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Disgust immediately wiped away Rae’s sadness. She pushed Jessi so hard she fell back on the bed. “Like you know anything about it. I’m sorry I even told you.”
Needing to placate her, Jessi did what she’d always done. Sorrow engulfing her expression, she whispered, “You’re right. I don’t. My mother’s a lunatic and there’s many times I wish she’d die. So don’t get mad at me, okay? I didn’t mean no harm.”
Jessi remembered that it had taken Rae quite some time to stop ignoring her that day. And when she decided to talk again, it had been bizarre… like nothing had happened.
Shaking off her memories, she went into Rae’s closet and saw the male clothes pushed to the back and the duffle bag zippered underneath. Bending down, she opened the zipper to find the motorcycle type boots Rae preferred when she played her other role.
Rifling deeper into the recesses, she saw many weapons hidden away in gym bags of various sizes. Quivering with fear, she backed out and accidently pushed aside some of the clothes. A strange awareness filled her as she caught the image of something attached to the far wall. Moving aside the articles hanging there, she saw a collage of photos pinned with a light nearby that once pushed gave an eerie radiance.
All the pictures were taken of one person and the blurry visions looked to be enhanced to become closeups. The person highlighted in each version was none other than Mellie Kozak, one of the prettiest girls in school.
The strangest of the images was of an angel wearing Mellie’s face. Rae must have photoshopped it to look so convincing.
Shaking off the weirdness she felt, Jessi went to check Rae’s long wooden desk for more of the same kind of stuff. There, Rae had a laptop connected to various screens she liked to open all at once, giving her a feeling of power over the web. Jessi had seen her interact with different faces all at the same time, never hearing their words because Rae always wore headphones. Of course, everything was password protected and she had no chance to snoop.
She glanced through the books and papers, which weren’t many and found what looked like an emergency number for her father scrawled on the top of a calendar pinned to the closest wall. She copied the number on her hand and spotted something else.
That day’s date had been circled so hard the pen had ripped through the calendar. Rae had also written the word basketball in big letters. Underneath that word showed the time. Eight o’clock tonight.
Thinking it would be at their high school, one known for its love of the game, it struck her as strange to see it being mentioned. One thing she knew for sure, Rae hated sports, made fun of them all the time.
Glancing down, she saw the garbage can nearby with a card balancing on the edge, obviously having been thrown down but missing the wide opening. Crouching, she picked it up and read the invitation for that very game shown on the calendar to be played later. Glancing inside, she found three more cards. The school must be handing out passes for the students who wanted to bring friends or parents to the game. Sliding one in her pocket, she left the others in the same position.
Did it mean one couldn’t get in without a pass? Probably. She knew they often instigated invitations only during playoff games but maybe because of the security risk so many schools were facing after the shootings, they must have decided to implement the same rules now.
Not having any of her personal effects like her wallet and knowing that even if she did, using her student card might trigger off the alarms for those looking for her, she decided she’d dress down her image wearing male clothes and go incognito.
Rifling through a huge selection of sneakers at the back of Rae’s shoe section, she found what she needed. Knowing the girl’s penchant for buying shoes, she didn’t think one soiled pair thrown to the back would be missed from the many.
Next she went into the laundry room and sure enough, she found a boy’s wrinkled black shirt and black hoodie Rae had thrown there to be washed. Not caring about the look of it, she grabbed the garments and headed back to Eva’s to use her phone.
Chapter Forty-eight
Lori couldn’t believe that she’d let Beau talk her into going to a silly basketball game with him when she had so much else on her mind. FBI intel had a long reach, a lot of avenues one could check for a missing girl and yet none of those leads went anywhere or brought her closer to finding Jess. The thought of the sad young teen out there in the city alone – maybe dead – made her question her sanity.
Awareness hit her square in the back of her head. If Beau hadn’t cuddled her to sleep each night, she’d get no rest at all. If he hadn’t talked her down from the ledge more times than she’d like to admit, she’d have lost her shit for sure.
As it was, she always woke earlier than he did and careful not to wake him, she’d snuggle next to his warmth. Staying quiet, knowing how hard he worked and how much he needed his sleep, she’d let her mind continually go over all the details of the case, crazy with worry that she’d missed something.
She remembered the day before when, at her wit’s end, she’d talked Larry into returning with her to Jessi’s parents’ place. Knowing Herbie had returned from his bogus trip up north, she prayed he might have some tidbit of information they could use.
She should have known the disgusting loser had nothing worthwhile to share, couldn’t care less if his stepsister might be in danger, and only had one thing on his mind. “Tell her for me that we threw her junk in the garbage. Her rosary and the rest of her crap. And if she ever comes around again, the old man will shoot her himself for what she’s put this family through.”
Bile rising, Lori grabbed the front of Herbie’s soiled jacket and pulled his face in close, his rotten breath almost making her gag. “You call me if she comes around, you hear me? If anything happens to that girl, I will personally come back and hurt you… bad.”
Larry wrestled her away but not before she watched fear swallow up the little prick in her control, his head bobbing in agreement. Pushing a card to his chest, she allowed herself to be led away, her eyes digging holes of warning into the ones she couldn’t seem to look away from.
In their car, Larry shook his head. “Jesus, Lori, you had that kid almost pissing his pants. Man, you’re pretty shook up over this girl. Why?”
“I don’t know, Larry. It’s like she’s mine to care for, and she’s in danger. I can’t explain it better.”
“You love her… sounds like to me.”
Shaken, feelings blooming, rioting throughout her heart, she faced the truth. “I believe you’re right. If anything happens to her, I’ll never get over it. I know that much.”
“You think she’s alive.”
“Every instinct inside me says yes. But she’s in danger.”
