She shrugs again. “Lots of people hated him.”
I roll my eyes. Despite what Jay may have thought at the time, I don’t trust Taylor at all. There is no way she ever had any intention of keeping Jay safe. “Has she said anything about him recently? Like, when his coat was found, did she say anything about that?”
Mia shakes her head.
The Instagram post said Taylor was taking him home. “Mia, where ishomefor Taylor?” I look around my old dorm room. “Is this the only place where she’s living?”
Mia blinks at me, silent.
“What aren’t you telling us, Mia?” I know she’s hiding something.
She sighs. “I’ve barely seen Taylor since she moved here. Like ... she’s with her boyfriend all the time.”
I snort. Tables have been turned.
“Who’s her boyfriend?” Gracie asks.
“He’s from out of town or something. She said he’s been staying on her family’s boat. He sounds like bad news.”
I frown. The same way Jack lives on his boat?
“Mia, are you and Lance even together anymore?” I ask.
She looks right at me, then shrugs. “Don’t see much of him either. He’s not answering my calls.”
Gracie chuckles. “He’sghostingyou?”
Mia glares at Gracie.
“What marina is Taylor’s boat at? Same one as Jack’s, right?”
She shrugs again.
What if ... what if there is no boyfriend? What if she’s been hidingJayon that boat, holding him captive until it’s too late for him to claim his trust money?
Wednesday took me. But I’ll be fine with her.Who knows what Taylor told him to lure him to the yacht club that night.
“Mia,” I say slowly. “Have you evermetTaylor’s boyfriend?”
Mia shakes her head. “No. Why?”
I pause, thinking. Is it possible that Jay is alive?
I look at Gracie. She is clearly thinking the same thing. “We need to get to the yacht club,” she says.
We rush back to East House to grab Aster’s voice-recorder necklace. I have no idea what we’ll find at the yacht club, but we may need recorded evidence. Once we have the necklace, Gracie calls an Uber to take us to the North Toronto Yacht Club. While we’re in the car, it occurs to me that we have no way of getting into this private club. I doubt very much they’ll let two teenagers in to check if a member is hiding a missing nineteen-year-old on their sailboat. I text Jack and tell him we need to get into the yacht club to find Taylor and Lance’s father’s boat right now. He says he’s already at the club and will meet us at the entrance.
I piece together a theory on the way there. On that night, maybe Taylor went to see Jay in East House and somehow convinced him to come with her to the yacht club. She promised that they meant him no harm. Since our ResConnect link was deleted, Jay couldn’t tell me he was going with Taylor, so he left me the painting and the Instagram post to tell me he’d be fine.
But when they got to the marina, Taylor and Lance did something to Jay. Maybe drugged him like they drugged Jack. And they’ve been holding him on their father’s boat until ... maybe until he could claim the trust? Or until he could no longer claim the trust ... six months after his birthday.
Are Lance and Taylor even capable of that? And if Jay has been held against his will at the yacht club all winter, wouldn’t someone havenoticed? The whole theory seems like such a long shot, but it’s worth it to check. Jay might be alive.
When the car drops us off, Jack is talking to a guy in a security booth. He’s wearing flannel pants and a T-shirt, with an oversize parka over it. And he has a ball cap on. After seeing him always dressed to the nines, Jack looks a little strange to me. More real.
This isn’t my first time at a marina—Alderville is literally on a bay. But the marinas I’m used to are nothing like the North Toronto Yacht Club. Namely, the boats here are bigger and much more expensive. Also? Even though it’s only early April, most of the boats areinthe water, albeit almost all shrink-wrapped in plastic. I’m used to people dry-docking their boats in the winter. This marina has bubblers to keep the water from freezing around the boats. Also, instead of an old clubhouse, this yacht club has a restaurant overlooking a stunning view of Lake Ontario.
“So what’s the deal?” Jack asks once we’re through the gate. He guides us over to a bridge toward the docks and slips.
