A.J. shook his head. “I haven’t heard anything.” He shuffled books between his backpack and the locker.
“Oh, God. I hope it’s nothing bad,” Rain fretted.
“I’m sure everything is fine,” he said dully.
Rain caught a glimpse of his dazed expression. “Are you messed up?” she said in a low voice, automatically checking the hallway for teachers.
“What?” A.J. asked. “No! I’m just…I had that dinner last night, with all the people from my dad’s alma mater, and I’m exhausted. It gave me a lot to think about.”
Rain knew the whole “going away to a fancy college” was a touchy subject for him and Brandy. “Did you two have a fight? Is that it?”
“No, of course not. I’ll call her soon, okay? I’ve got to roll.” He slammed his locker and started down the hall.
The bell rang. Rain ran in the opposite direction and scooted in the door to class. She was greeted by rumors of an impending pop quiz, and her concerns for Brandy quickly took a backseat to a last-minute review of the assigned chapters.
“I’m a little worried about Brandy,” Rain admitted when she ran into Allie after English.
“Why? She misses school all the time. She’s 18, she can write her own notes. Her mom doesn’t care.”
“Yeah, because she’s usually taking care of her mom after a bender. It’s been getting worse, you know that. And I don’t think Brandy’s handling it all that well.”
Allie frowned. “She’s been dealing with this for a while now. If she was in trouble, she’d call you. Or A.J. Or anyone else on the planet who owns a cell phone, unlike yours truly.” She shook her head bitterly at her plight. “Anyway, I’m sure she’s okay. And she knows we’re all here for her if she needs us.”
“Yeah, you’re right. When I saw A.J., he hadn’t heard from her. I hope they’re not fighting. He met with all those people from his dad’s college last night, you know how she gets about that.”
“He’s going to college. She has to accept that at some point. All four of us will be going away to school. If she was smart, she’d work harder so she could go to a good school, too. Her dad would totally pay for it, and she could get away from all this shit.”
Rain frowned, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder. “We have no idea what she goes through, Allie. Her problems are a lot different from ours.”
“Yeah, well, we all have our issues. I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”
By the end of the school day, no one had heard from Brandy, so Rain dragged Allie to the Pierce’s house. She parked her car in the long driveway leading up to the spacious house Brandy and her mother shared, all paid for as part of the divorce agreement. Mrs. Pierce’s black Audi sat outside the garage like a lonely sentinel.
They hunched their shoulders against the cold as they hurried along the paved walkway. An icy frost covered the remains of the dormant plantings between the house and the path. The landscaping company had prepared the area nicely for the winter, and the weekly cleaning service maintained the interior of the house. Rain reflected briefly on the ability of money to hide the turmoil inside so effectively.
When no one responded to a knock on the door, Rain shrugged and tried the knob. It turned easily, and she silently led them inside. After finding Brandy’s room empty, they discovered Mrs. Pierce in the master bedroom, a bottle of bourbon by the bed. Light snores escaped from under the covers. Rain crept toward her sleeping form and shook her shoulder gently. Mrs. Pierce mumbled that she hadn’t seen Brandy, and her bloodshot eyes closed.
Rain chewed on her bottom lip and peered into the large master bathroom. Several pill bottles rested on the vanity, their white caps nearby. “Great,” she said with a sigh as she tiptoed in to look at the labels. Two had no identifying information, and the third listed the contents as oxycodone, prescribed to someone named Suzanne Jennings.
A search of the rest of the house turned up nothing significant, and Rain gave up eventually, dropping Allie off on her way home. Unable to study, Rain stared at her cell phone, willing it to ring.
She’d sat at her desk and scrolled through her call history obsessively, returning again and again to her last missed call from Brandy. The time stamp was from the previous day; Rain had been on the phone with Rick and had chosen to ignore the call.
That unanswered phone call turned out to be the last contact anyone had with Brandy. To this day, Rain was still haunted by the seemingly insignificant decision she’d made so long ago.
A strange noise pulled Rain from her memories, and she lifted her head off the pillow, straining her ears in the darkness. The music of the lakefront played outside her window; she was still adjusting to the nightly symphony of the crickets and bullfrogs. But beneath their chorus was an echoing moan that sounded to Rain like gentle weeping.
