‘In St. Croix?’ Chris was surprised.
‘Yeah. Ashlynn started coming to see my dad.’
‘Ashlynn was visiting
Johan nodded.
‘When was this?’
‘About six months ago.’
‘Why?’
Johan swung his legs over the side of the bed. Gingerly, he got up. He walked with a slight limp, but he was a fit teenager, and he was already bouncing back from his injuries. He crossed the hospital room and closed the door. ‘It was very secret. She didn’t want anyone to know.’
‘I’m sure.’
‘The thing is, Ashlynn hated what the feud was doing to this area. She was heartbroken about the kids who died, too. She felt guilty, because of who she was. She wanted to reach out, so she began to visit my dad. At first, she just wanted to tell him how sorry she was about Kimberly and how bad she felt. Then she started getting religious counseling, too.’
‘How did your relationship with her develop?’
‘I’d help her get to and from the church, because she didn’t want anyone seeing her car in St. Croix. We talked for hours. Sometimes all night. She visited me at the motel, too, when I was working. I realized how amazing she was. Not just pretty – she was just this incredible person. I knew things weren’t working out with Olivia, and after we broke up, Ashlynn and I started talking about how we felt for each other. It was serious.’
‘How serious?’ Chris asked.
‘We were in love.’
‘Were you having sex?’
‘Does that matter?’ Johan asked.
‘Actually, it does. I’m sorry.’
Johan looked at the floor. ‘Ashlynn was a virgin. She didn’t like the idea of sex before marriage. I’d had sex before. I mean, Olivia and I – that is, we had—’
‘I get it,’ Chris said. ‘Did you and Ashlynn eventually have sex?’
The teenager nodded. ‘After a few months, we decided we were ready for it. We’d already been talking about getting married after school. It felt right.’
Chris heard regret in Johan’s voice. ‘Was it a mistake?’
‘I guess.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Ashlynn got really distant after we did it. I could tell it was bothering her. I apologized, but she didn’t want to talk. Then, like a month ago, she texted me that we should stop seeing each other. I couldn’t believe it. I thought she loved me.’
‘Did she say why she wanted to break it off?’
‘She said things were moving too fast. That’s it.’
‘Nothing else?’
‘No.’
Chris waited for Johan to talk about the pregnancy. The abortion. He studied the teenager’s face and saw nothing but confusion. Johan was telling the truth about being in the dark. He didn’t know what was really happening to Ashlynn. For whatever reason, Ashlynn had chosen to go through this on her own. She had turned to Hannah for guidance. Not Johan. Not Glenn Magnus. Not her own parents.
‘Tanya told me Ashlynn dated Kirk Watson last year,’ Chris said. ‘Is that true?’
‘Kirk,’ Johan snapped, his lip curling. ‘That vicious son of a bitch. He did this to Olivia. It was him.’
‘Do you know that for a fact?’
‘No, but none of the Barron boys do anything without his say-so.’
‘What about Kirk and Ashlynn?’ Chris asked again.
‘There was nothing between them. They went out a few times. That was it. She cut him off at the knees when he wanted more.’
‘He doesn’t seem like her type,’ Chris said.
‘He wasn’t.’
‘So why did she go out with him at all?’
‘I don’t know. She didn’t want to talk about it.’
‘Is it possible something happened between them?’
Johan’s eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Could Kirk have assaulted her?’
‘He’s capable of anything, but I think she would have told me if he did.’
‘Did Kirk know you and Ashlynn were involved?’
‘I don’t think so. If he knew, he would have done something.’
‘Maybe he did,’ Chris said. ‘Maybe he killed her.’
Johan said nothing. Chris could see in his face that the boy had already leaped to a totally different conclusion about Ashlynn’s death. Like everyone else, he assumed Olivia was guilty.
‘How did Olivia find out about you and Ashlynn?’ Chris asked.
‘She saw us parked near the town. We were – we were kissing. She confronted me about it.’
‘What did she say?’
‘She accused me of cheating on her. I told her that Ashlynn and I didn’t start seeing each other until after I broke it off with her. She didn’t believe me. She called Ashlynn some terrible things. It was ugly.’
‘When did this happen?’ he asked.
‘Right before Christmas.’
‘And since then?’
‘She hasn’t really talked to me.’
‘So what happened the night of Ashlynn’s murder?’
Johan paled. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, Olivia was arrested for shooting Ashlynn, and the first thing she did when she was released was go to see
The teenager glanced at the closed door. ‘I don’t think you want to ask me about this, Mr. Hawk. I don’t want to make it worse for Olivia.’
‘It’s already bad.’ He added, ‘Where were you on Friday night?’
‘There was a big plumbing problem in one of the motel rooms. Water everywhere. I was helping Marco until after midnight. He finally called a plumber. They didn’t need me sticking around, so I left.’
‘You went home?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Did Olivia come to see you?’
Johan nodded reluctantly. ‘Yeah, she did.’
‘When?’
‘Late. After one. She came to my window.’
‘What did she tell you?’
‘She told me what happened in the ghost town. About finding Ashlynn there. About – the gun. She said Ashlynn told her that we had broken up, and she wanted to know why I hadn’t said anything. She wanted to get back together.’
‘What did you say?’ Chris asked.
‘It didn’t go well. I was furious with Olivia for treating Ashlynn like that. I couldn’t believe she left her stranded there. Olivia got upset, and she stormed off.’
‘What did you do?’ Chris asked, but there was only one thing that a boy like Johan would do. He went out there. He went to rescue Ashlynn.
‘I drove to the ghost town,’ he said.
Chris waited.
