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What now, like I called him every damn day for annoying shit. The truth was the opposite; I only spoke to him when I absolutely had to.
“This is a courtesy call,” I grumbled out, still sitting in the Watts’ driveway. “We might have a missing family here in Eastcreek. I’m not pointing fingers, but some people might.” I wouldn’t throw Brianna under the bus, not when she’d agreed to help me.
“Who?”
“The Watts family. They have a daughter, a senior in high school. If the girl and her family ain’t found soon…” I trailed off, switching subjects. “You think Gareth had anything to do with it?”
Alistair normally would’ve bitten my head off for insinuating something like that, but he was silent for a while. Too long. “Do we have a timeline yet?”
“My guess is about a week, which is when—”
“Brianna was in the hospital. No, I don’t think Gareth did this, Rick. He would’ve told me. He’s been too focused on her lately.” Hearing Gareth was so focused on Brianna made something in me tick. “Keep me updated.” He said nothing else, hanging up after that.
I sat there in the driveway for a few minutes, leaning my head back against the headrest. Shit. If it wasn’t Gareth and something did happen to them… then we had other problems in Eastcreek. Me, Alistair, and Gareth might not be the only monsters pretending to live normal lives.
After gathering myself, I drove home to eat something and shower. I also changed out of my work clothes, not wanting to stroll into Eastcreek High wearing my sheriff’s uniform. All in all, it was well after six when I left my house and drove to the school.
The parking lot already had a bus from a neighboring district and a bunch of cars. I doubted the game had started yet, but it was probably getting close. The main entrance to the school was unlocked, and I strolled right in, turning toward the main office.
Nothing at all had changed about this school since I’d graced its halls with my presence all those years ago. It felt like another lifetime, and that’s because it was. Back when I was just a boy trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and not a killer who’d murdered his own brother in a fit of jealous rage.
The lights were on in the main office, and when I walked in, I found Mary shredding a stack of papers behind her desk. She looked up, gave me a smile, and straightened herself out, saying, “Hey, Rick. You weren’t very clear on the phone. What is it you need?” She’d been the secretary of the school back when I was a student here, just starting out.
“You got records of student drivers, right? Car information, license plate numbers, all that stuff?”
She nodded, her brows furrowing. “Yes, of course we do. Why?”
“I was hoping you’d let me take a peek at them. The investigation ain’t official yet, so I can’t say much, but I have a hunch something’s going on, something bad.” As I told her that, I could see the concern turn to anxiety in her eyes.
“Oh, my. That doesn’t sound good. If you think it’ll help you, of course.” Without another word, she turned around and headed deeper into the main office, expecting me to follow her. That was the thing about Eastcreek: everyone trusted each other. No one asked too many questions, because this was a small town, and nothing eventful ever happened… or so they thought.
That, of course, was a load of pig shit, but no one ever seemed to question it.
Mary took me to a room full of filing cabinets, no windows, just wall-to-wall metal cabinets, all labeled. She flicked on the light and walked to what must’ve been the cabinet with the car records. She grabbed her keys from her hip and unlocked it for me. “There you go,” she said. “These are current students, but if you go over here, you’ll find last year’s. If you need a desk, you can use mine. I’m just about done. Once you’re finished, just find me in the gym and I’ll come lock everything up.”
“Thanks, Mary.” I gave her a smile, and she left me to my business.
For whatever reason, the cabinet was ordered based on parking space number and not student name, so I started with one through ten, pulling them out and going to Mary’s desk to go through them. Mary was done shredding within five minutes, and she left to go get a seat for the game.
That was fine. I preferred to be alone, anyway. It let me work faster, not having to pretend I wasn’t looking for a specific student driver’s information. If I didn’t see Erin Watts on the top of the paper in the file, I flipped to the next.
It went on like that for a while. The parking spots weren’t given out based on seniority or even student last name. It was first-come, first-serve, so it was a mess. There were only a total of one hundred and fifty parking spots that were labeled out in the front of the school; if Erin drove and parked on the side, where the overflow lot was, I might not find the information I was looking for.
It was when I got to spot seventy-eight that I found Erin’s name. I pulled a piece of paper from the printer near Mary’s desk and jotted down what I needed to do some further research on my own. Car type, make and model, paint color, along with license plate number. Once I had that information copied down, I folded up the paper and stuffed it into my pocket. I worked on putting everything away, and then I left the office, heading through the hall to the cafeteria, where you could reach the double set of doors that opened up to the gym.
The basketball game was in full swing, having started its first quarter a few minutes ago. A group of parents had set up a stand just outside the double doors, selling drinks and small food items like nachos and candy. Another parent sat near the door, taking money and giving out a small ticket to anybody who wanted inside.
“Hey, Sheriff Jones,” the parent spoke, giving me a smile. “I almost didn’t recognize you without your uniform on. You here to see the game? We’re doing good this year, might make it to state.”
I totally spaced on whoever he was; when you were someone important in a small town, everyone knew you, even if you didn’t know them. “Ah, no. I’m just here to grab Mary and have her lock up the office. She was helping me with some technology stuff.” A total lie, but whatever. I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell this guy the real reason I was here.
He nodded, giving me a look that said he felt my pain. “I hear you. I swear, I touch a computer and it dies.” He let me go in past him, and as I looked around for Mary, I saw someone else, someone I wasn’t expecting to see, given how worried she was about her friend.
Brianna.
And, what was even stranger was the fact that she was sitting in the bleachers next to someone who wasn’t Gareth. Another student, if I had to guess. If Gareth was so obsessed with her, why was she here with someone else? Unless she was purposefully trying to poke the bear…
And then I saw the bear in question, Gareth, sitting on the other side of the gym, on the highest level of the bleachers, glaring in Brianna’s direction.
