He nods, a nervous look on his face. “What are you thinking?”
I’m not thinking straight at all. I’m operating on instinct.
“We knock on the door, tell them you left your phone in Liam’s room, which makes perfect sense—you were there last night, and it’s legit if Liam asks because he tried to text you this morning and couldn’t get you.” I pause. “Plus, if we find his…whatever he keeps, and by now, I’m thinking underwear…” I pause. “I need to see it, Dane.”
Dane gives me a long look. “You’re in love with her.”
I don’t respond for several moments. “I tried to stay away from her.” For you.
He sighs and stares down at his tea. “Just…just don’t let Dad put me at Lakeside, okay? Mom hated that place.”
Lakeside is a private facility where Mom stayed on and off.
“Maybe you need to stay for a week or so—”
“No. I don’t want to not see you! I’ll go back to therapy and that’s it.” He swallows. “I’ll go today if you’ll go with me. I need you, Knox.”
I exhale and nod, knowing I’ll probably need to convince Dad of it, and then make us a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast as we talk more, letting him settle. I watch him closely, feeling better as his color brightens and he eats everything on his plate.
After I’ve called Suzy to check in and let her know we’re home today so she won’t be surprised if she sees us, I look at him. I don’t want to push him to do too much, but…
“You really want to sneak into Liam’s?” he asks.
I nod. “If you don’t want to, I’ll do it.”
He exhales. “I want to. Maybe it might jog a memory if I hurt her. I mean…” His lashes flutter. “What if it was…both of us?”
“It fucking wasn’t,” I say firmly as I grab my keys.
An hour later, the deed is done, and we leave Liam’s and get in my car. I drive to the end of their lane before I have to stop and let Dane vomit. It went pretty much like I thought it would, me smiling at the waitstaff while Dane nodded and went along with me, then we went to Liam’s bedroom on the second floor. We shut the door, locked it, and divided the room. He took the closet and I headed for the chest of drawers. I was close to giving up when I lifted his mattress. There, in an Adidas bag, I dumped out panties and thongs, some plain, some frilly. A white pair stood out. ATH was written on the back waistband. Ava Tulip Harris. She put her initials there, the same kind she wore last night.
We stood there and waffled on what to do with them. If Liam got suspicious, he might move them. If we took them, it would be messing with evidence. In the end, I used Dane’s burner to take pictures of them, making sure to get Liam’s bedroom in the photo. I don’t even know if it makes sense to take the pictures, but I’m worried he’ll ditch the underwear.
And now here we are.
Dane wipes his mouth. Puts his seat belt back on. “Do you…do you think they’ll prosecute me too? I deserve it for not remembering.”
My hands tighten around the wheel as I pull out. I don’t know if he’ll be an accomplice, but either way, this is about to be very ugly.
“In the end, it will probably come down to his word against yours about the woods and what you saw. You were trashed, but those underwear are damning.” I mull it over and decide I just don’t know enough. “He’s going to say it was you. He already dropped a hint when he said you roofied her.”
He nods, looking out the window.
A text comes in and I check my phone: a message from Dad saying he’s catching the next flight back and will be here in a few hours. I let Dane know.
He leans back against the headrest. “Thank you for coming home. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he says as he looks out the window.
He’s asleep before I even reach our house.
18
“Here comes Darth Vader and Tyler. They’re getting out of the nun-mobile,” Lou says as I walk by with a platter of two burgers and fries for a two-top. Moving fast, I set down the couple’s food then bus another table on the way back.
“It’s a van. A regular van,” I tell Lou.
He grimaces. “They should paint a habit on the hood. Or a starship.”
“You’re a weirdo,” I call out to him, watching as Sister Margaret and Tyler make their way to the front door of the diner.
He throws his arms up. “I’m a nonpracticing Catholic. She’s a nun. It feels like she knows I don’t go to Mass. Don’t they have God on speed dial? She probably knows I’m divorced too,” he mutters.
I bite my lip.
Rosemary, the cook, calls out from behind the grill in the kitchen. “You also drink and cuss like a sailor and take the Lord’s name in vain—”
“Be quiet! She’s about to come in!” Lou shouts back. He lingers behind the register, one eye on the door. He snaps his fingers. “Oh, I almost forgot—a lady brought this by today when I opened up. I think it’s a tip.” He hands me a note. “She said to be sure you got it.”
I tuck it in my apron to look at later.
My thoughts go to Knox. He texted me earlier today and told me he was sorry he had to leave school, but Dane wasn’t feeling well, and he’d text me later tonight when I got off work.
Tyler comes in and rushes over to me, and I give him a tight hug.
“How was school? Did you learn anything cool?”
He grins. “They showed me new ways to remember stuff, like I know all the letters. Just say one—I know it.”
“T.”
“Yes, that’s one. Say another.”
“Y.”
“Yep!”
“L.”
“Know it!”
“E.”
“Yeah.”
“R!”
He squints. “Balls. Did you spell my name?”
“Don’t say balls, and yes I did!” I ruffle his hair. “Do you know what order all the letters go in?”
He adjusts his glasses.
“It’s a song, bozo. You used to sing it.”
He tugs at his shirt. “A, B, C, D…” He goes all the way to T before getting a little confused, but he eventually finishes with Z.
I swing him up and he squeals. Lou and a couple of customers clap.
Sister Margaret smiles. “He regaled the entire wing of boys this afternoon.”
I feel myself glowing from the inside out.
On my dinner break, I place an order for us and we take a table in the back. I’ve just gotten the first French fry in my mouth when in walk Wyatt and Piper. I texted them earlier to see if they had dinner plans.
Piper bounces over and gives Tyler a squeeze. “Give me a hug, big boy!”
They order food at the counter and take a seat with us. Sister Margaret murmurs that she has emails to catch up with on her phone and wanders off to the front. Lou’s eyes widen as she approaches, then he scurries off to the back.
“Why are you smiling so much?” Wyatt says dryly, flexing one of his muscles again so Tyler can watch the hummingbirds on his bicep flutter.