Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
MADELINE
We have turned Bennett’s kitchen table into our war room.
There are papers spread across every surface, photocopies curling at the edges.
I squint, trying to read Luke’s handwriting scrawled across a legal pad.
Everyone is making sure we are drawing the same conclusion.
These are not things we can be wrong about.
I sit cross-legged on the edge of the table, hugging a mug of hot chocolate that went cold ten minutes ago. Georgia is beside me in the chair, her knee bouncing under the table.
“So,” Grant says from the counter, where he’s making his second sandwich of the night. I had no clue how much teenage boys could eat. It’s insane. “Let me see if I’m getting this straight. About twenty years ago, a Kingmakers student named Rebecca…”
“She was no longer a student when she was killed,” Georgia interrupts him to add, which I’m sure she’ll keep doing, always wanting to have the facts straight. Grant nods.
“My guess,” I say, “if I’m doing the math right.” Which is not my strong suit. “She was pregnant when she graduated, going off the dates.”
In one of the articles, there was a picture of Rebecca in the hospital holding a baby. It said in the article that she’d left one son behind.
“So she comes back to town, and Joe Sr. takes Joey and then kills Rebecca. Then dismembered and dumped her in the lake.” Grant says.
“And he got away with it,” Luke adds, not looking up from his notes. “Questioned. Released. Nothing stuck.”
“Maybe Rebecca came back to be with him. Or to give him the child.” Georgia says.
“What?” Luke says. “She wouldn’t just give her baby to him?”
“It’s a real possibility, Luke.” Georgia glances over to him. “How do you think some of these wealthy parents would feel if they found out they sent their daughter to a very prestigious school to get a top-notch education only for her to get pregnant by the local mechanic?”
“It wouldn’t be good,” he confirms.
“So what? She came back to town to give the baby to Joe Sr.” I weigh that in my head.
I’m not used to playing these class status games.
These people often feel like they’re from a different planet.
They truly don’t have a moral compass that follows normal rules, so really nothing is out of the question here.
“You know, she was really popular and involved in a ton of shit.” I shuffle through a few of the papers and find the ones from the yearbooks we’d taken copies of.
“She’s in a ton of groups; shout-outs in the back of the yearbook. You do all those extra activities to put on your college application. Rebecca very much had plans to go to college, in my opinion,” Georgia adds.
I close my eyes, shaking my head. “What year are we in?” Even twenty years ago, women having babies out of wedlock was acceptable by society. “So she went back home to hide out and have the baby? Then came back and handed it over?”
“I’m not saying that; I’m just saying it’s a possibility, but the reality is, whatever the reason she came back, Joe Sr. killed her over it.” Georgia says.
“But like the cops back then, we don’t have proof of that. Only theories.” Grant adds.
He’s not wrong, but there’s no doubt in my mind it’s Joe Sr. It’s always the partner.
“I still can’t believe her parents weren’t here burning this town down.” I would be.
“A rich girl from the right family, hiding her relationship with the local mechanic wasn’t worth the scandal her parents would endure if the truth came out.” Georgia says.
“It’s true. My mother would have lost her mind if I got a girl pregnant.
” Luke’s eyes drop suddenly to my stomach.
It hits me that I never told him I’m on birth control.
We’ve never had any talk about that. I’m going to blame it on the Coach Murphy.
Harsh, yes, but she was a predator, so I don’t feel bad.
I pick up one of the pictures of Rebecca. She’s wearing a hoodie with our school colors. The girl had what most would call everything—money, status, the right last name—and she still ended up in pieces at the bottom of the lake.
“Joey. You think he knows?” I ask.
“He has to know what his father did. He grew up in this town,” Grant says.
“They are close,” I add. In the short time I was around the two of them, I could tell that.
“So he’s repeating it,” Luke says, his voice hard. “Murphy. The dismemberment. He’s finishing what his father started.”
I’m shaking my head. I don’t understand the reasoning. Does he hope if he did it the same way it wouldn’t lead back to him? I mean, I never would have guessed him to be involved in this. Luke never cared for him, but he doesn’t care for most people.
“But why Murphy?” Grant asks, taking a bite of his sandwich. “Why now?”
I think of Emily. About how she too left town. “Because Murphy had something he wanted. Or did at one point. He wanted to punish her.”
Georgia’s knee stops bouncing. She looks at me, really looks at me, and I see the understanding click into place. “Emily,” she whispers.
“Emily,” I confirm. “Joey was obsessed with her. Murphy had her attention for a period of time, and he couldn’t handle it.”
