The Body Finder

participate in any of the activities outside of school. She wouldn’t be allowed to go to the game, and even if she could convince her parents to let her attend the dance on Saturday night, there was no point. On crutches she would only be able to sit on the sidelines and watch anyway.

It was too bad, because her dress was amazing…and she would have liked to see Jay in a suit.

She tried not to be too disappointed, and it was made a little easier for her when the Homecoming Court was announced and Lissie Adams was named Homecoming Queen after garnering the most votes from the student body. Several of her perky little sidekicks were named “Lissie’s princesses.” It was enough to make Violet feel ill, and to make her feel much better about not being able to attend the game, where Lissie would be crowned at halftime, or the dance, where Lissie would be the center of attention.

Jay was a huge help at school, and he carried Violet’s backpack as she hobbled from the car to her first-period class. If she’d have allowed him, he probably would have carried her. As it was, he got special permission from the Attendance Office to leave all his classes early so that he could help Violet get from one class to the next.

By the end of the first day, Violet’s arms were killing her, and Jay insisted on making her wait at the curb while he got her car. Queen Lissie surprised Violet by appearing out of nowhere as soon as Jay had disappeared from sight.

“Hey, Violet,” she said, as she eyed Violet’s bandaged ankle and the crutches with spiteful superiority. “Walk much?”

The two bleach-blonde girls with her giggled at their queen’s lame attempt to make fun of Violet’s injury.

She wanted to smack that superior smirk off Lissie’s face. But she couldn’t think of a clever comeback, so she finally just mumbled, “Shouldn’t you be polishing your crown or something?”

Lissie smiled sweetly past Violet, waving her fingertips at Jay as he pulled the car up to the curb where they stood. Her face was the picture of serenity, as if she hadn’t been mocking Violet while he was gone, but under her breath she got in one last barb at Violet’s expense. “Jealous?” But it was a little hard to be overly offended when it was so far from the truth.

Violet didn’t bother responding, and Jay bounded from the car to help her inside.

He gave the briefest of glances at Lissie, barely acknowledging her presence as he gently eased Violet onto the seat. For good measure, and Violet was sure it was premeditated, he gave her a long, sweet kiss before closing her door.

Violet was surprised at how quickly she responded to his touch, even when she knew it was more for Lissie’s benefit than for hers. But she had to suppress a triumphant smile when she stole a quick look at the other girl’s disgusted expression before Jay put the car in drive and left Lissie standing there, gawking after them.

“Sorry about that,” he said apologetically as he concentrated on maneuvering through the busy parking lot. “I’ve been so worried about strange men following you around that I forgot how dangerous Homecoming Queens can be.”

Violet smiled at him. “That’s okay. That kiss was a nice touch, by the way. Sheer genius.”

“Yeah, that one just came to me,” he chuckled.

“Maybe you can show it to me again…later,” she said playfully.

He reached over and gave her leg a squeeze, his eyes never leaving the road. “I like the way you think, my friend.”

“Is that how it is now, we’re back to just friends?” Violet asked, raising her eyebrows at him challengingly. “I’ll remember to keep that in mind next time we’re ‘doing homework.’”

He was suddenly serious, his tone determined. “We’ll never be just friends again, not if I have anything to do with it.” And then with conviction he added, “I love you too much to go back now, Vi.”

It was still strange to hear him saying things like that. The words sounded so foreign to her ears, but her heart responded, as if it had been waiting a lifetime to hear them, by beating erratically.

They spent the evening watching one of the movies that Jay had rented, snuggled up on the couch together, while her mom popped a frozen lasagna into the oven for dinner. Of course.

They ate together at the table that night, she, Jay, and her parents. They talked carefully around one another, avoiding the conversation that seemed to hang ominously over them: the glaring lack of headway in finding the man who’d been after Violet. Violet actually preferred it that way, the not saying it, almost as if not speaking the words out loud somehow erased what had happened to her…at least to some extent. She knew that was foolish thinking, and she tried to ignore the fact that she carried the grim reminder of how real it was all day long as she limped from place to place.

She was afraid to organize her disjointed worries into an actual, articulated concern. But ignoring it didn’t make it go away, and she couldn’t help wondering if he was still after her. It was a question that had begun to haunt her thoughts more and more frequently as the police, and even the FBI forensics team, seemed to be getting nowhere in figuring out who she’d seen out in the woods that day.

When Jay left that night, Violet collapsed onto her bed in a state of exhausted apprehension, trying to convince herself that her worries were unfounded, that she was probably just a casualty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just like all those other girls had been.

So why couldn’t Violet push away those nagging thoughts, the ones that hovered around the fringe of her consciousness, telling her it was no accident that he’d been out there that day? Why couldn’t she shake the feeling that she was the reason he’d been lurking in the dark cover of the forest? That he’d been waiting for her?

She got up and double-checked her window, making sure it was locked, and glanced down to see the officer in his car, leaning back in his seat, settling in for his shift. She bounced in two hops back to her bed after first trying to put some pressure on her foot, only to be disappointed that it still wouldn’t support her weight without sending a jolt of pain all the way up her leg. She nearly fell over after the excruciating attempt to stand.

She settled in, struggling to shut off the disturbing thoughts that raced around inside her head, until she finally fell asleep, where they haunted her dreams instead. In them she was hunted by a stalker so dangerous, and so mysterious, that even her subconscious couldn’t give him a face. His unrevealed image pursued her with unrelenting stamina, finding her wherever she hid, while she ineffectively struggled to elude him. His determination knew no bounds.

Violet woke in the night feeling like her chest was being crushed beneath the panic that settled over her. She convinced herself, after checking her window again, and making sure the cop was still awake outside, that it was just a dream. That her faceless assailant couldn’t stay that way forever, that eventually he would be caught.

But until that time, Violet knew she would be fearful of closing her eyes for too long.

The next few days were hard for Violet. She felt like she was sleepwalking through school, and restlessly fighting against sleep each night. It was impossible to hide the strain from Jay, who had become increasingly attentive, recognizing what was bothering her even before she was able to voice it out loud.

“You know they’re going to find him, right?” he finally offered one afternoon.

“I know,” she answered, but even she knew that her voice was too bright, and her response too quick, to be sincere.