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"No."
"You're refusing a drink?" Sam said. "From what I hear, that's a first."
He flipped her off. Not good-humoredly either. She grumbled and hobbled from the room.
"There are more pills downstairs," Corey said. "I ... have a stash."
When I lifted my brows, he said, "Yeah, the headaches have been getting worse for a while. I didn't want my mom to know. That's how I found out booze helps. Only I'd rather not, so I've been hiding pills, saying they're gone so I can get more."
"That was--"
"Dumb, I know. I should have told someone, which is why I'm telling you now."
"If they aren't there, can I grab you a beer?"
"I..." He glanced at the door, again looking for Daniel. "Last resort, okay? Yeah, I know, I drink at parties. But that's different. Drinking to feel better is..." He looked up at me. "We've both seen what that does with Daniel's dad. Maybe it's a different kind of 'drinking to feel better,' but I don't want to go there unless I have to."
"Okay, let m
e look for the pills."
I found the medication. When I came back upstairs Daniel was waiting. I motioned that I'd give the pills and water to Corey and come back. When I returned, he waved me into Corey's mom's bedroom.
"We need to talk about Corey," I said as I walked in and closed the door. "I'm really worried about these headaches."
"I know. So am I. But there's something I need to tell you first. I was looking in here in case she had backup pills. The drawers are empty. Same as the closet. Same as the bathroom. They didn't just leave for a few days--"
"Hey!" Corey yelled.
We hurried in to find him standing at his dresser. "Where's my stuff?"
"Your clothes?" I said.
"No, they're here. I was trying to find a clean shirt for Daniel and noticed my stuff is gone." He waved at the empty dresser top. "Trophies. Photos. My St. Christopher's medal."
"Mementos," I murmured.
Corey was right--all his mementos were gone. So his mom must have decided she couldn't stay in Salmon Creek. When Serena died, her parents had left town--too many memories. A check of Travis's room confirmed it. They'd taken their clothes, everything of value, and everything easily transported, leaving behind perishables and furniture.
"What about my clothes?" Corey said.
"Those are hand-me-downs Travis wouldn't want, all things considered," I said. "Your mom just took things that were important to you. Things to remember you by."
"But it's only been three days," Corey said. "Mom isn't like that. Hell, she spent four months talking about buying a new sofa and another two shopping for it before deciding to stick with the one we had."
"Okay," I said. "Well, maybe..." I paused, hoping someone else would fill in the blank, but they just looked at me, expectant. "We should look outside. Hayley's place is right across the road and Brendan's house is around the corner. I think we can trust Hayley's parents and Dr. Hajek."
Brendan's mother was the local veterinarian, who'd helped me with countless injured animals. I trusted her.
But who didn't I trust?
Earlier, I'd been prepared to trust no one. But now that I was back in Salmon Creek, that changed. I thought of all the people I'd grown up with--the kids, their parents, the teachers and doctors and shopkeepers. My gut trusted them all, which was crazy, because they all drew a paycheck from the St. Clouds. Even my parents.
Not everyone could be innocent. Most probably weren't.
So who could we trust?
I stood there, frozen in doubt as Corey and Daniel watched me.
