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I want to wring her neck, not just for now, but for everything she’s done to me. But if I do, she’ll tell my father and I’ll be punished. That doesn’t mean I’m going to let this go.
She knows something about my mom, and I’m going to find out what.
Grinning at me one last time, she turns to leave. “Text me tonight with an update,” she calls out over her shoulder. “Or I’ll pay you a visit at your house tonight.” She strolls away, past the booths, and exits the diner.
I release a shaky breath, fighting back every instinct I have to chase after her and drag the truth from her stupid lips. If I’m going to get the truth out of her, I need to come up with a plan. But first, I need to look into this, because the last thing I need is to have her showing up at my house tonight.
I open the file and start sifting through the few papers inside it. The waitress shows up eventually with my slice of pie and a drink. Whoever was looking into the town sheriff before me either didn’t do a good job or the sheriff has done a fantastic job at keeping information on him a secret. There’s hardly anything in here. Just some details about his position at his old job, where he moved from—basic stuff like that. But something does capture my attention. A few names on the paper or one in particular.
Ravenlee Wilowwynter.
The sheriff is her uncle. Why did I not put this together before?
Maybe because I was so caught up in the beautiful new girl with the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen. And as I continue to sort through the papers, I soon discover why. Or at least one of the reasons.
Raven’s parents were murdered. That’s why she’s living with her aunt and uncle.
When I can’t find any of the details of what happened, I find a note implying that the police briefly thought Raven had something to do with it. Not that I believe it. The police get stuff wrong all the time. Still, I turn to searching the internet on my phone for more information. But nothing shows up. It’s almost like someone has wiped the information clean.
My thoughts drift back to that message Raven had me look into. Was that what this was about? Is she hiding her true identity or something? With how little information is in this folder, I’m wondering if the new sheriff and his family are, too.
“So, Diane’s already been here?” Zay suddenly appears and slides in the booth across from me.
Jax is right behind him, taking a seat beside Zay.
“Yeah.” My brows pull together. “What the hell are you two doing here? I thought you had in-school suspension.”
“We did, but then Jax hacked into Mr. Moleny’s computer and found out some interesting search history that could be incriminating if anyone found out,” Zay says, grabbing the plate with my half-eaten slice of pie on it.
“So you two blackmailed him into getting out of suspension?” I ask, though it’s not really a question, since I pretty much already know the answer.
Jax nods, reclining back into the booth. “We also blackmailed him into giving us a ride here and informed him that if we ever got in-school suspension again, we’d send everyone on the teacher faculty a list of the information.”
“We?” Zay questions, cocking his brow at Jax.
“Okay, Zay informed him,” Jax corrects with an eye roll. “I hacked into the system.”
I’m not surprised. Out of the two of them, Zay is way more vocal and daring. Jax has always been the quieter one, while I’m the jokester. Together, we kind of balance each other out, which is why I think we’ve managed to remain best friends for so long, despite how different we are.
We do have similarities, though, like our messed-up, broken families, corrupt fathers, and painful childhoods. But we rarely speak about that kind of stuff.
“It was a damn good idea. I’m glad, too, because this flying solo thing was getting really old.” I slant back and cross my arms, my thoughts wandering back to Ravenlee and how I spent lunch with her.
Okay, maybe my solo time wasn’t completely awful. And after reading this file, I want to know more about her.
“What’s that look for?” Zay asks as he stuffs a bite of pie into his mouth.
I lift a shoulder. “I’m just thinking about what’s in this file. Or, more like what’snotin it.”
Jax leans forward and rests his arms on the table. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, there’s hardly any background info on the town sheriff or his family.” I briefly pause. “Or his niece.”
“Who’s his niece? And what does she have to with this?” Zay asks as he wolfs down another bite of pie.
After what happened between Zay and Raven, I’m hesitant to tell him. But I’ll eventually have to since him and Jax will be helping me dig up information on the sheriff.
“You know the new girl?” I ask cautiously.
