Just his mother. Notparents. But also his aunt, uncle, cousins, Nani, and Nana. All the people who love him. I decide then that even if I never hear from Jay on ResConnect again, I will still finish this. I will find out what happened to him. Because Jay’s family deserves to know.
“And anyway, I think Jay would be okay with us doing this,” Gracie says. “He’d like that people he knew have his back and will tell his story without leaving out his humanity. Well, one person he knew. And you. Where are we now? What do we do next after the party?”
I think about it. My mind is foggy, and Jay’s the first person I want to talk to about the party. But also, there are two people we should be looking at.
“I honestly didn’t trust anyone there. Any of them could have been bullying Jay. Bailey’s definitely a possibility, but I want to look closer at Taylor and Jack. I think Taylor might be the Birdwatcher.”
“Taylor? Why?” Gracie asks.
I don’t even know how to explain it. “She ... she had such a weird reaction when she found out I’m living in his room.”
“That’s not much to go on.” Gracie frowns. “Are you sure ... your history with Taylor isn’t clouding your judgment?”
I think about that. True, I don’t like Taylor. And she doesn’t like me. But still, her reaction was so strange. “I’m not saying she’sdefinitelythe Birdwatcher, just that I want to look into it more.”
“Okay. And why Jack? Not that I disagree with you ... but you two were mighty cozy last night.”
I don’t know the answer to that question either. My gut tells me that he knows a lot more than he was letting on last night. “He was so ... cryptic. When I was in his room, he—”
“You were in his room?”
I exhale. “Nothing happened. But he was talking in riddles. I want to talk to him sober ... to see if I can make sense of him.”
“You sober or him sober?”
“Both, ideally.” I almost ask Gracie if we should call Aster to get Jack’s number, but I still don’t know what happened last night between them. And it doesn’t seem like Gracie wants to talk about it. “But not yet. I need to recover from last night.”
Gracie nods, then gets up and stretches. “I texted the don for a spare key. I need to shower, then have some readings to finish today. I’ll give you back your pajamas after I do laundry later. Thanks for letting me crash here.”
The moment Gracie is out of my room, I check ResConnect. I fully expect that Jay’s name won’t be there ... but it is. Jay Hoque. I breathe a sigh of relief and message him.
Aleeza:Are you up? We need to talk.
He doesn’t respond. He could be sleeping.
After brushing my teeth and taking some Advil for my killer headache, I boot up my computer and read everything about Jay I can on news sites. Basically, Jay’s jacket was found washed up on the beach by someone on a walk. His phone and his wallet with his TCU ID card were in the jacket pocket. The person who found them turned them over to the local police station after googling the name on the driver’s license. All articles state that the family won’t be making a statement and ask for privacy.
But why aren’t they making a statement? I look back at some earlier articles that mention Jay’s family. Soon after he first went missing, Jay’s mother made a plea in a press conference for his return. And his cousin had a post on her Instagram linking to an article, begging the public for any information, but they’ve been silent since then. Manal still has me blocked on Instagram. Is it possible that Jay’s family is hiding something? I can’t ask Jay about it—he’s so protective of them. Especially his mother. But maybe I can snoop around without telling him.
My phone buzzes. Jay.Finally.
Jay:We spend one night in the same bed and already I’m getting a “we need to talk”?
What? Oh. He thinks I want to talk about us sleeping in each other’s arms last night. Which I still don’t understand.
I have no idea how to tell him what’s happened.
Aleeza:You were on the news today. Gracie woke me up to show me.
Jay:What? Why?
Aleeza:They found your coat washed up at Woodbine Beach. Your wallet and phone were in the pocket. The police are now presuming you are deceased.
Jay:Show me.
I copy the text from a news article and paste it in ResConnect. While he reads, I go back to the research on my computer. I find his mother’s name on one of those older articles and googleSalma Hoque. There is a Facebook account with that name that has a few public comments on some Toronto community pages. She hasn’t posted anything since the disappearance, though.
Which, fair. She’s grieving.
