Forget Me (18 page)

Knowing what I needed, Evan wrapped his strong arms around me in a hug. I reveled in the feeling of his chest beneath my cheek, in his comfort.

“Were you up all night?” I asked.

“Yeah. I only came here about an hour ago, though.”

I pulled back to look at him. “Where were you before? Home?”

“I went to Crescent Road, to see where it happened.” He swallowed hard. “I've been thinking. What if Toni found something?”

“I thought that, too,” I said.

I'd been thinking it all night, and now that Evan did, too, I knew I wasn't crazy. What happened to Toni could not have been a coincidence.

My fists closed at my sides. Rage welled up inside of me, threatening to overflow. If someone did this to her on purpose . . . I could kill them.

“For your job with the paper, do you have a press pass or something?” Evan asked.

“I have an ID badge, yeah. Why?”

“I have to show you something.”

“Where?”

“On Crescent Road.”

E
van pulled over to the side of the road and killed the engine.

“Why do I need this?” I asked, slipping the lanyard with my press ID attached over my head.

“Just so we don't look suspicious. Carry your camera. Take a few shots. If anyone shows up, you're taking pictures for the paper.”

I got out of the car, camera held tightly in my hands, and took in the surroundings. Crescent was a quiet road on the outskirts of town, with an industrial look to it. A place called Bob's Tire Barn had boarded-up windows. Next to it was a gray building with a sign advertising M. G. Trucking, and beside that was Power Rentals, which—from the looks of it—rented bulldozers and other big machines. And that was it. No houses. No obvious reason why Toni would have been here. None of the businesses were even open at night. The street would have been totally deserted.

I focused on the empty road and snapped a photo.

Evan walked over and motioned to the right. “It's a dead end that way. So this is all there is.”

“Maybe she was meeting someone,” I said. “And they chose this road specifically because it was deserted.”

“But who?” Evan asked.

“I have no idea. She joked about having secret plans, but invited me to come along.” I choked on the last few words. “She was being a little silly so I thought she meant she was doing something with Reece. Why would she come here alone?”

“Maybe she didn't,” Evan said darkly.

“Why would you say that?”

He walked to the center of the road and pointed. “This is where they found her.”

There was a small stain on the asphalt.

“What do you see?” Evan asked.

I looked through the camera's lens, zooming in and back out. It was where Toni's blood had been. Where her life had leaked onto the road as she lay alone. I closed my eyes and took a shaky breath. I only hoped that she'd gone unconscious right after she was hit. I didn't want to think about her screaming in pain or feeling scared, calling out for help.

I opened my eyes and answered, “Toni's blood.”

“What else?”

I took a cursory look around. “Nothing.”

“I came here earlier. This is exactly what it looked like then. When the police were still here.” He paused as if that meant something.

“I'm not following,” I said.

He pointed to the ground. “Shouldn't there be something here? Glass, maybe? Bits of plastic? Skid marks on the pavement?”

I let my eyes trail along the ground. He was right. There was literally nothing else around to indicate an accident. Only a small stain where her body had been. The scene was so . . . clean.

“Maybe it's all been cleaned up,” I said.

Evan shook his head. “Last night, when we heard about what happened, you went to the hospital. I came straight here. I was here when the police were inspecting the scene. There should have been skid marks for them to measure. Tire tracks to photograph. Glass or plastic to sweep. There was nothing.”

I racked my brain for an answer. “Do you think the person who hit her cleaned up before they took off?” No, that didn't make any sense. It was a hit-and-run, not a hit-and-stick-around-for-a-while-then-run. They wouldn't take the chance of being seen.

“You can't clean skid marks,” Evan said. “There's some evidence you can't get rid of.”

He already had a theory, I realized. “What are you thinking?”

“Would Toni really be walking down the middle of the road at night in the dark?”

“No way,” I said, certain of it.

He nodded in agreement, then took a deep breath. “I don't think this is the crime scene. I think someone placed her body here to make it
look
like a hit-and-run.”

Fear washed over me, freezing and numb, like slipping under ice. “They thought a hit-and-run wouldn't be as closely investigated.”

Or maybe they
knew
it wouldn't be.

Because they'd done it before.

