Page 38 of Winter’s Teeth

My hand self-consciously lifted to the atrocious state of my hair. The volume was amazing, but I was sure if I consulted a mirror, I would look like two squirrels tried to kill each other atop my head.

Ben didn’t bother with manners and answered me directly as he poured his juice in a glass refracting rainbows of light from the open curtains behind him. “I think it was that Corbin kid again. Sporting a shiner with black eyeliner?”

I nodded.

“Yeah,” Ben continued. “Him and two others I didn’t recognize.”

Not Fox. Not Arthur. I was both relieved and disappointed. “They rushed out fast, huh?”

Ben nodded grimly. “Didn’t even let me ask about the business. They’re so tight lipped, which makes me think they’re hiding something. I still think we should have used your tuition money to hire a private detective instead of doing this ourselves.”

I pressed my lips together, smiling at him morosely. Ever the protective one, Ben had wanted to help, but he railed against any idea that involved me putting myself in harm’s way. “I know... But I can’t trust a detective. I can only trust what I know right now.”

Besides, what was stopping my dad from hiring one? He was loaded. What about his wife with the trust fund she thought no one knew about? Her designer brand bags she got every other weekend weren’t fooling anyone.

I wanted the job done right, so I would do it myself.

“So... Are we still going out tonight?” Angie squeaked.

I shook my head and fell into a seat beside her. “No. I am, but none of you have to.”

Riss narrowed her eyes. “Stop thinking you’re in this alone.”

“I know you all want to help,” I amended, “but I can’t keep asking you to take the same risks as me. This is something I have to do, or I’ll die from regret. I know you all care, but you should have limits for your own safety.”

Silence hung over us, thick and soupy like a depressive fog. Ben pushed his eggs around on the plate, Riss stared at me with a sour purse of her lips, and Angie looked like she might cry again.

I heaved a sigh and sank back in my seat. “I won’t stop you, but I won’t expect anything either. I’m going to head out right after dinner. I’ll follow them first, see where they go after they bring dinner—”

“I’ll definitely go with you for that,” Ben interjected.

I nodded gratefully. “If there’s not much to find there, I’ll go into the woods next.” Digging my fingers into the table, I admitted harshly, “The worst part is that I feel like I already have all the answers, I’m just not smart enough to make sense of them. And because I’m the only one who would believe my full story, I can’t hire someone to put it all together for me.”

Riss sat up straighter and smirked. “Good thing you have a genius like me on your side. And I believe you.”

My shoulders fell, and I tried to look grateful, but I didn’t know how to tell her that being able to memorize an entire textbook didn’t make her capable of solving a complex, unnatural mystery like this. I could rely on her for anything, just not this.

In the meantime, I indulged them for the rest of the day. I sat with Riss, pouring over maps. I let Ben teach me how to use his spare handgun. I ate and drank everything Angie put in front of me. I did anything and everything they wanted from me.

As truly lucky to have them as I was, I still dreaded drawing them into this mad web of mystery and danger. They should have been at school, hanging out in the cafeteria or the lounge, staying up late to celebrate getting past their exams. Instead, they were here, risking life and limb to help me chase a shadow that everyone else had seemingly given up on.

I hadn’t gotten a single text from Brett since the weekend of the wedding. Dad and Clara were ghosts, not wanting anything to do with me—the disappointment child they were left with.

When the back door squealed on its hinges, I leapt up and stuffed everything I planned to take with me into my coat pockets—a fully charged phone to take photos for evidence, a flashlight, a headlamp, Ben’s handgun, and a mini first aid kit Angie insisted upon. Then I hid all of it behind the cushions on the couch and went to see who was delivering dinner tonight.

I expected Corbin, but when the door swung open, it was Fox’s broad shoulders that backed out first while he balanced two trays of food in one hand each.

I took an affronted step back, and he froze the moment he turned in full view of me. For a second, we stared at each other, but then I couldn’t help the simper that spread across my lips.

I’m onto you, Creek Boy... Just you wait. I’ll figure out all the secrets you alluded to in the woods.

He gulped noticeably, his eyes growing wary, as if he knew I was up to something tonight.

I stole a roll right out of the basket in his hands before he could set it down and looked him square in the eye when he shot an annoyed look at me, opting to remain silent and let him continue his job. It was a struggle not to wink. Not to tell him that I was going to follow his clue and break all the rules tonight.

Be ready.

When I followed him to the kitchen, he glanced over his shoulder after slinging on his coat, pausing at the back door.