“So he kills Murphy?” Grant sounds skeptical. I don’t blame him. I’m still half denying it in my head, but I can’t put blinders on. “That’s extreme.”
“Obsession can make you do some pretty extreme things,” I say. I should know. I’m sitting three feet from Luke, who keeps finding reasons to touch me.
He looks up from his notepad, catches my eye, and holds it. He knows I’m talking about him too. About how far he’d go. But I don’t think he’d kill me. He might lock me in a basement and keep me. He’s rich too. I bet it would be a really nice one. Might not be so bad. I could get a cat.
“Okay,” Grant says, jerking me back to the task at hand. Where my focus should be. “So we have a theory. Joey killed Murphy, copying his father’s crime. But we still don’t have proof. And we still don’t know where Emily fits now.”
“Right! Oh God.” I go to hop off the table, but Luke moves quickly and grabs my hips to help me go down the four inches my feet are from the ground. I can’t deal with him, and I love it. “This was plotted. Like we said from the start, it’s strange that Emily was lured back to town.”
“By Joey,” Georgia adds.
I nod but keep going. “Then Coach Murphy is dead, so either he wants to set Emily up for it or he thought this could pull them back together?”
“We need to talk to Joey,” Luke says. I’m not so sure about that. Hell, I’m not sure about any of this anymore.
“Tomorrow,” I insist, knowing Luke is gunning to get to Joey. “We go in smart, not rushing in like—”
“Like what?” Luke arches an eyebrow, half amused.
“Like you,” I finish, but I’m smiling.
Grant clears his throat. “All right. Agreed. We need sleep. Whatever’s happening tomorrow, we’ll face it clearer with rest.”
He’s right, and we all know it. Luke starts gathering papers, and I pull out my phone and text Emily, suddenly worried about her. I haven’t seen or heard from her today. Is she planning just to stay holed up in the inn, or is she creeping around an old church?
I stare at the screen, waiting for the little “delivered” notification.
“She’s not answering,” I say, the worry starting to creep up my throat. What if Joey has already gotten to her?
“She’s probably asleep,” Georgia offers, but she doesn’t sound convinced. “Or her phone died.”
“Or she’s already dead or in on it all,” Luke mutters, still shuffling papers together so that when his brother returns from my sister’s, they won’t know what we’ve been up to.
Pretty sure he’s crashing there for the night because it’s way past my sister’s strict bedtime.
Then again, I bet Bennett could keep her up.
“Luke.”
“I’m just rolling with theories.”
“You don’t like her, do you?” I ask.
“She stares.”
“She stares?” What is he talking about? He’s met her twice for about three seconds each time.
“Yeah, she fucking stares at your legs.” A burst of laughter leaves me. Luke does not appear amused, but I am, and I needed the laugh.
My phone buzzes. We all freeze. I look down at the screen.
Emily: i’m fine. i’m just tired. talk tomorrow?
I read it twice. Three times. Examining all parts of it like a normal girl does when texting a crush before I send it to them.
I don’t know. Something is off. The text is all lowercase. I don’t know why that stands out to me, but it does.
“See, she’s good.” Georgia tries to stay positive.
“What if it’s not her?” I ask, my voice dropping.
“Call her,” Luke says. I give him an Are you serious? expression. Not that I’m not calling her, but he was pissy about her a few seconds ago. “If it’s what can give my girl peace of mind, then yeah, call her.”
I do. It rings once, twice, three times. Then voicemail.
I hang up. Try again. Same result.
“Maybe she’s just—” Grant starts.
“Someone has her phone.” I cut him off, my voice shaking. “Or someone has her.”
The kitchen goes silent.
“We need to go,” I say. Where did I take my shoes off?
“Madeline.” Luke catches my arm, gentle but firm. “We don’t know where she is. The inn, maybe, but if Joey has her—”
“Then we go to Joey’s.” I stare up at him silently pleading.
Georgia stands, her chair scraping against the floor. “I’m coming with, then.”
“Georgia—” Grant starts, his face serious.
“I’m coming,” she repeats, firmer this time. I love that she’s asserting herself. She swallows hard. “I need to help.”
Grant’s shoulders drop, and he looks between us, then throws his hands up. “Fine,” he cracks, making Georgia’s whole face light up. These two are more than friends. I don’t care what Georgia is trying to sell to me, herself, or everyone else, for that matter.
“Should we walk?” I ask, already heading for the door and grabbing my sneakers.
“Yeah, it’s not far, and we can sneak around easier,” Luke says, grabbing a hoodie hanging in the mudroom and pulling it down over my head. “Plus, if Bennett comes back and sees my truck gone, he’ll know something’s up.”