Very Bad Things (20 page)

“Where is she?” Mark asked, looking around but not seeing Katie anywhere.

“She was heading out just when I got here,” Jo told him. “She nearly ran into me. She got a text from Tessa, and she was all worked up about it. She said it was weird, that it wasn’t Tessa’s number, but I told her about Tessa pissing off the headmaster and being put on lockdown at the dorm. I heard they took her phone.”

Mark remembered Katie mentioning Tessa’s “confession” about him calling her the night Rose died and saying that he did it. Yeah, he was sure that would have pissed off his dad enough to have Mrs. Gabbert sit on Tessa for a while. But now his father knew the truth. He couldn’t wait to show Katie Charlie’s note. Then she’d realize that her buddy Tessa had been lying through her teeth.

He speed-dialed Katie’s number. “C’mon, pick up,” he said, as it rang and rang before finally going to voice mail. “Where are you?”

Then he texted her, asking the same question.

But she didn’t answer.

Mark felt his gut twist, and he suddenly thought of something Katie had said when he’d found her staring at Peter Lupinski’s grave.

I think Tessa’s trying to protect someone. It’s crazy, but I was wondering if—Never mind … I’m not sure who it is or what Tessa’s up to, but I’m worried
.

Who was Tessa protecting? Could it be Steve? Was that why Katie had mentioned that what she was thinking was crazy?

Charlie had whispered something about Steve being mad at Katie. Was it because she’d been stirring things up?

He walked away from Joelle, heading toward the exit. As soon as the sliding glass doors parted before him, he took off running toward Amelia House.

Dusk had descended, and streetlights dotted the dark overhead as he sprinted. The path across campus was almost empty. Mark was winded by the time he reached Amelia House, but he didn’t slow down to catch his breath. He didn’t even stop when he saw the security guard getting out of the campus police car across the street. Mark’s feet kept moving till he reached the door.

“Katie!” He started banging the door with his fists. “Katie!”

“Hold on there,” the guard called out, one hand on his stun gun and the other tapping his shoulder walkie-talkie.

But Mark kept banging until the housemother opened the door.

“For heaven’s sake, what’s going on?” The older woman frowned at him.

“I need to see Katie,” Mark said, breathing hard. “It’s important. Can you ask her to come down, please?”

Mrs. Gabbert glanced past him at the security guard. “She’s not here. I haven’t seen her all day, not since she left for class this morning.”

A bunch of girls had begun to gather behind the housemother inside the foyer. Mark glanced at their anxious faces.

“Is Tessa around?” he asked, sure she’d know where Katie was. He figured Katie would be with her.

“Of course. She’s been here since the security chief dropped her off hours ago.” The housemother disappeared for a moment, and Mark shifted impatiently from foot to foot. When she came back, her frown had deepened. “Tessa’s not in her room, and the girls don’t know where she is.” Mrs. Gabbert’s eyes teared up. “The lights in the basement went out just a moment ago. The breaker was tripped. You don’t think Tessa did that?”

What Mark thought was that Katie was in trouble. And if Steve was involved, he had a damned good idea where they’d gone.

Meet me @ the rink ASAP
, the text said,
life or death!!! Tessa

Kind of dramatic, Katie thought as she headed out of the clinic, even for Tessa. Maybe Katie should have said no because she was exhausted and starving. She’d hardly slept the past two weeks, had hardly eaten all day. She felt weak and on edge and confused. But after seeing the Lupinskis’ graves and getting a better grasp of what Tessa’s life had been like before Whitney Prep, she couldn’t turn her down. Tessa was her friend. Whatever the reason behind her crazy behavior, Katie owed her a chance to explain.

The phone number had been blocked. Tessa had probably borrowed someone’s phone at the dorm. Joelle had mentioned Tessa being stuck at Amelia House without her cell. It was strange that she’d picked the ice rink, which was Mark’s turf, not Tessa’s. Was it because she was taking the tunnels
there and the ice rink was the closest school building? The whole rec complex would be empty. All events on campus had been canceled after Rose’s body had been found. So long as Katie didn’t have to stumble through tunnels to get there, she didn’t care. She just wanted this long day to be over and done with.

