Page 102 of Mine To Hunt

I hesitate. "Not exactly."

He doesn’t push. Just nods once and keeps driving.

We sit in comfortable silence for a minute. Streetlights pass across his face one by one. I take another bite of the scone, letting the warmth of it settle in my chest.

Then he says, casually, "Do you remember Justin?"

My stomach drops instantly. My fingers pause around the scone. For a second I see the file photo again. The stall. The blood. The missing hand. The iris flower.

I force my voice to stay steady. "Yes. I remember him. Why?"

Al exhales through his nose. "He died that night."

My chest tightens.

"They found him in the bathroom." He continues. "He was dealing. Supplying stuff to people there. Now everyone’s nervous the police might start asking questions."

I nod slowly, keeping my expression neutral. "I heard about it."

He glances at me. "You did?"

"I wrote about it actually." I say. "For the paper."

He looks surprised. "Seriously?"

"Mhm."

"Huh." He shakes his head slightly. "Weird situation. Probably some gang thing. Dealers don’t usually last long when they step on the wrong toes."

I don’t answer. My mind is racing too fast. Does he know? Did he notice something? Does he suspect anything?

I keep my gaze on the window so he can’t see my expression too clearly.

After a few seconds, I speak quietly. "Al… there’s something I didn’t tell you about that night."

He glances at me again, more alert now. "Yeah?"

I swallow. "Justin tried to grope me."

"What?" He says sharply, turning toward me.

My heart jumps at his tone.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" He asks. Not yelling. But tense. "Ree, why didn’t you say anything?"

"I didn’t want to cause a scene." I say quickly. "Or ruin anything for you."

"Ruin what?"

"Your friendship." I say. "I didn’t want drama."

He lets out a short scoff. "Friendship? He’s not my friend." His jaw tightens. "He’s just some dealer I know through people. That’s it."

I stay quiet.

"You should’ve told me." He adds, voice lower now but still tight. "I would’ve handled it right there."

"I didn’t want trouble." I whisper.