O
fficer Reck's desk was just as dirty as it had been the first time Evan and I visited the station, but the cop himself looked more tired. Our little town didn't have many officers. He'd probably worked more hours than usual at the crime scene last night.

Reck listened attentively to Evan and me as we explained our theory, then sat stoically for a long moment, scratching at his goatee.

“What do you think?” Evan said, leaning forward in his chair.

“If your friend wasn't planning to be on Crescent Road, do you know where she
was
headed?” he asked.

“No,” I answered. “She didn't tell anyone. But she had no reason to be there.”

He looked down at the file. “Her injuries are comparable to being hit by a car.”

Evan piped up. “But there's no evidence of an accident where her body was found. No broken glass. No tire marks. No blood splatter. Just the small puddle where her body lay.”

“Her injuries were mostly internal, though,” Reck said. “And as for the tire marks, the person probably didn't slam on the brakes because he or she never even saw her. The road has no streetlights. There's never anyone on it at night.”

It wasn't unreasonable. Everything he said made sense, but I still wasn't convinced. A line from Flynn's diary repeated in my head.

Cops on the take.

I was done here. I stood, and Evan looked up quizzically. “That makes a lot of sense. Sorry to waste your time, Officer,” I said.

Evan followed me outside, trotting to catch up. “Why didn't you want to push him harder? We could've tried to make him see our side.”

I wanted to bring up the line from Flynn's journal. Evan had read it, too. But I'd already put him through enough by distrusting his family and breaking into his house.

“I just . . . I want to go.” I turned to get into the car.

He put a hand on my wrist. “Hold up. What is it? You can tell me.”

I gazed down at the pavement. “I know he's a family friend, but I don't trust him.”

“You think he's covering something up?” Evan's voice wasn't defensive, just curious.

“You saw that line in Flynn's notebook. He could be dirty. Or maybe he's just lazy and doesn't want to deal with complications. He wants an easy case. I don't know. I only know he's not going to help me.”

“Us,” Evan corrected. He tilted my chin up until our eyes met. “I promised, remember? We will get to the bottom of this. Together.”

He brushed his lips against mine, tentatively, as if waiting for me to tell him to stop. But I wouldn't. I couldn't. I lost myself in the feeling, lengthening the kiss and opening my mouth, morphing the moment from tentative to hot. I leaned back against the car. The length of his body pressing against mine felt so good, and I had a fluttery feeling in my heart that said
This is right.

It nearly killed me to stop, but I had to. I pulled back and looked up at him. “I have to get back. I need to figure out a way to keep Toni protected.”

He let out a slow breath and nodded, reluctantly stepping back. “I'm going to do some research of my own. Just promise me one thing.”

He could've asked for almost anything at that point, and I'd have said yes. “What?”

He slid his hands gently down my arms. “Don't go anywhere alone. Text me, and I'll come meet you. Wherever, whenever. I don't want you to . . .”

His voice trailed off, but I knew what he meant. He didn't want me to end up like Toni. Or Flynn.

I nodded. “Deal.”

• • •

I paid for three coffees at the cashier in the hospital cafeteria and put them in one of those cardboard carriers. The smell reminded me of Flynn. He'd loved coffee, day or night—the caffeine didn't seem to affect him. I shook my head, refocusing on the task at hand, and searched the tables for the people I'd invited to meet me. I found Cooper sitting alone, his head resting on his arms.

“Is anyone with her right now?” I asked, placing the cups on the table.

Cooper slowly raised his head. His eyes were glassy and rimmed with red. “My mom is there,” he croaked.

I handed him a coffee. He pulled the lid off, and steam wafted into the air, hovering like a ghost. I glanced around for my other invitee but he wasn't there yet. I didn't want to have to explain twice.

Cooper stared at the cup. “You know what her last words to me were?”

I flinched at the expression. “Last words” were said before someone died. Toni wasn't dead. But Cooper's face was an unreadable blur, a swirl of emotions simmering beneath the surface, and I didn't want to invite any of them to lash out. “What?” I asked.

“She said, ‘Everything will work out. You'll see.' And now she's in a coma. She might
die.
”

It hurt me even more to watch his pain. “What was she reassuring you about?”

He waved his hand as if it were unimportant now. “I got into Harvard.”

