All Unquiet Things (30 page)

“Sean Ozrick?” Audrey raised an eyebrow. We met at the diner after school. This was, obviously, not a conversation I wanted to have at Brighton. “Somehow he doesn’t strike me as the cloak-and-dagger type.”

“I think he’s totally freaked.”

“I would be, too, if I were him.” She stared at her hands.
“Do you really think Carly told Adam about Laura Brandt’s plan to rat him out?”

I thought for a moment. “Yeah, I do.”

Audrey shook her head slowly. “I can’t believe she would do that.”

“But look at it from her perspective. She had feelings for Adam. Laura started talking about how she was going to turn him in, and an operation of that size could get him tried as an adult, even if he was a lackey for somebody else.”

“Do we know who that could be?”

I shook my head. “Oz said it was some guy named Barton. I’m guessing he’s not in high school.”

“Could you find out?”

“Maybe. But do you really think it’s a good idea to be attracting that kind of attention?”

“No. But we need all the facts. Try to meet with Oz again—maybe he’ll spill, if he thinks you’ll help him figure out who vanished Laura.”

“I wonder what really happened to her.”

“Let’s hope that whatever it is, it’s better than what happened to Carly.”

I told her what I had found out earlier that day from Allison Kessler, then said, “I think we should probably go find the Bean tonight—see what he has to say about Allison and Laura.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Hey, are you sure you’ve never heard of Laura Brandt? I mean, if she was a friend of Carly and Adam’s, wouldn’t you have met her, or at least heard of her?”

Audrey shook her head. “I think you overestimate how much a part of that group I was. Carly and Adam were friends
with a
lot
of people, people like Laura Brandt, but I wasn’t involved in all their activities. I didn’t do drugs and I didn’t take an interest in that side of their lives. Cass and I tried to stay away from that as much as we could, and Carly was apparently careful about keeping certain things secret from me.”

“I think you’re giving Cass too much credit,” I insisted, growing frustrated with her. “His brother used to be the biggest drug dealer in Empire Valley. At the very least, he must know something about Adam’s operation.”

“Look,” Audrey said, “Cass and I were together for two years. He’s always been busy with basketball. Not drugs.”

“So you say.”

Audrey’s phone rang. “Oh, hi, Grandma,” she said, holding up a finger. “Well, I have this school project—uh-huh.” A sigh. “Okay. Seven-thirty. I know, I promise.”

“Late for cocktail hour?” I smirked.

“Sort of. Grandma Louise wants me home for dinner tonight—apparently, my absence has been noticed. I should go,” Audrey said reluctantly. “I’ve been trying so hard to be a good daughter lately, I’ve been a shitty granddaughter.”

“Go. I can handle the Bean.”

Around five o’clock I headed to Keptow Auto Body and parked across the street, waiting for the Bean to get off. When I saw him leave around eight o’clock, I left my car and jogged toward him.

“Bean!”

He looked up and rolled his eyes. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a couple of questions.”

“Well, hurry up, because I’ve got somewhere to be.”

“Meeting the girlfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“It won’t take too long. Do you remember a girl named Allison Kessler?”

The Bean’s eyes widened and he looked down at the ground. “No.”

“Come on, I know that’s not true.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“I wanted to see what you’d say.”

“That stuff with Allison was a long time ago.”

“You stalked her, Bean. Why?”

He threw up his hands. “I don’t know. Because I liked her and I wanted to get her attention.”

“Oh, you got her attention. I think she’s scarred for life.”

“Look, I never wanted to scare her. It was a misunderstanding. I followed the restraining order. I haven’t gone near her or spoken to her in three years.”

“I believe you.”

“Then can I go now?”

“Just one more thing. I want to know what you know about Laura Brandt.”

The Bean struggled to keep his face blank, but I could see the panic rise in his eyes. “Never heard of her.”

I leaned against the door of his car and he backed up a little. “See, you lied about knowing Allison Kessler, which makes it really hard to believe that you’re telling the truth now.”

“I am. I didn’t know her.”

“I know you knew her. More than that, I know that Adam got you to run her off the road.”

“No way, man. I wouldn’t do that.”

“Don’t try to fuck with me, Bean. You know I don’t believe you.”

“Dude, who do you think you are?”

“I’m not here to bust you. You were always somebody’s tool—you didn’t do it for your own reasons. I just need to know the truth. What happened to Laura Brandt?”

“I told you, I don’t know her. Now get off my car. That’s an expensive paint job.”

“Did Adam send you to Arizona to lure her out of rehab and pay her off? Did you abandon her someplace? Did you kill her?”

