “I think I can get through the day. My mom is still pretty freaked out.”

“Can I ask where you were last night, Lauren?” Detective Evans says.

“Mostly at home. Why?”

“Any word from your brother yet?”

“No.”

Detective Evans pushes away from the table and walks behind Principal Smith’s desk. “Have you heard what happened with Stephanie Carter?”

I pause, as though I might not answer. I give her a big shrug. “Rumors.”

“Such as?” Detective Evans says.

“Something about how Steph and her boyfriend were busted with a very large amount of marijuana. But that’s nothing more than a rumor, right?” I make certain to open my eyes wide and blink.

“I can’t verify anything at the moment,” Detective Evans says. I feel a little laugh bubble up inside me but manage to push it back down. “Have you ever visited the Ridgeline Roadhouse?”

“Where’s that?” I ask, hopefully looking confused.

“Ridgeline Road.”

I give my head a quick shake and say, “That’s outside of town, right? I don’t drive. We don’t even have a car.”

“So you had no idea that Stephanie Carter was at the Roadhouse last night?”

“Why would I?” I say. It’s tiring, putting out half-truths all the time. I have discovered that answering questions with questions works pretty well.

I pull my cell phone out of my pocket, glance at it as if it’s buzzed, then slip it back in.

“Lauren, where were you last night?”

I shake my head as if the whole situation is baffling. She knows I know she knows. I almost giggle at the sound of that thought.
She
knows
I
know
she
knows.

But she can’t admit to putting the app on my phone. That would be illegal. She also, as far as I know, has no real reason to formally interview me.

Which allows me to go on the offensive.

“I didn’t know that I had to explain my every move to the local police force,” I say. “Am I suspected of something? Or is this what happens to people now?”

“You are not suspected of anything, Lauren.”

“Then why so much interest? Did you find out who threw a brick through our window?”

“We’re still investigating,” Detective Evans says.

I give her a slow nod. “Because, like I said, it has my mother terrified. What if we’d been sitting in the living room?”

“There’s not much we can do about it, Lauren. The footprints can give us a general idea of sex, size and weight, but that’s about it.”

“And what size, weight and sex have you discovered the person is?”

“I can’t discuss that.”

“Of course you can’t. And what about Ben? Do you have any leads there?”

“You know that’s why we need to talk to your brother.” She’s been pushing a thumb against her cuticles. She suddenly laces her hands and cracks her fingers.

“Because he’s not a suspect or anything,” I say.

Detective Evans smiles, giving her neck a quick tweak. “Because we need to talk to—”

“Because if the rumors about Steph are true,” I interrupt, “then I have to wonder if maybe you’re looking in the wrong places.”

“How so?”

“Well, if Stephanie Carter is dealing drugs, wouldn’t it be possible that someone grabbed Ben for revenge or a missed payment or something?”

“I highly doubt that happens outside of movies,” Detective Evans says, a patronizing little smile on her face as if I’m a child who is asking a silly question. “And at the moment, we don’t know—”

“But how can you be sure?” I say. “I mean, if you had no idea that Stephanie was into this kind of thing until last night—which I have to assume is true or else she would have been arrested ages ago, right?—what else don’t you know about her? Maybe she sold Ben to buy more drugs.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Detective Evans says.

I shrug. “Oh. Okay. I see.” I push off the wall and move across the room to the desk. I sit on the arm of one of the two chairs there. “What was it you were saying about the truth before? That it will set me free? What is the truth now? Because it seems to me it has changed.”

“Nothing has changed, Lauren. We still need to talk to your brother. If you know where he is and aren’t telling us, then you can be charged with—”

“Even though he’s not a suspect or anything,” I interrupt again.

“Even though he might not be a suspect.”

“Might not be.” I nod in agreement. “Okay, gotcha. Can I go now? I’m missing History.” Detective Evans narrows her eyes at me.

“Good luck with that whole Stephanie Carter thing,” I say. “Can we expect to see her picture up beside Ben’s now as well? If the rumors are true, that was a lot of marijuana
she was found with. It really feels like a thing you’d normally see on the evening news. So there’ll be a report, right? All the media outlets have been alerted? We’ll see bags of pot laid out for the cameras, street values being estimated for the general public, all that?” I stare at Detective Evans for another moment. She stares back. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” I open the office door and step out.

In the hallway, I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths before walking away.

I decide not to return to class. I’m too angry to pay attention. Besides, I may as well use the fact that everyone is tiptoeing around me to my advantage.

Instead, I text Grady to meet me at the Starbucks. Then I shut my phone down.

I know I’ve thrown out a red flag for Detective Evans. If she ever saw me as an innocent, frightened teenager, she no longer does.

