No Accident (11 page)

Tom watched with disgust as his father and his new stepmom cut the cake.

“Come on, D5,” Tom rooted quietly to himself as Deirdre held a large, frosted bite aloft. “Make him choke on it.”

“That would be amusing,” a voice behind him said. “But not very nice.”

Tom whirled around and found himself face-to-face with X. What was she doing here? He hardly recognized her out of uniform. She looked amazing in a satin-and-lace tank and an asymmetrical skirt.

“Nice to see you without your entourage,”
she said, leaning forward and straightening his tie as if she did it every day.

Tom felt his face redden. She was beautiful…and infinitely mysterious.

Getting lost in her dark eyes, Tom suddenly realized that he hadn't replied. “You mean my friends?” he stammered.

X chuckled. “Is that what you call them?” she said lightly. “I don't think I'd go that far.”

“Tom,” his father called abruptly. “We need you for photos.” Ignoring X completely, DA Ramirez grabbed his son's arm and pulled him away.

“Dad, I was having a conversation!” Tom objected.

“I need you,” DA Ramirez growled. “Come give your new stepmother a kiss for the camera. Right now.”

That was the last straw. Tom's heart thudded in his chest. He couldn't keep his anger and suspicions in any longer. “Or what?” he demanded. “Or you'll drive me into the lake?”

DA Ramirez stared at his son, his face suddenly pale. But that fake smile never left his face. “You'd better watch yourself, kid,” he snarled.
“That water is deeper than you think.” Then he rumpled his son's hair and laughed a little too loudly.

All at once the room shifted. Tom swallowed hard and steadied himself. His dad didn't even deny killing his mom!

“Come with me,” DA Ramirez said, taking Tom by the arm again. But Tom was done.

“No,” he said simply. “Your little circus act will have to finish the show without me.” He shook his father off his arm and strode in the other direction. Within ten seconds Zoey was behind him.

“Are you all right?” she asked. “That looked intense.”

“Get away from me,” he snapped. “I'm sick of all of you.”

Zoey recoiled. “I'm not them,” she said quietly.

“Whatever,” Tom replied, moving away from her. He needed to be alone. But as he pushed open the door he felt awful. He'd been chasing his best friend's girlfriend and treating his own twin like dirt. What was he turning into? At the end of it all, was he any better than his
disgustingly slimy dad?
Yes
, he thought,
because I didn't kill anyone.

Tom raced into the parking lot, pulling off his tie. His mind was whirling with what had just happened. He had no idea what he was going to do, he just had to move. As he made his way among the guests' Beamers and Jags and Mercedes, he spotted something familiar: the silver Audi TT.

Before he knew what he was doing, Tom ran toward the car. He yanked open the door…and stared, stunned. “It's
you
,” he finally choked out.

Alison watched the cabbie lift the last of her suitcases into the trunk and slam it closed before getting behind the wheel. As she settled into the leather seat and watched her grandmother's house grow smaller in the distance, she felt freer than she had in weeks. She was making the right decision. Living with her mostly incapable-of-getting-it-together father would be better than being her grandmother's prisoner…or pet.

An image from her childhood flashed in Alison's mind—her father comforting her after a bad fall from the jungle gym in the backyard.
She'd scraped her knee in the dirt, and he'd scooped her up before she'd even had a chance to cry out.

“Super Daddy to the rescue!” he'd shouted, flying her into the house for some first-aid ointment and a bandage.

Alison smiled at the memory. Maybe together she and her father could be “super” again. It was definitely her best shot.

As screwed up as her family had been, she wanted to reconstruct it again. It was the best thing for all of them.

After what seemed like forever, the cab pulled up in front of her house. Alison could tell right away that her father hadn't been keeping up with things. The garbage cans were still on the sidewalk outside the gate from the last pickup almost a week ago. The driveway was littered with newspapers. Her dad wasn't home, either—the house was dark.