“I didn’t have anything to do with Laura!” he nearly shouted.

“So you did know her?”

He hesitated. “Fine, yeah, I knew her. Barely. I met her a couple of times, but I never even talked to her.”

“I heard that you were friends.”

He narrowed his eyes. “From who?”

“I think something really bad happened to her. I think somebody killed her, and if what happened to Laura had something to do with what happened to Carly, I need to know about it. So did you do it, Bean? Did you kill Laura Brandt?”

“I told you I didn’t. Don’t you listen?”

“I’m not convinced.”

“That’s not my fucking problem. You’re not the police—you can’t do anything to me.”

“Well, if you didn’t do it, you must know who did. Was it Adam?”

“I don’t hang with Adam anymore. If he had something to do with Laura’s disappearance, I don’t know about it. Now get off my car. And don’t come back here, or
I’ll
call the cops.” He was gripping his car keys so hard his knuckles were turning white. I shook my head.

“I wouldn’t do that, Bean,” I said, getting up and walking off. “I really wouldn’t.”

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY

A
fter first period the next day, Harvey and I swung past the vending machines outside the cafeteria. We were heading back to class when I caught sight of a freshman I barely recognized pushing a piece of paper into my locker.

“Hey!” I called, about ten feet away, and when the kid started to run I gave chase, dropping my bag and books at Harvey’s feet. I grabbed the kid by the collar and spun him around. He panted in my face.

“What the fuck, you little weasel?” I yanked him over to my locker and opened it up. “What’s that, huh?” I pointed to a piece of paper at the bottom. When he didn’t answer, I picked the paper up and unfolded it.

Harvey caught up to us. “Jesus, Neily, let him go.”

It was another article, which read along the same lines as the first, except this one mentioned Audrey’s father as Carly’s alleged killer. “Who gave you this?” I asked the kid, who was squirming to get out of my grip.

“A-Adam Mu-Murray,” he stammered, and I let go. He scurried down into the quad and out of sight.

I leaned against the lockers and crumpled the article into a ball. Harvey took it from me and read it. He raised his eyebrows.

“Adam Murray?”

“It’s not the first one,” I told him. “He’s trying to fuck with my head.”

“Why?”

“To scare me?”

“Sounds more like he’s scared
of
you. This is a sign of a desperate man.”

“A desperate, guilty man.”

“Yeah, maybe. What are you going to do?”

“I’ll think of something.”

As it turned out, it didn’t require much thinking. I tracked Adam down right outside his first-period classroom and slammed him against a row of lockers. I wasn’t as big as Adam, but I was strong and angry and full of adrenaline. Shoving Adam felt like pushing over a trash can.

“What the fuck is this?” I shouted, thrusting the article into his face.

He shoved me off. “What’s your problem?”

I shoved back hard. “You had a freshman put articles about Carly in my locker? What the fuck is that, some kind of scare tactic? You just trying to shake me up?”

“Don’t touch me again, Monroe, or it’ll be the last thing you do.”

“I’m not scared of you. You’ve got everybody else fooled into thinking you’re some big tough, but the truth is that you’re just a little boy with a gun. And now you don’t even have that, so what’s there for me to be afraid of?”

“Neily!” Harvey grabbed me. “Don’t be crazy. You want to get expelled?”

I ignored him. Adam tried to leave, but I was too quick. I punched him. He punched me back, landing a nice right hook on my cheek. I stumbled and fell against a pole, clutching my face. Adam shook out his hand and glared at me.

In a moment, two rough hands were pinning my arms at the small of my back. I glanced behind me and saw Finch, enraged, glowering down at me.

“Come with me, Neily,” he said in his coldest, most you’re-so-fucked voice. Adam was shaking his head; he had put on a shocked expression just for Finch.

As Finch hauled me off, I glared at Adam and said, “I know what you did. And I swear to God, if it is the last thing I do, I will make sure that you pay for it.”

“What the
hell
were you thinking?” Finch yelled.

“Jesus, Finch, my ears?”

“Don’t you dare,” he said. “Fighting? What has happened to you, Neily?”

“I guess I’m sick of taking everybody’s shit.”

“Oh yeah? And what shit did Adam Murray give you today that justified slamming your fist into his face?”

I struggled to keep calm. “Ask him yourself.”

“I will, rest assured. But until then, I’m suspending you for a week. I don’t want to see your face within a mile of this campus. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir,” I said.

“If I were you, Neily, I’d wipe that look right off your face, because I called your father. He should be here any minute.” Finch smiled. “That’s better.”