She knows I’m capable of lying to her. If anything, I’m going to be followed that much more closely now.

I’m almost out the door when JJ Carter steps out of a hallway and blocks my way.

“What did you do?” he says.

The hallway is empty but for us. Everyone is in class. JJ’s face is all red.

“What are you talking about, JJ?” I say.

“Why was Detective Evans talking with you?” He gets closer to me. His arms are back, his chest out. I remember him in third grade, endlessly being reprimanded by Mr. Gordon for picking his nose. Once, Mr. Gordon turned JJ’s desk over to show the class his booger collection. He was humiliated. I hold on to this image as the stink of Axe body spray assaults me.

“She was just following up on some information I gave her.”

JJ gets scary close. “About Steph?”

“What about Steph?” I say, deciding to play dumb.

He screws up his face at me. “Your brother took my brother,” JJ says, getting even closer. “I don’t know why, but I know he did it.”

“He didn’t,” I say. “Why would he?”

“Because he’s a pervert. That’s why. Your whole family is messed up.” I back away, and he grabs my arm. “Where is he? Where is your brother? I swear to God, I’ll rip your throat out if you don’t tell me.”

“Mr. Carter!”

JJ lets go of me as our History teacher, Mr. King, runs toward us.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” JJ replies.

“Are you all right, Lauren?” I love Mr. King a little right then. Love him in his vest and tie. Love him with his long hair and tattoos.

“Sure,” I say, rubbing my arm.

“What was going on here?”

I back away. JJ is still glaring at me. I keep thinking
booger-boy
because that’s how JJ was known for years, and I almost laugh.

“I have to go,” I say.

“Lauren, come back,” Mr. King says.

But I start running.

I saw something in JJ’s eyes I didn’t like. A real and true hatred.

The Starbucks is empty. It’s almost noon, and the lunch crowds have filled the restaurants along the street. The barista from the day before greets me and slides down the counter.

“Hiya,” she says. “By the way, my name’s Crystal.” She extends a ring-covered hand.

“Lauren,” I say.

“Are you meeting Grady again?”

“I am.”

Crystal’s eyes go all distant. I notice a butterfly tattoo on her neck. It seems to be pumping its wings. I look more closely and see that the body of the tattoo is right over the thick vein running up her neck.

“So did you two, like, date before or…?” I ask.

“I wish,” she says. “It wouldn’t have worked out, but it could have been fun for a while, right?”

“I don’t know,” I say.

Crystal leans back from the counter. She’s wearing a tank top and a black vest above a pair of ripped jeans. She has a wealth of tattoos up her left arm but none on her right.

“Not to be rude, but you don’t really seem his type,” Crystal says.

“Oh, we’re not dating.”

“Why not? He’s about the nicest guy I’ve ever met. He’s smart. He doesn’t buy into all the bullshit out there. He’s, like, genuine.”

“Okay, but I’m still not interested,” I say.

“Yeah, keep that up. It’ll drive him crazy. I came on too strong. But we’ve talked about it since, and it’s obvious we wouldn’t have worked. We’re, like, too much the same. Listen, you want a coffee? I have an extra latte here.”

“Sure,” I say, wondering why there would be extra lattes anywhere. “Thank you.” I’ve just sat down with my free drink when Grady comes in through the back door.

He looks around before sitting across from me. “Do you have your phone on?” he asks.

“No. I need you to take that program off now. That game is truly over.”

“Did Detective Evans say something?” Grady asks, taking my phone.

“No, but she couldn’t, could she?”

Crystal is suddenly at the table. She puts a tiny cup down in front of Grady. “Double espresso, I presume.”

Grady smiles. “Thanks, Crystal.” As she walks away, he downs the drink in one shot.

“She wanted to know what I was doing at the roadhouse last night,” I tell him. “But since no one actually saw us there, she couldn’t actually ask.”

“And now that the signal is gone, she won’t know where you are or what you’re doing. It will drive her insane.” He laughs, slides my phone across the table to me and looks out the window. “They can still track you if they want. But it’ll have to be done legally. I can’t see a judge giving her the right to tap your phone. You haven’t done anything.”

“I don’t get why she doesn’t believe me.”

Grady shrugs. “Probably because you keep lying to her.”

“Just now. I mean, with the Steph thing,” I say to Grady’s amusement.

“If she wasn’t suspicious before, she really has reason to be now.” His smile is genuine. He seems to be having a good time.

“Right after that, JJ Carter attacked me in the hallway.”

“Attacked?” Grady says, looking worried.

“He grabbed me and told me how my family is messed up and how he would rip Tom’s throat out. It was really scary.”