Despite our situation, a smile broke through my dark cloud. This was a dream come true for Cooper. What he'd always wanted. “Congratulations, Coop! That's awesome!”

His face clouded. “I can't go.”

“Toni will come out of this—”

“No,” he said. “Even before this happened, I knew I couldn't go.”

“Why?” I asked tentatively.

His eyes shot up to mine. “Why do you think? The money.”

“But . . . financial aid?”

“It's not enough,” he snapped.

I didn't have an answer to that. A cliché to placate him. Though Toni had tried, obviously. Even when things were at their worst, she was the eternal optimist. Her family was a mess. Cooper's lifelong dream was so close he could almost touch it, yet it was still unattainable. But she could always scrape up some enthusiasm.

“It's a gift,” I said. “She always makes us feel better.”

Cooper's wet eyes returned to staring at his untouched coffee. “What am I going to do without her?”

“You won't need to find out,” I said with determination. “You won't.”

“Morgan?” A voice called over my shoulder.

The conversation was about to get even worse. “Have a seat,” I said, handing Reece the third cup.

“No, thanks. I don't drink coffee.”

I placed it in front of him anyway and pointed across the table. “Reece, this is Toni's brother, Cooper.” I motioned to my eyes, a signal to Reece that he should take his stupid sunglasses off.

“Oh, okay. Hey.” Reece took off the Aviators and sat down.

“Cooper,” I said, “this is Toni's boyfriend, Reece.”

Cooper's shoulders went rigid. I knew he was about to launch into his overprotective brother shtick.

“Be nice,” I said quickly. “He's going to be your only chance to sleep.”

They both looked at me and said, “What?”

I heaved a sigh. Time to tell. “Evan and I went down to Crescent Road.”

“I don't know why she was there,” Reece started, his voice filled with frustration. “It makes no sense.”

“I agree,” I said. “She wouldn't be hanging around that area alone. And she certainly wouldn't be walking down the middle of a dark road with no streetlights. But that's exactly how the police are explaining why there are no skid marks on the road. No signs of a car trying to swerve or stop.”

Cooper's brow creased. “That's weird.”

“Weirder still,” I continued, “there's no sign of a car accident at all. No shards of glass. No piece of a bumper or a headlight. Nothing.”

Reece straightened in his seat. “What does that mean?”

“It means her body was moved,” Cooper said, catching on quickly.

Reece shook his head in disbelief. “Why would someone do that?”

“To cover up the real crime scene,” I said. “I think this was intentional. It wasn't an accident. She was targeted, and the whole thing was made to look like a hit-and-run.”

Cooper's hands had been lying flat on the table. Now they tightened into fists. “Whoever did this,” he snarled, “is as good as dead.”

I put a hand over one of his. I didn't need anyone to lose control yet. “First things first. We have to make sure this person doesn't come back and finish what they started. The police won't put a guard on her door because they're convinced she's not at risk. But she is. And that's where both of you come in.”

Without hesitation, Reece stood up. “I'll take the first shift.”

Cooper stared him down for a moment, then nodded.

Reece grabbed the cup. “Time for me to start liking coffee.”

I
clocked a few hours of sleep, mostly because my parents made me. Our fight about Evan moved to the back burner since we were all focused on Toni. But that didn't stop them from being, well, good parents and making sure I ate and slept and all those normal human things. At least they agreed to let me skip another day of school.

I quickly showered and dressed, letting my wet hair hang in clumps down my shoulders, then headed back to the hospital. Toni looked the same, and my eyes avoided her body in the bed. I didn't want to break down. I had to stay strong.

Reece noticed me and rose wordlessly, leading me into the hallway. The bags under his eyes were shiny and purple, like he'd boxed a few rounds and lost.

“Did you bring me more of that coffee?” he asked.

I smirked. “Addicted already?”

“I'll drink whatever swill I can to stay awake for her.”

There was a desperate edge to his voice, and I was glad I'd offered him this job. Otherwise, he'd drive himself insane. At least this way, he felt like he was doing something.

“No more coffee,” I said. “Cooper should be here any minute to take over. You have to go home and sleep so you can come back tonight.”

He nodded. “No problem.”

“Nothing happened overnight?”

“No, but that doesn't mean this person won't try some other time. I want someone with her every minute.”

