“Can you call Everett and ask him to come too? Tell him it’s really important. Beg him if you need to.”
Another beat of silence.
“Yeah, cool. Sure,” Chase finally answers. “I can do that.”
“Thanks. I’ll meet you at the end of my driveway.”
I end the call and go to the detached garage, which Dan always leaves open. Inside I locate a couple of shovels. As I’m looking around, trying to decide what else I need, a figure steps into the garage. Connor appears in a pair of sweatpants and an old Titans jersey, his boots unlaced.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” he demands.
I notice movement and turn to find Jasmine standing there too. I guess shedidn’tbuy my fresh air excuse.
“Nothing,” I lie. “You should go back to bed.”
Jasmine snorts. She’s wearing plaid pants and a camisole with a hoodie over it, sneakers on her feet. “I don’t think so. You’re bringing shovels out at the crack of dawn. Suspicious much?”
“Just forget you saw me.” I try to move past them.
“Nope,” Connor says, grabbing my wrist. “Jazzy told me what happened the night y’all went to the lumberyard. You’re not going anywhere without me.”
“And me,” she says, albeit reluctantly.
I look between them. The fortitude in their eyes tells me they’re not budging.
“Fine,” I grumble, giving Connor a shovel. “Let’s go.”
We walk up the driveway and stop at the mailbox. My cousins eye me, waiting for an explanation. But I don’t provide one.It isn’t long before I hear the faint rumble of an engine, and then Chase arrives on his bike. A moment later, Everett’s truck pulls up.
Jasmine swings her gaze to me. “What’s going on?”
Everett hops out of the truck and walks over to us, eyes narrowing with suspicion when he notices the shovels. “What is this?” he asks.
I take a breath, glancing around the small group. “This could be nothing, and I swear, I’m not trying to get anyone’s hopes up—especially you, Everett.” I exhale in a rush. “But I think I know where the bodies are.”
A half hour later, we’re standing in the woods at the back of my old property, examining the triangle of space created by the three birdhouses. After I told them about my father’s suicide note and showed them the birdhouse map, everyone agreed this was a promising guess. The red cardinal house hangs directly above our heads, but I have no idea if that means we need to dig right where we stand. Still, it’s the best place to start.
Since there are only two shovels and five of us, the boys do most of the digging, trading off whenever one of them gets too tired. When the dirt at our feet yields nothing, we extend the dig area, and in a short period we’ve dug holes all over the place and have nothing to show for it.
When it’s Everett’s turn to rest, he collapses beside me. “I think this is a lost cause.”
I gnaw on my lip. “I’m sorry. I dragged everyone out here for nothing.”
“No,” he says, leaning back against the soft earth. “I wanted to come. I wanted to talk to you. And to tell you that Chase and I, we’re solid. There’s nothing anyone can do to make me throw away that friendship.”
Relief trickles through me. “Good. I’m glad to hear it. And for what it’s worth, I never meant to lie to you. About who I am. My aunt and uncle thought it was best to keep it a secret.” I swallow. “And I didn’t know whoyouwere. Not until the night my father committed suicide, and I saw how Nikki reacted. When I learned the truth, I knew I had to put the brakes on.”
He’s about to say something, when Chase holds out the shovel and calls, “Trade, man. I’m beat.”
Everett gets up and grins at him. “You gotta quit smoking. Your endurance will thank you.”
Grinning back, Chase reaches into his pocket, taps a cigarette out of a pack of Marlboros, and sticks it between his lips. “I’ve got endurance where it matters.”
He sits beside me and lights his cigarette. I watch him blow out a cloud of smoke.
“Thanks for coming when I called,” I murmur.
“Always,” he murmurs back, and something warm and gooey spreads through my chest.