Getting out of the cab, Alison looked up at her house. She felt exhilarated. Free from Tamara. Ready to help her mother fight—to fight for herself.

The cabbie set her bags next to the tall white
pillars on the front porch. “Looks like nobody's home,” he said. “You gonna be all right here all by yourself?”

Alison handed him a twenty. “Of course,” she said. “My dad will be home any minute. He's expecting me,” she added for good measure.

Nodding, the man got into his cab and drove away. When the wrought-iron gate had closed behind him, Alison unlocked the door and stepped inside. “Hello?” she called, not sure why. Her voice sounded echoey in the high-ceilinged home.

Alison reached for the light switch, flipped it on, and gasped. Her arms fell to her side and her bag slipped to the floor, landing with a thud.

Her house was empty. Literally. The furniture, the paintings, the books…all gone.
Everything
was gone.

Alison's footsteps were too loud as she ran from room to room searching for something—anything—from her old life.

“Daddy?” she called. A horrible loneliness flooded over her. Where was he?

And then she found it, in the built-in desk in her father's study. It was a plain white envelope
with one word, in her father's handwriting, written on the outside:
Alison.

Barely able to breathe, Alison ripped open the envelope and pulled out a folded piece of paper. As she opened it a smallish silver key fell to the floor. Her hands shaking, Alison looked down at the paper, hoping for an explanation.

The paper was blank.

Cruel, gorgeous Kelly never plays nice.
What is she really after?

Chad would trust his best friend with his life.
Good thing Tom would never betray him…right?

“Hey, man.” Chad set his tray down at the usual table and sank into the chair across from Tom. He was totally wiped. But as tired as he was, he was really glad to find Tom alone. He hoped Kelly would take her time at the salad bar. He and Tom needed a chance to talk.

Except that Tom didn't reply, or even look up from his hamburger.

“What's up?” Chad leaned in, trying to catch Tom's eye. “I thought we were supposed to hang out Friday.”

Finally Tom looked up. He shot Chad an unmistakable “are you kidding?” look. “What?”
Tom put his hand to his ear like he was hard of hearing. “What's that you're whining about?” He pulled his hand down and waved it at Chad like he was brushing away a fly. “You've been blowing me off ever since you hooked up with Kelly.” He snorted. “It's about time you tasted some of what you dish out.”

Chad froze with his sandwich raised halfway to his mouth. Tom had been nursing some attitude lately, but this seemed completely out of left field. What right did he have to be mad? He wasn't the one who'd been stood up. And bringing up Kelly was totally unfair.

But what Tom said next made Chad drop his sandwich back on his plate.

“Aw, don't worry your pretty head.” Tom's voice dripped with sarcasm. “I'll still let you copy my homework—that's all you really need from me, right?”

The two boys' eyes locked, Chad's wide and Tom's narrowed. Chad was shocked to see genuine hatred in his best friend's gaze. He had no idea what to say. Where was this coming from? Yeah, lately he'd needed a little more help
with his homework than usual, but Tom had never acted like it was a big deal before. They had been best friends for years. Friends helped each other out all the time…didn't they? Did Tom want him to end up in the public high school? They were supposed to graduate together in three years.

Anger and guilt swirled together inside of Chad. He could not deny that Kelly had been the biggest thing on his mind lately. And after that came Will…and Dustin…and his parents fighting…and Alison…and keeping up with school. He had so much going on, maybe he had been taking Tom for granted a little. Not on purpose, though! And he wasn't using him. He would never do that to his best friend.

Only Tom thought he was doing exactly that. He thought Chad didn't care. And if Chad didn't fix that, fast, it could get out of hand.

“Whoa. Tom, listen. It's not about the homework and it never has been. You're my best friend.”

“Whatever you tell yourself,” Tom growled.

Chad opened his mouth to try again and saw
Tom's eyes lock on something behind him. Turning, he saw Kelly carrying her tray to their table. The rest of this conversation would have to wait.

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