Rain curled into a fetal position, pulling the pillow over her head as the macabre images from her earlier nightmare floated through her mind. Whatever it takes, she vowed. She would do whatever it took to solve this mystery and find peace for her friend.
Chapter 7
Rain winced as she toweled herself off after her shower. They’d spent the entire day on the beach, and she had somehow neglected to sunscreen the tops of her feet. The sunburned skin was now a tender pink that matched her rosy toenail polish.
She knotted the towel around her chest and gathered her suit and cover up. As she crossed the hall, a loud thump from her bedroom made her heart skip. She stood frozen in the doorway, her blue-gray eyes searching for the source of the sound.
Her old photo album lay splayed on the hardwood floor. She’d brought it with her so they could all look at it together, but so far it had not moved from its original spot on her dresser. Now it was open, the pages revealing pictures from a long ago summer. The five friends stood on the familiar stretch of beach, posing in various groups for the camera. Their 18-year-old faces smiled at her from behind the plastic as she picked up the album with trembling hands.
Lowering herself onto the bed, she studied the photos, her heart contracting painfully. She traced her finger over a picture of Brandy and A.J. They stood in front of the sparkling lake, their arms wrapped around each other. A breeze lifted Brandy’s long dark hair from her face, exposing her tanned cheekbones. Her silver eyebrow ring glinted in the sunlight, and her lips curved into a mischievous smile.
A whirring sound caused Rain to jump up, sending the album crashing to the floor once again. The blender. They had decided on Mexican tonight, and someone was obviously getting started on the margaritas. She picked up the album and placed it gently on the dresser, then hurried to get dressed.
Jason and A.J. were sitting at the island, scooping guacamole onto tortilla chips while Allie crushed ice in the old blender. “Oh, thank goodness, our chef is here!” she exclaimed as Rain came into the kitchen. “Please help me; I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Rain smiled self-consciously and assessed the ingredients that Allie had gathered together. “You already did the hard part, but I’m happy to take over. Why don’t you sit down and relax?”
Allie slid onto a stool next to the guys with a happy sigh. “I can’t remember the last time someone told me to sit down and relax. I wish I could bring you home with me.”
Rain laughed. “I’d gladly go with you. I like feeling useful. Holly doesn’t leave much for me to do at her house. To be honest, I’ve been kind of bored.”
“Have you thought about dating again?” asked A.J.
Rain noticed Jason’s attention suddenly swing from a magazine lying open on the island back to the conversation. Her tell-tale blush began to creep up her cheeks and she looked down quickly, pretending to concentrate on measuring lime juice.
“I haven’t given it much thought, to be honest,” she replied, dumping the green liquid into the blender. “Certainly no one is banging down my door. But then of course, I don’t have a door.”
Jason quickly came to her rescue. “Well, we’ll put you on Match.com. Together, the four of us will be able to come up with a profile that will make the homelessness part seem like a non-issue. We’ll focus on your strengths. What are they again?” he teased.
“She has a nice rack,” A.J. commented helpfully, studying her chest.
“A.J.!” Allie elbowed him in the ribs. “But, I guess it’s true. Very perky. Her boobs haven’t been through what mine have,” she laughed.
Jason grabbed a pen and started making a list on the back of the magazine. “‘R’ for rack.”
“Ha ha, very clever,” Rain replied.
“Also, you’re very mild-mannered, easy to get along with,” Allie pointed out.
“Oh, please, I’m a total bitch,” Rain disagreed, trying her best to look intimidating. “I love conflict. Fighting is what I do best.”
“Yeah, you’re a real hellcat, Rain. I wouldn’t want to meet you in a dark alley,” added Jason.
“Oh, I could take you down,” Rain threatened playfully. “Fourth degree black belt in karate, so very scary. Please.”
Jason narrowed his eyes and smiled. “Care to show me your moves, then, Rainy?”
“Sure,” Rain agreed, grabbing a handful of ice from the bucket on the island. “I just want to numb up my hand before I hit you.”
She lunged for Jason, attempting to grab the neck of his T-shirt and drop the ice down his chest. She thought she had the element of surprise, but she wasn’t even close to being fast enough to get past his lightning reflexes. He was up off the stool and had her spun around and held tight against him, her arms pinned, before she could even react.