The air outside was crisp, the sky turning dark. An angry breeze rustled the branches of the trees above as she hurried up the sidewalk. Few students were out, and those who were walked in pairs. In an hour, the campus would be deserted. No one wanted to be wandering around by themselves after curfew until whoever killed Rose was caught.

The rink was part of a monstrous building that looked like the shadow of a dinosaur, hulking in the dark. Katie saw a campus police car slowly making its way past the building, shining its headlights on the facade before it rolled on.

Katie avoided the front doors, knowing they’d be locked. Tessa wouldn’t need a key to get in—she’d be crawling through a grate. Katie went to the rear door that led to the lockers. When she’d come to the rink with Mark after-hours before, that was how they’d gotten in. Mark had told her it was rarely locked during hockey season since the guys came and went so much. It’d be easy enough to go through the locker room and into the rink, where Tessa was supposed to be waiting.

The light above the door weakly cast its beam on Katie as she approached and reached for the bar, pushing her way inside.

She stood in the dark, waiting as the door clanked shut behind her, listening for voices or noises that meant someone else was there. But she heard nothing.

With no one around, it couldn’t hurt to flip the light switch, she figured. But when she clicked the switch back and forth, nothing came on. Maybe the bulbs were burned out.

As Katie’s eyes adjusted, she caught the glistening of glass and brass in the dimly lit trophy case that lined the rear hallway. She started walking past it, glancing at all the ribbons and medals displayed alongside gleaming cups topped by figurines engaged in various sports. She paused in front of a sizable trophy topped by a pair of crossed hockey sticks. If she squinted, she could read Mark’s name on the plaque at the base.
MVP, PREP SCHOOL HOCKEY REGIONALS
, it said. Katie knew how badly Mark wanted to put a state championship MVP trophy right beside it.

She wondered if Mark would even get to play now. Poor Charlie was clearly out of commission. Would Whitney go ahead if their star forward was arrested and their number one goalie in a hospital bed? Or would they forfeit with the game just two nights away?

She heard footsteps behind her and caught motion in the mirror at the back of the case. “Tessa?” she said, and turned.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but the Ice Princess isn’t coming.”

It was Steve Getty, and he stood between her and the door.

“I heard you’ve been sniffing around my shit,” he said, and
took a step forward. “So I figured it was time we had a little chat.”

“I have no clue what you mean,” Katie said, stiffening.

“Joelle sent me a text. She’s got this bright idea about going to the police. She said you convinced her to report me.” He shook his head and made a
tsk-tsk
sound. “And you had someone poke into my records, didn’t you? My dad’s got a guy who monitors that stuff. Hacking Whitney’s system is a piece of cake for a tech geek. Really stupid move,” he said. “Someone should teach you to mind your own business.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Katie said, even though it was a lie. He was twice her size, and for all she knew he’d murdered Rose Tatum. But what could he do that wouldn’t come back to haunt him? He was a coward who pushed people around, who forced himself on girls, and who had very likely drugged a teammate. Would he shove her in a locker until someone found her in the morning? He couldn’t do anything more without risking jail for real.

At least, that was what she told herself.

“I’m glad Joelle’s coming forward,” Katie said, the tiniest croak in her voice. “If you hurt her, you deserve whatever you get.”

“I didn’t do anything to Joelle that Joelle didn’t want.” Steve smiled, but there was malice in his eyes.

“And if you killed Rose,” Katie went on, “I hope you rot for that, too.”

“News flash, sweetheart,” Steve said, and he wasn’t smiling
anymore. His face went hard, and she saw his hands clench. “Your boyfriend’s the one who killed the girl. Ask anyone.”

