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“Naw,” Caleb shakes his head. “Like the others, the leads have dried up.”
It angered me to think five girls had gone missing and no one seemed to care. Also, that the kids from Elmhurst were such callous pricks to tear the fliers down. Well fuck that.
“Do you mind if we get more copies?” I ask Caleb. “Jake and me and our two other friends will put them up all over town and make sure no one takes them down, just as Jake said.”
“How are you going to do that?” Travis asks.
“Well, I guess in a way I’m a Butler, and that name holds weight around here. Not to mention, I was their favorite All American once. They’d hate to piss me off.”
Travis grins and nods. “Well, all right man. Go for it. Use that name for some good.”
Jake hits my arm and nods past Travis. Jenica is walking toward us, but Ellery’s not with her. I knew she was gone for the weekend, but it’s weird not to see the two attached at the hip.
“Hey Cruz,” she nods, ignoring Jake completely.
“No hi for me?” he says with a grin.
Travis and I watch Jake and Jenica bicker/banter back and forth and it only confirms what I’ve suspected…Jake has a thing for her.
He doesn’t do what he’s doing now. Make girls blush, yes.Trying to get them interested like he is Jenica, not at all. They fall at his feet with little more than a look. But the more Jenica fights him, the harder he tries.
“Are we going to go put those fliers up?” she asks her brother. “You said you’d have the beach covered by now.”
“Cruz and Jake are going to help us,” Caleb smiles.
She turns to me, arching a brow. “Oh yeah?”
“Yup. We’re going to paint every building in town with them and make sure no one tears them down.”
Jenica eyes me for a minute then turns to her brother. “Hey, actually, you go on ahead. I’ll meet up with you. I need to talk to Cruz for a minute.”
“Sure.” He looks to the group standing back a few feet. “Hey all, let’s roll.”
I look at Jenica, curious what’s going on, as her brother turns back around and sticks his hand out. “Thanks again for the help. Meet up at the cave tonight? We’re having a party.”
I grab his hand and give it a shake. “Sounds good. We’ll be there.”
Caleb, Travis and the others turn and make their way down the beach. Once they’re out of earshot, Jenica pulls me aside.
“Should you and Ellery be gallivanting around the boardwalk at night given the whole missing girls thing?” I ask before she has a chance to say whatever it is she wants to.
She rolls her eyes. “God, you sound just like my brother.”
“I’m serious. This doesn’t sound like a freak accident. It sounds like someone is targeting girls in Cherry Cove.”
If I had my way, Ellery wouldn’t even be out at night. But knowing how strong willed she is, telling her what she can’t do is only going to piss her off and make her want to do it even more. Although, pissing her off is better than her winding up missing, or worse.
Ignoring the way the second part of that thought makes mefeel, I look at Jenica, waiting for her to answer.
“As long as Ellery and I stick together, she’ll be fine,” she says with a shrug. “Whomever is doing this isn’t targeting the gems, just the trash.”
She makes a good point. A fucked up one. But a point, nonetheless.
The locals were discarded like trash, and Elmhurst kids treated like royalty. I’d seen it with my own two eyes.
Jenica grew up here. She knew better than anyone the way it was and I wasn’t going to be the dick that gaslighted her.
“Do you have any ideas who might be doing it?” I ask instead.
