“It’s cancelled?” Ben queries, looking up from his own food. His face is just as red from crying as anyone else’s.
“Not yours, buddy,” Paul says, reaching out to give his son’s shoulder a squeeze. It’s literally the first time I’ve ever seen him show physical affection to his children. Guess losing his oldest knocked some sense into Dr. P. “Just the high school. There was a fire in the theater.”
“It was purposely set on fire,” Kimber corrects, cutting her fried eggs into pieces and playing with the runny yolk. I just freeze where I am, my book bag slung over one shoulder, my feet rooted to the floor. Luckily, Chasm is a far better actor than I am, sauntering into the room like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
“Any news?” he asks, and even though we both know more than the rest of the family combined, he can’t seem to hide the small spark of hope in his words.
“Nothing,” Tess chokes out, her hands shaking around her mug. She lifts her gaze up to mine, and I feel that sick, sad feeling inside of me twist into a dark shadow that overwhelms every part of me, drowning me in pain. How can I keep this up? How can I keep lying? “You really haven’t heard from him?”
“If I knew where he was, I’d tell you,” I whisper back, sliding my book bag off my shoulder and tossing it beside one of the stools at the breakfast bar. I’m in desperate need of sleep and so is Chasm, but I’d rather spend our day searching for Parrish.
Last night was a total wash, but Chas had the brilliant idea of looking up wine aficionados in the area. We figured if we could find someone who liked to, say, collect expensive vintages or bid on rare bottles at charity auctions, maybe we could get a lead. Other than his own father, there were about six other locals in Medina who fit the description.
Then again, that’s assuming Parrish is even in the Seattle metro area. For all we know, he could be ten states away by now. But it’s a start and that’s more than we had yesterday. Also, Chasm was able to take the audio from the call and run it through voice matching software. Don’t ask me how: I’m not the genius valedictorian hacker who likes to play dumb with everyone around him.
We didn’t get any matches unfortunately, but that isn’t to say that we couldn’t. Or that we couldn’t track the phone number if we had the proper resources. Obviously, law enforcement could do all of this and more, but I get the feeling that Justin is a little more cautious than that. If he truly is the Seattle Slayer, then he’s been fooling not only local law enforcement but also the FBI for months.
Tess eventually disappears, driving off in her Mercedes while Paul readies the kids for school.
“Whitehall is closed until Monday, but your mom wants you to stay put,” he tells me before he leaves, and I nod, taking a bite of my own eggs, the ones that Chasm cooked for me because he’s awesome like that. “Kwang-seon, your dad wants you home before lunch.”
Chas balks at that, but there’s no point in arguing with Paul; he has no control over what Chasm’s father does.
“God-fucking-damn it,” Chasm snarls, throwing his fork into the sink so hard that it bounces back out and lands on the floor. Delphine, who’s in the process of cleaning the kitchen, heaves a tired sigh and picks it up. I’d apologize to her if I had the energy for that sort of thing.
“It’s okay,” I tell him, even as he rakes his fingers through his ebon-black hair and curses under his breath. “We can video chat or something.”
“If my dad wants me home, then it’s because he’s planning on riding my ass into the ground. He won’t let me …” Chasm lets his gaze slide over to Maxx. He’s finished his food, leaning back in his chair with his orange juice cupped between his hands. Kimber’s sitting beside him, glaring at me for having the audacity to talk about video chatting with her crush. “Anyway, he’ll make sure I’m studying in his office with him all night. I’ll be trapped, Dakota.”
“What is it exactly that the two of you are so desperate to keep working on?” X queries, his voice edged like a blade. He’s furious and frustrated with both of us at this point. “What the hell is more important than going out and looking for Parrish?”
We exchange a look that just seems to set Maxx off.
“Kimber, could you give us a minute?” he asks, turning to her with a forced smile. She gives him a wary look, like she has no intention of doing any such thing.