“I don’t have to,” Katie replied, holding tight to her bag as Steve took a step nearer. “Mark doesn’t drug girls and rough them up. That’s your thing. What I don’t get is why you sent me her hand. Was it to scare me? Were you trying to be funny after what happened at the morgue?”

“Christ!” Steve’s face knotted with anger. “I didn’t cut off that bitch’s hand!”

“Then who did?” Katie’s heart beat so fast she feared it would burst right out of her chest.

“I’ve gotta give props where props are due,” Steve said, and the angry look vanished. He smiled thinly and tipped his head. “It had to be your boy, Summers. I left the girl with him. He might act like he’s Mr. Perfect, but on the inside he’s just as much a freak as everyone else.”

“Mark didn’t do it,” Katie said, and she realized she believed it. “He didn’t hurt anyone.”

“You sure?” Steve touched his lip, which was puffy and red. Katie wondered if Mark had split it open during their fight at practice that morning. “He seems to like blood. Or maybe it’s just my blood he likes.”

“I think we’re done,” Katie said, sick of putting up with Steve’s BS. “I have nothing else to say to you.”

Steve shrugged and casually stepped aside. “Be my guest,” he said, and gestured toward the door.

Katie held her breath as she walked toward him, thinking this was too easy, that Steve had too big an ego to let her just
leave like that. And her fears were confirmed when she got to the door and pushed hard on the bar. It wouldn’t open. She tried again and again, but it didn’t budge.

“It’s locked,” she said, trying not to panic.

“No shit, Sherlock,” he said from behind her.

Katie turned to see him dangling a gold key. Then he flipped it back and forth in his hands.

“We’re not done yet.” Steve narrowed his eyes at her, giving her a fierce look. “And when we are, you’ll be the first to know.”

Mark was right. The guy was a total narcissist. He had to be in control. He couldn’t take criticism. Katie knew he was a bully on and off the ice. But was he a killer, too?

“Let me out, Steve,” she told him, keeping her voice as level as possible, when inside, she was getting scared for real.

“Soon,” he replied, and put the key in his pocket. He patted it, grinning like he was having fun playing cat and mouse with her.

“This is ridiculous.” Katie reached for the phone in her jacket just as it started to ring. She only had time to see the call was from Mark before Steve closed the gap between them and snatched the phone from her hands.

“Not a good time to talk,” he said, and threw it hard across the room.

Katie heard the
crack
as it hit the wall.

Say something, keep talking, distract him
, her brain told her. The guy liked to hear his own voice. Maybe she should let him talk until he’d bored himself.

But Katie had had enough.

She grabbed the straps of her book bag with both hands and swung it at him, hitting him hard in the crotch. Then she dropped the bag and took off, racing through the aisles, shoes slapping the floor. If she could just get to the rink, she could find another door, an emergency exit.

She heard Steve cursing, then his footsteps echoing noisily behind her.

“Why are you running from me? I just want to talk,” he called out. “I’m not the one who chopped off the girl’s hand and gave it to his girlfriend. You should be afraid of Mark.”

But Katie kept going, moving through the dark, past row after row of metal lockers. She hit her shin on a bench and bit her lip to stop from crying out.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said from around the corner. “If you want to leave, you can leave. I won’t stop you.”

Right, like when she’d tried to leave a minute before?

Katie didn’t trust him. She didn’t trust her best friend anymore. How could she know that Steve hadn’t snuffed Rose? Mark seemed pretty thoroughly convinced that Steve was the killer.

Her shin throbbing, she limped toward a weak light and ended up in the washroom.
Oh, hell
, she realized as she quickly glanced around. It was a dead end. There were no doors or windows in the showers. She felt her way along a tiled wall lined with sinks and mirrors, knowing she was trapped.

She heard Steve’s footsteps, getting louder and louder with each breath. And Katie did the only thing she could think to do: she screamed as loudly as she could, hoping a security guard or someone—
anyone
—would hear and get her the hell out of there.