Chapter 10 #2
Brock looks at all three of us, then back at me. “Rumor, go to your room.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“This is a family matter.”
“I’m not family?” I ask, sounding offended.
“Rumor, please,” Brock says. “Go to your room.”
As I walk off, I hear them talking in hushed voices. I go to my room, leaving the door open a crack, but all I hear is silence. They probably went in Brock’s office to talk.
Brock’s office. Shit! I forgot to put his money back!
My phone rings, startling me. I shut the door and grab my phone from my bed.
“Hello?”
“Rum . . . your . . . tell.”
It sounds like a man’s voice, but I don’t know what he’s saying. The words keep cutting out.
“Who is this? I can’t hear you.” I check my phone to see who’s calling, but the screen says unknown.
“Meet . . . can’t . . .”
“What?” I hold the phone closer to my ear. “I think you have the wrong number.”
The person doesn’t answer, and when I check my phone, I see the call was disconnected.
I’m sure it was a wrong number, and yet I have this strong urge to call back. I’m not sure why. It’s just a feeling.
I call the number and wait as it rings several times. It finally stops, and I hear a man’s voice again.
“Rumor . . . going and . . . need to . . .”
“Need what? Who is this?”
Something’s going on here. This isn’t a wrong number. The man said my name. He knows me. But how? And why isn’t his phone working?
“Dad?” I blurt out, my heart pounding. “Dad, is it you?”
I’m not sure why I thought it might be him, but if there’s even a chance it might be, I have to know.
“Dad, if it’s you, say something!”
Silence. I look at my phone and see we’ve been disconnected. I call back. It rings and rings, but nobody answers.
I find my dad’s number and call it. I’ve called it several times since I got here, but he never answers. Maybe now he will. If he called me, it must mean he’s out of rehab, but why is he calling from a different number? And why wasn’t his phone working? Is he somewhere that doesn’t have a signal?
The phone continues to ring with no answer, so I give up and call Jackson. He picks up right away.
“Rumor, we shouldn’t be talking. Not now. The cops could show up here any minute.”
“I’ll make it quick.” I take a breath, trying to calm down. “I just got a call. I think it was from my dad.”
“Yeah? What’d he say?”
“I couldn’t hear him. It was a bad connection. I just heard a few words, something about meeting, or needing to meet. I don’t know. I’m not even sure it was my dad, but it was a man and he knew my name.”
“Couldn’t you tell it was him from his number?”
“It wasn’t his number. It was a California number, but it said ‘unknown’. We got disconnected so I called him back, but I still couldn’t tell what he was saying.”
“It was probably just a wrong number.”
“But the guy knew my name. It’s not like it’s a common name. He knew me.”
“Did you try calling your dad’s number?”
“Yeah, and he didn’t pick up. I really think it was him. Maybe he lost his phone and was borrowing one.”
“If it was him, I’m sure he’ll try to call back. I just don’t want you getting your hopes up. If he’s not in rehab, there’s a good chance he’s using again. He may be calling looking for money. He knows you’re with Brock, right?”
“Yeah, unless Brock lied about that, but I don’t know why he would. I don’t think my dad would call asking for money. He’s never done that before.”
“But it’s Brock’s money, not yours. I’m sure he knows you get an allowance. I’m not saying any of this is true. I just know how addicts think. I worked with them when I was an actor. They’ll do anything to get their next fix.”
“I don’t think he’d do that.”
“Rumor, I need to go. I need to talk to my lawyer before the cops show up.”
“I think Braden’s doing the same thing. He said something about lawyers coming over. Brock just got home. I think he took them in his office to talk.”
“Them?”
“Braden and Trystan.”
“What’s Trystan have to do with this?”
“He found her body. That makes him part of the investigation, right?”
“I wouldn’t think so, but maybe. Did Braden tell you what’s going on?”
“No, they’re all acting like it’s a big secret. But I accidentally said something about new evidence.”
“Rumor, what the hell? The only people who knew about that were Braden and me. If Braden didn’t tell you, that only leaves me as the person who told you.”
“I told them it was just a guess. I mean, you wouldn’t reopen a case until there’s new evidence, right? So that’s what I told them.”
“And they bought it?”
“Yeah. But I also made the mistake of using Andrea’s name. Trystan and Braden never told me her name so when I said it, they got suspicious.”
“So what did you say?”
“I panicked and said Peyton told me. I said she told me at the game last night. They totally bought it but now—” I cringe.
“What?”
“They think she might be the one who came up with new evidence because of her history of lying and making up stories and creating drama.”
He sighs. “This is bad.”
“I know, but it was only a theory. Trystan brought it up to Braden, but I don’t think Braden believed it. I don’t know what happened after that because Brock got home and told me to go to my room.”
“If the investigator shows up, try to listen in if you can.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“My lawyer’s on the other line. I need to pick up. Talk to you later.”
I’m starting to get really worried for Jackson.
He has money for good lawyers, but what if that’s not enough?
What if Braden lies to the police and puts the blame on Jackson?
What if Trystan does too? It’d be their word against Jackson’s.
Two against one. The only other person who could save Jackson from jail would be whoever provided the new evidence.
If it’s Kristen, she’s not going to save him.
Unless he breaks up with me.