The Body Finder

He gave her an apologetic smile when she didn’t say anything right away. “You’re not gonna kick me out, are you?”

Violet wasn’t sure how she should react. She really wanted to stay mad at him; it was easier than admitting, even to herself, that her feelings had been hurt today. But, somehow, seeing him standing there-in person-took some of the wind out of her sails. She suddenly wished she could read his thoughts.

She shrugged, trying to keep her fragile hold on her already disintegrating anger. “No” was all she said, still waiting to see why he’d come. She sat up, watching him cautiously.

He sat down on the edge of her bed, and she felt herself shifting toward him as her mattress sank beneath his weight. “Look, Violet, I’m really sorry about today. I shouldn’t have left without you. You didn’t do anything.”

When she looked at him, listening to his explanation, she felt her heart foolishly clamoring inside her chest.

He paused, and then continued. “It’s not like I’m mad that you’re going to the dance. I was hoping you’d go to the dance.” He grimaced, and Violet thought he seemed to be choosing his words carefully, and she wondered what it was that he wasn’t saying. He let out his breath and admitted, “I guess I just didn’t expect it to be with Grady.”

So this was about Grady? She opened her mouth and started to say something, to tell him that she hadn’t planned on telling Grady yes, but before she could interrupt him, he plunged on. “I know…it’s stupid, and it’s really none of my business, and we’ve all been friends for so long, and…and I don’t know, Violet…I guess I didn’t want the fact that you two are going on a date to mess things up.”

Violet could no longer hold on to her frustration; now she was struggling with unspoken regret for not being able to tell him how she really felt about him. But he kept talking. “I realize that I had no right to get pissed off about it, though, and I acted like a total baby by leaving school today without telling you. I guess I just didn’t want to run into the two of you since you said you were meeting him after school.”

She picked at a piece of fuzz on her blanket. Violet wished now, more than ever, that she’d told Grady no.

“It’s okay, I guess. But it’s not like Grady and I are dating or anything. It’s just a dance-one night-it doesn’t mean anything. I promise it’s not going to ruin friendships. Especially not ours.”

“I know. I don’t know why I got so bent about it. For some reason it just caught me off guard and I acted like a total jackass. I’m really sorry, Violet.” The sweet sincerity of his voice caressed her.

She grinned at him. “Yeah, I know, you said that already.” She nudged him with her sock-clad foot. “I forgive you…you know, for being such a jackass.”

He grabbed her foot and yanked it until she was lying on her back. She giggled, feeling better already just knowing she didn’t have to spend any more time being angry with him.

But she also decided that this was as good a time as any for her to say something she’d been meaning to tell him for a while now…something that she hadn’t been able to bring herself to say before.

“Hey,” she said seriously, “since we’re apologizing tonight, I want to say something too.”

He flopped down on the bed, lying right beside her. She waited for the sense of calm that his nearness usually brought to her, but it never came. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was so nervous about, but somehow lying here, with his face only a breath away from hers, she was more uncomfortable than ever, and her uneasiness, and quite possibly the heat of his body against hers, made her hesitate.

Once again, Jay seemed to be reading her mind, and Violet wondered if she were really that transparent. She hoped he couldn’t read everything that was going on up there.

“Go ahead, Vi. You can say anything to me.” His lazy half-smile was mesmerizing, and she found herself staring at his lips for too long. “Anything,” he reassured her gently, and she wondered what those lips would feel like against her own.

It was now or never, she thought wryly, and she blinked to break his mind- numbing spell over her. “I…I’m really sorry…about that day at the lake. I didn’t mean to make you see that…” Now that she was in the middle of it, the words seemed even harder to find, and she wasn’t sure just how to say what she was trying to say. Inside her head she always sounded so confident and sure of herself, but somehow when the words reached her lips they fell out in a stammering mess. “…I shouldn’t have gone there…especially since I was pretty sure there was…you know, something there.”

Jay shook his head and propped himself on his elbow so that he was looking down at her. “You don’t have to apologize for that. I know that what you find is out of your control.” He reached out and brushed a stray piece of hair out of Violet’s face. His words were as gentle and thoughtfully sincere as his touch. “Besides, if you’d have told me ahead of time that you were sensing something there, I would have gone with you anyway. It’s not your fault it happened to be a girl and not some animal in there.

“I just don’t want you to shut me out when you’re feeling something. We’ve been friends for too long, Violet. I want you to tell me if you’re ever sensing anything strange.”

His hand fell away from her face, and Violet had to fight the urge to shudder in the wake of the electric charge she felt from his touch. Where his fingertips had brushed against her flushed cheeks they were still tingling. She decided to keep that strange sensation to herself.

“I know it’s not my fault, but I should have at least warned you.” She wanted him to understand how badly she felt about making him a witness to something he never should have seen. “Anyway,” she continued, “I’m sorry for that.”

“I’m pretty sure you said that already,” he responded, using her earlier words against her.

She smiled, desperately wishing he’d touch her again. She hoped he couldn’t see that in her face too. “I just don’t want anything bad between us,” she offered by way of an explanation.

“I know.” He reached out, capturing her hand in his. He laced his fingers casually through hers.

Violet leaned against him and the calm finally came, settling over her peacefully.

And then he kissed her. Gently. Softly. Not on the lips, as she’d imagined so many times before, but on her forehead.

The gesture was sweet and a little possessive.

Violet hoped, maybe, it was a start.

ADRENALINE

EACH HUNT WAS AS UNIQUE AS THE GIRL HERSELF.

It was better if no two girls were extracted in exactly the same way. Or from the same area.

But that had become increasingly difficult, as absences from his job became more and more conspicuous. So he’d been forced to hunt closer to home recently, and that meant taking more precautions than he had in the past. It meant being even more diligent. Meticulous.

Not that he’d been sloppy before. He was never sloppy; it went against everything he believed in.

He ran his finger along the razor-smooth edge of his KA-BAR tactical knife. He knew he wouldn’t have to use it; the terrifying effect of the weapon in the presence of the girls was