in the dead of night?” Penelope almost sounded excited as she described the murder scenes. “Please, this is classic serial-killer territory.”
Josie laughed. “Okay, CSI.”
“Fine, don’t believe me.” Penelope trotted alongside her in the crowded hallway. “But it fits. The pattern, the escalation. And now we’ve had two murders in the last week alone.” She paused and dropped her voice. “I’m sure this animal-attack crap is just a cover-up so the population won’t panic and descend into martial law.”
Ah, that was the Penelope Josie had known for years. The lovable conspiracy theorist who spent most of her free time combing antigovernment blogs and with each passing day became increasingly convinced that Big Brother was watching her. “Pen, you’re blowing this way out of proportion.”
“No, I’m not,” Penelope said, sounding hurt. “I never blow anything out of proportion.”
Josie planted her hands on her hips. “Remember that time you were convinced your eighty-year-old neighbor was a spy for the Venezuelan government? Or what about when you almost electrocuted yourself trying to find the hidden listening devices the NSA had installed in the walls of your house?”
Penelope pursed her lips. “Still no proof I was wrong about either, thank you very much.”
“Hey!” a familiar voice called out through the postclass crush of bodies. Josie spun around and caught her breath as she spied the tall, black-haired figure of her boyfriend, Nick Fiorino, threading his way through the crowd.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Nick said, planting a kiss on Josie’s cheek. “Miss me?”
Nick pulled her close and Josie let out an audible sigh. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw Penelope grimace.
“Can you believe they found another body?” Nick shook his head. “How many is that now? Like a dozen?”
“Sixteen,” Penelope said quickly. “Although coverupcadet.com suggests the actual number may be more like two dozen, if you take into account the missing-persons reports of the last six months and cross-reference them against people known to be in the vicinity of a wooded area.” She chuckled nervously. “This is why I don’t leave the house.”
“Wow, Pen,” Nick said. “That’s, um . . .” He glanced sidelong at Josie, grasping for words.
“Insane?” Josie suggested.
“Fine, don’t believe me.” Penelope narrowed her eyes. “But we’ll see who’s insane when the feds catch the serial killer. Later.” Then she turned on her heel and marched off down the hall.
“I don’t think she likes me,” Nick half joked.
Josie smiled at him. “You know how Pen is with . . . people.”
Her friend Madison’s meticulously groomed head of curls popped up beside Nick. “Can you believe it?” she said, slightly out of breath. “Another body!”
“I know, right?” Josie said.
A look of concern passed over her best friend’s face. “Don’t take that shortcut through the woods anymore, okay, Josie? If there’s an animal out there stalking people, I don’t want you to be the next victim.”
Josie smiled. It was sweet that Madison was concerned about her. “Don’t worry,” she said lightly. “Penelope thinks it’s actually a serial killer, so it’s cool.”
Madison’s eyes grew wide. “A serial killer?”
“Let’s not go there,” Nick said.
“Anyway,” Madison said, “Josie, what are you doing after school?”
Josie sighed. “I have to drive to Landover before my shift at the Coffee Crush.”
“Landover?” Madison said.
“Yeah.” Josie dropped her eyes. “I have to go pick something up from my dad’s new place.”
“Your dad’s new place . . .” Madison’s voice trailed off as she processed Josie’s words.
Josie sucked in a breath as she felt Nick’s hand grip her shoulder. Ugh. Better to just get it all out in the open. “My dad moved out last weekend.” The words tumbled on top of one another as they raced out of her mouth. “Movers accidentally took the old mirror my mom used to keep up in her lab. She’s dispatched me to retrieve it. That’s it.”
“Oh,” Madison said. Then her eyes widened as reality dawned on her. “Oh!” She paused. “Okay, well, I’m taking my demon little sister to dance class, but I’ll be home by the time you’re off work. So call me, okay? If you need to talk?”
Josie smiled weakly. “Will do.”
Madison nodded, then turned and headed down the hall. Josie’s smile lingered as she watched Madison go. Her friend might be a bit of an airhead upon occasion, but she was also incredibly sweet and thoughtful. Two things Josie desperately needed in a best friend these days.
Nick leaned down and whispered in Josie’s ear. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Josie took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. She
“Sorry, gorgeous,” Nick said with a shake of his head. “Regionals are in two weeks. Coach would kill me if I miss practice.”
Josie tried to hide her disappointment. “Oh.”
“Walk me to the gym, though?”
Josie nodded absently. “Yeah, okay.”
They navigated the halls in silence, Josie wrapped up in her thoughts. Her parents’ separation had hit hard. One day they seemed like their normal, happy selves, but practically overnight things had changed. Small fights at first, then before Josie knew it, her parents’ nightly screaming matches were the new normal around the Byrne household. In less than six months, her dad had moved out. Now Josie’s home life was a hot mess. Her dad was still in shock and, like a lovesick teen, spent most of his time trying to get Josie’s mom to take him back. Her mom had thrown herself into her work, going so far as to have a home lab constructed in their basement to avoid charges of child abandonment while she worked twenty-four-seven on her new experiment. Meanwhile, Josie could count on one hand the number of conversations they’d had in the last week that weren’t about work or—
“Did you hear me?”
Josie’s head snapped up. She and Nick were standing in front of the entrance to the boys’ locker room. His hands were folded across his chest, and his dark brows were pinched together.
“Huh?”
Nick sighed. “Josie, were you even listening to me?”
“I’m sorry,” Josie said. “I was just . . . I don’t know. Lost.”
“You’ve been like that a lot lately,” he said quietly. “Between your parents and your science project, it’s like you don’t have time for anything else.” It wasn’t an accusation so much as a statement of fact. “Do you even remember what today is?”
Josie caught her breath. Was it Nick’s birthday? Had she forgotten Nick’s birthday? No, that was in October. Josie relaxed. Forgetting her boyfriend’s birthday would have been a disaster.
“Never mind.” Nick shook his head and stepped toward her. “Look, there’s something I need to talk to you about. Something important.”
Josie looked up at him. There was an edge to his voice that made her heart beat faster. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said quickly. “I mean, there’s just a lot going on and I needed to—”
Deep in Josie’s purse, an alarm went off. Her cell-phone reminder that she needed to be in the car on the way to her dad’s if she was going to make it back to work on time. She’d already received a written warning because of her tardiness—usually because she was lingering at the track, watching Nick practice—so she needed to motor. “Crap,” she said. “I have to go.”
“Oh.” The muscles around Nick’s mouth sagged, reflecting more dejection and pain than his clipped, monosyllabic response. What was going on with him?
“Call me,” Josie said. “After practice, okay? We’ll talk tonight.”
“Okay.” Nick flashed his crooked half smile, the sadness of a moment before evaporated. He was his old,