“Well, that’s an even better view,” joked A.J. at the sight of her breasts pressing out against her thin tank top.
Holding both her arms with one of his, Jason plucked the ice from her fist and held it above her cleavage. She laughed at her predicament, even as her pulse responded treacherously to the way her body was intimately trapped against his. A drop of icy water hit her chest and slipped down her skin, disappearing between her breasts. She shrieked and twisted her hips, trying to ignore the friction her struggles created.
Allie saved her by sneaking around and sliding some ice down Jason’s back. He freed Rain and went after Allie, armed with another fistful of ice. She ran out the front door, and Rain watched the chase through the kitchen window as her heart rate began to return to normal.
Jason caught Allie before she had a chance to circle behind their cars, but he only teased her with the ice before letting her go. Rain smiled contentedly and finished the preparations for the fish tacos as A.J. went out back to start the grill.
After a late dinner, they found themselves reminiscing on the porch with yet another round of margaritas. Rain wasn’t sure how many pitchers they had made, but she was starting to realize that despite the sweet taste, the tequila in the drinks was very potent. The round of tequila shots A.J. had convinced them to do right before dinner wasn’t helping either. Sitting in the mysterious swing, Rain was doing her best to keep the bench from moving too much—she was already feeling a bit dizzy.
She tried to focus on the conversation going on around her. Jason was talking about a time they had snuck to the lake house as teenagers. “That was the fall of our senior year,” he commented. “That may have been the last time we were all here together.”
“Um, excuse me, I wasn’t there. I’m still upset about it,” Allie pouted.
Allie hadn’t been able to sneak away for an overnight stay; she knew better than to even try, as her parents would have penetrated the web of lies the group created in no time. But Rain, Jason, and A.J. had all managed convincing alibis for a Saturday night away from home, and of course Brandy did whatever she wanted. Late that night, the four of them had stripped down in the moonlight to their underwear and run into the chilly autumn water.
“Yeah, that was fun, until you guys stole our clothes,” Rain giggled.
“You still had on underwear and a bra, unfortunately,” replied A.J.
Rain was about to remind him that he only had eyes for Brandy in those days, but a loud crash from the kitchen made her scream. Jason jumped up and was in the house before Rain could even get herself off the swing and coordinate her unsteady feet. She let a wave of vertigo pass and then followed her friends into the kitchen.
The metal ice bucket was on the floor, melted ice cubes and cold water spreading across the tile. The kitchen felt colder than outside, Rain noted as goose bumps rose on her arms.
“We must have left it too close to the edge,” Jason remarked. He strode to the linen closet next to the bathroom and pulled out a towel.
A.J. stood the farthest away, a strange look on his face. “The condensation made the bucket slide,” he said slowly, as if speaking it out loud would make it the truth.
Rain grabbed a dish towel and wiped a small amount of water off the island. “I’m sure that’s it,” she agreed firmly, not meeting anyone’s eyes.
No one said much of anything after that. They just silently got to work cleaning up the spill and the remains of dinner, and retired to their bedrooms.
Chapter 8
A terrifying dream woke Rain up with a start. Images of a dark, deserted train station began to fade as she realized she was safe in her bedroom. In the nightmare, she had been running through the sinister shadows of the empty station, searching for Brandy, hearing her footsteps but unable to find her friend. A dangerous presence had lurked just outside the corner of her dream vision—she knew it was a man, but she couldn’t see a face.
Sitting up, she shook her head to clear it, and then wished she hadn’t. The effects of the margaritas were still with her; she teetered halfway between still drunk and hungover. Easing herself out of bed gingerly, she used the bathroom, brushed her teeth to get the horrible taste out of her mouth, and splashed cold water on her face.
She looked at her trembling reflection in the mirror as she patted her feverish skin dry with a towel. The dream had been very disturbing, and her heart continued to beat too fast while in the back of her head the threat of a major headache loomed. She needed to calm down, she realized, and maybe avoid the oncoming hangover a little bit longer. Her mind on the lingering details of the dream, she made her way to the dim kitchen and opened the fridge.