“There will be,” I said. “And believe me. However protective you feel about Toni, multiply that by a thousand and that's how her brother feels.”

That seemed to lighten his burden a bit. His shoulders relaxed, and he ran a hand through his greasy, unshowered hair.

I peered through the doorway. Without the machines and the bandages, you'd just think she was sleeping peacefully, not in a coma, not clinging to the space between life and death.

“You know what bothers me the most?” I said. “That she was out there alone. Without me. Without you.”

Reece's voice hitched. “She was getting me a present.”

I looked at him. “What?”

“My birthday's coming up, and she said she was getting me ‘what I always wanted.' That's all I know. She wouldn't tell me what it was or where she was getting it. And then this happened.”

He looked very close to breaking, his lips trembling, his eyes full of self-loathing. I recognized that look. My jaw tightened. “Don't. You. Dare.”

He startled, taken aback by my tone. “What?”

I pointed at his chest. “Don't you dare blame this on yourself. You didn't cause this.”

He cast his eyes down. “Yeah, sure.”

I knew my words wouldn't convince him, only time would. But Reece didn't deserve to feel the guilt I'd felt about Flynn's death.

We couldn't know where Toni had gone or what she was doing that got her into trouble, but it was not Reece's fault. Toni was completely selfless for those she loved. She'd go anywhere, do anything to make them happy. She even broke into Evan's house with me because I'd asked her to.

A tingle in the back of my mind made me stop, like my subconscious had already clicked things together and was just waiting for me to catch up.

“Hey,” Cooper said, rushing up to us. “Any change?”

“No,” Reece said. “No visitors either.”

“Go home and get some sleep,” Cooper said. “I'll take the next twelve hours.”

Then Cooper noticed me, standing stiff. I hadn't even greeted him. I'd been silently planning my next move.

“What's up with you?” Cooper asked.

“Hold on.” I walked a few steps away and called Evan's cell. It rang a few times and went to voice mail.

I returned to Cooper and Reece, who were looking at me strangely. “Hey, Reece,” I said. “Do you think you could stay awake for one more hour?” I'd promised Evan I wouldn't go anywhere alone.

Reece shrugged. “Yeah, why?”

“I need you to help me. I think I know where Toni went.”

• • •

Twenty minutes later, I rolled my car to a stop by the side of the road.

Reece raised his eyebrows. “What are we doing
here
?”

I glanced out the window. “I think this was going to be your birthday present.”

Reece got out of the car and leaned against it, his arms crossed. I followed and stood beside him. We gazed up at the “King Mother” of all unoccupied houses behind its black iron gate. The huge house that Reece wanted to throw a party in someday, after he figured out some logistics.

“When Toni first got to the hospital,” I said, “she tried to tell the nurses something, but they could only make out the word
mother.
They assumed Toni was asking them to call her mother. But maybe—”

Reece picked up where I left off. “She was trying to tell us what happened.” He grimaced. “She said she was arranging my birthday present and it was something I'd always wanted. So, yeah, that part makes sense. Maybe she was going to throw me a party here, but she wanted to break in first and check things out.”

He thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Nah. I can't picture her breaking and entering. That's just . . . not her.”

I slowly raised my hand. “That would be my bad influence. I . . . uh . . . made her break into Evan's house with me. Long story. But it was easy, and she seemed pretty excited about it the next day. And that's when she went out for this secret mission of hers.” I stopped and took a breath. “It's my fault.”

Reece shook his head. “We both planted the idea, but you were right. It's not our fault. Whoever hurt her . . . it's their fault.”

I returned my attention to the house. “So what do we do now?”

With fresh determination on his face, Reece pushed himself off the car and looked at me. “We go in and see what she found.”

We approached the gate, and I grabbed onto the bars. The elegant mansion—a rich cream color with blood red shutters, three stories high—sat on top of the hill. A driveway sloped gently down a grassy hill until it reached the black iron gate—very similar to the layout of Evan's property. But the spaces between the bars weren't as narrow. Tiny Toni could slip through, but Reece and I couldn't.

“We'll have to climb it,” Reece said.

Before I knew what was happening, his hands were around my waist and he was effortlessly lifting me up. “Grab the bar at the top,” he said through clenched teeth. “Then swing yourself over.”

