“Well, the senior boys,” Teddy said, going back to his earlier theme about the crime.
“But, if it wasn’t them, who was it?” Jamie asked. “Was she targeted, or was it the house? A burglary that went awry when Marissa called 9-1-1, maybe?”
“Why was Emma targeted?” Teddy asked rhetorically. “I’ve never understood that one, either.”
Jamie thought of Cooper and his high school friends. Even as she denied that the senior boys had terrorized Marissa, she remembered the boys that had all had a crush on Emma and the way she’d blown them off. “Maybe it was supposed to be a burglary, too?” she suggested, not really buying it.
“Maybe someone was after her . . . or . . . you?” Teddy posed.
Jamie just shook her head.
“Emma was pretty,” said Serena somewhat wistfully. She closed her eyes. “But all that blood . . .”
Teddy shot his sister a worried look. “You’re not going to go there, Serena.”
“No.” But she didn’t open her eyes.
Jamie asked, “You saw Emma that night?”
“No.” Teddy was emphatic.
Serena slowly opened her eyes. “The blood was still on the floor later. It scared me, but Dad was there.”
“Serena has a strong imagination,” said Teddy.
“It’s memory,” she corrected him. “The blood got into the wood. They couldn’t get it up. It’s still on the floor, under the new rug. That’s why Dad left,” Serena said.
“And because he and Mom weren’t getting along,” Teddy corrected. He gestured with his hand to push the whole idea aside. “This attack on Saturday brought it back for all of us. It was hard, but I needed to be there, especially for Anika, like Dad was for Serena.”
Jamie made a sound of agreement. “I haven’t told Emma. None of us have.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” said Teddy.
The conversation waned and Jamie decided it was a good time to wrap things up. “I’ve really gotta go. Thank you for the coffee, Teddy.”
“I would’ve bought lunch, too.”
“I’m good. Thanks again.”
“If you have any financial needs . . .” He lifted his palms and smiled. “With your mom’s estate, possibly? Call me. I’ll offer free advice, if nothing else.”
“Thanks,” she said with a smile, then hurried back to her car. Most of her mom’s assets were tied up in the house. She didn’t really need investment advice. And there was something off-putting about Teddy Ryerson’s approach that she couldn’t get past.
* * *
Harley shivered, practically bent over from the weight of her backpack as she waited for her mom to pick her up. She’d had a few moments with Marissa alone today. Finally. Such a huge relief. Huge. The whole week had been shit from beginning to end. Marissa was freaked out and thought Harley had told the parents about the boys being there, which wasn’t true, but it took a while for it to come out that it wasn’t Harley, and it was great that it had, but by that time everything was terrible. Greer and Troy were dragged down to the police station. Mr. Padilla, the gym teacher, had figured out Troy had been there and had called in his dad, and then that pulled Greer and Tyler into it, too. But Tyler’s parents had sworn he was with them, so he couldn’t have been there, so it all fell on Greer and Troy.
And Greer had been there to see her, not Marissa. Her heart lifted a bit, just thinking about that, except that everything was really shitty and it wasn’t going to get better until they caught the creep who’d scared Marissa. It wasn’t the senior boys. It just wasn’t! Mom had been hinting that that was the case and said Greer was a criminal and it just wasn’t true . . . she didn’t think. She was going to ask him about it, but now no one was talking to anyone. Total hell.
And who was that guy who tried to get Marissa?
Harley’s shivering intensified. She took off her backpack and dumped it on the ground. Jesus, they were going to give them all scoliosis from the weight of their bags! Or was that a genetic disease? It might be a genetic disease . . . but they could get it anyway!
She suddenly wanted to cry, but fought it back. Bold. Daring. In the vanguard. Yeah right.
What was taking Mom so long? She’d texted that she would be right here, right away.
As if hearing her thoughts, her cell phone gave out its text trill. Harley grabbed the phone from her back pocket. It was from Mom: Got hung up. Be there soon.
“Well, crap.” She hiked up her backpack and slipped her arms through the straps. Now she had to pee.
With a cloud over her head, she trudged back into the school. There was hardly anyone around. Friday, and they were all heading to whatever fun thing was next on the agenda. Not her. Not Harley Woodward. Nope. Marissa was staying in this weekend, and the football game was away, and Greer and Troy weren’t playing, the last she’d heard, so it was all crap.
Harley trudged into the empty restroom and into a stall, dropping her backpack on the floor. She peed with alacrity. This was her superpower. Fast peeing. At her old school, she’d raced a good friend one time and they’d both laughed themselves silly.
She felt a pang of loneliness. Yes, she’d wanted to move, but hell . . . she’d run into different problems here. Weird ones.
Out of the stall, she washed her hands, looking at herself in the mirror. She was pale, the freckles on her nose standing out against her white skin.
The door to the bathroom opened and Dara Volker walked in. She stopped short upon seeing Harley, and Harley froze as their eyes locked. Immediately, she remembered hearing how at last Friday’s party—the one after the game that neither she nor Marissa had been able to go to—Dara and Tyler had been having sex in one of the bedrooms and
