Chapter 6
Taylor
Grace and I are halfway through solving an unsolved murder case on TV when I’m pretty sure I’ve found the culprit. “It’s the creeper neighbor.”
“No way. Can’t be.” Grace shoves a bunch of popcorn in her mouth. “It’s the nanny.”
“The nanny has an alibi.”
“So does the neighbor.
“Yeah, but it’s a flimsy one.”
“Could be a poltergeist demon entity,” Grace suggests.
“Ohhh. Yeah. I’m changing my vote to that.” It totally fits the narrative of the guy who swears he never left the backyard while his whole family was murdered inside. Even said he didn’t hear anyone scream. “Can demons take your hearing away, you think?”
Grace shrugs, her eyes glued to the TV.
We’re invested in this to the end. Even if it is an unsolved mystery, which is why it’s on the TV to begin with, we’re gonna get to the bottom of it.
“Could be a Skinwalker,” I say, popping candy in my mouth.
“Oh, totally for sure.”
God bless Grace. This woman came out of nowhere and turned this town upside. She’s with Dean and has become one of my closest friends. We clicked instantly when we met and have been inseparable.
Having Grace come into my life has been amazing. She’s funny, wild, sweet, and gets me. We’ve become pretty inseparable.
My cousin Carly would love her. Man, I miss her. She moved away the second she saw an opportunity and never came back. I have mixed feelings about that, but whatever.
My phone rings and it’s…
Well, what do you know. It’s Carly! Bet she sensed me thinking of her.
“Hey, cuz. What’s up.”
“Holy. Shit. What the hell is going on?”
“Uh. Nothing much. Why? What’s up with you?”
“Stop playing with me, Taylor! What happened with Conner?”
I pause the show and slowly sit up. “What do you mean what happened with Conner?”
Grace’s cell rings next. We both glance at it and see Dean’s face pop up on the caller ID. My instincts finally flare up. I blame the delay on the intensity of the show we’re watching.
And the bottle of Chardonnay.
“What did you hear?” I ask Carly.
Our moms are the town gossips and anything they find out, they run and tell the next on their made-up phone tree. If Aunt Rachel heard something juicy about Conner, she would call my mom first, then Carly. And if it was really something serious, Carly would call me.
Like this.
“Conner apparently beat the shit out of someone at the Salt Lick tonight.”
My cell rings again and I see Nick’s name light up my screen. “Carly. I gotta go.”
I’m yelling curse words and Conner’s name as I march my way across Dean’s front lawn. Grace is hot on my heels, keeping quiet.
“Conner, you asshole!” I slam my palms on the door to push it open, but it doesn’t budge. “Let me in, Dean!”
“Not a good idea,” he says from behind the glass. “Calm down and I’ll come out.”
“Calm down? Don’t you tell me to calm down.” I kick his door. “Open up so I can get my hands on him.”
Nick comes around the side of the house with his hands raised high in surrender. “I come in peace.” He inches closer like I’m going to detonate if he makes the wrong move. These guys know me too well.
“I want to see Conner. Now.”
“He’s a little indisposed at the moment.” Nick lowers his hands and gives me a serious glare. “And you coming in hot like this isn’t going to help.”
I deflate a little. “What happened?”
Dean opens the door while I’m distracted by Nick and slips outside to meet us. “Just answer one question for us, okay?”
I cross my arms and tap my foot impatiently.
“Are you and Austin still together?”
My entire body locks up. I think I’m floating a little. For the life of me, I can’t understand why this question would outweigh the importance of Conner beating the shit out of someone in a bar.
Unless that someone was Austin.
Oh shit.
“No.” I clear my throat and blow out a long exhale. “We broke up.”
“When?” Nick asks.
“Yesterday afternoon. Over the phone.”
They share a look and then Dean runs a hand down his face.
“Did you know Conner got sent home from work earlier today?” Dean eyes me cautiously.
No sense in lying. “Yes. I talked to my dad about how worried I am that he’s working Con into the ground. I told him to give Conner time off.”
“Goddamnit.” Nick lets out a long sigh. “Go home, Taylor.”
“Not until I see—”
“Go. Home.”
Did I just got booted out of the cool kid’s club? I haven’t done anything wrong! But of course, the guys would stick together. “Fuck you.”
I came to knock some sense into Conner because none of them ever will. He only listens to me. If they want to band together and leave me out, fine. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.
My cell dings as I approach my car and I almost don’t bother looking at it.
But what if it’s Conner?
It’s not.
Grace: I’ll find out exactly what happened and tell you everything.
That eases the tightness in my chest. At least someone is on my side here. I shoot her back a thumbs up because I’m too jumbled to say much else.
The only thing I can do now is head to Austin’s and make sure he doesn’t press charges.