I did as he instructed as quickly as possible before fear or vertigo could make me freeze. But I let go too early and dropped hard to the grass on the other side.

“You okay?” Reece asked.

I nodded from the ground, my tailbone aching. I never would have made it over without the boost from Reece. I wondered how he was going to do this. But I forgot—he was an athlete. He jumped up several feet, grabbed the iron bars, and pulled himself over without so much as a grunt. He dropped to the ground quietly like a cat.

If he and Toni ever had kids, they would be 100 percent pure ninjas.

I was still on the grass, propped up on my elbows. He held a hand out and pulled me to standing. I brushed myself off and limp-followed him up the hill as he took control and charged ahead. After all, I'd only broken into
one
house.
He
was the master.

We followed the curve of a sunroom—shades drawn like all the other windows—to the back of the house. Reece was marching from window to window, squinting in each one.

“They're all locked,” he said.

I groaned in disappointment. “What now?”

“There's a way,” he said. “There's always a way.”

I followed behind, having to take two steps for every one of Reece's giant strides.

“People never forget to lock their front door,” he said. “They use a dead bolt and everything. But they don't realize that's the least likely way for an intruder to get in.”

“What's the most likely?”

“Unlocked windows. Unsecured sliding glass doors.” He stopped walking and gazed at something on the ground. “And basement bulkheads.”

He yanked on the handle and the door moved, then groaned as it opened outward. Reece looked over his shoulder and smiled.

He went down the stairs first. At least we didn't need a flashlight. Enough outside light poured in, and there wasn't much to see. The basement was just a basement. It was empty, aside from a furnace and the usual equipment, and smelled musty.

I pointed at the wooden staircase that led to the first floor.

Reece nodded, then maneuvered himself in front of me so he'd go first. As we exited the stairwell onto the first floor, I had a shock. It wasn't empty. The living room was fully furnished, including a flat-screen hanging on the wall.

“I thought you said no one lived here,” I whispered.

Reece's face looked equally confused. “My buddy said no one has lived here for years. And I even staked out the house a few times and never saw anyone.”

“Then why is it furnished?”

“Maybe the previous owner left the furniture? Maybe someone still owns it but they live somewhere else?”

We turned into the kitchen next. The dining area had no furniture, but pots and pans hung from the ceiling above an island. A stool was pushed out from the counter as if someone had gotten up in a hurry and didn't push it back in.

I stepped over to the island, then stopped short. I shot my hand out, frantically grabbed Reece's arm, and pointed to a mug still steaming on the counter. I let out a high-pitched, panicked noise. “Someone's here.”

That's
what Toni found out. She came here looking for a way to throw a party for Reece and found that the house wasn't unoccupied after all.

I slowly turned around. The person was probably still in the house. He or she heard us coming in . . . and hid. Or went to get a weapon. My mind whirred with the possibilities.

“What should we do?” I whispered. Part of me wanted to run around the house screaming in anger, opening the doors, wildly looking in every nook and cranny until I found the person and made them pay. But I could hear Toni's voice in the back of my head pleading.
Don't be stupid. Don't end up like me. Get out.

“We're leaving,” Reece whispered back. “We can bring the cops back with us.”

That was the smart move. Despite how much I wanted to be stupid. I just couldn't. For my parents. For Toni. For Evan. I had to get out alive.

A floorboard creaked in the other room, near the entrance to the basement.

Reece took my hand and pulled me behind him, leading us in the opposite direction. If that person was waiting for us where we came in, we'd find another way to leave.

Reece opened a door, saw that it was only a pantry, and moved on. The next door opened into the three-car garage I saw on the way up the hill. We went down a couple of steps into the cavernous room, Reece practically shoving me ahead, but I stopped and gasped.

“What?” Reece hissed.

I was surrounded by air, precious oxygen, but I couldn't seem to get any of it into my lungs. I pointed to the car parked in the only occupied spot in the garage. It was a black SUV with tinted windows. The car I'd seen enough times now to know this was not a coincidence.

Reece, thinking I was only pointing out further evidence of someone living in the supposedly abandoned home, yanked on my hand. He pulled my paralyzed body out the garage's side door and down the driveway.

But not before I got a good look at the license plate.